JOHN Morris wants to see Derbyshire heap a little more pressure on an old pal when the new LV County Championship season starts tomorrow.

Derbyshire set out against Surrey at The Oval (11am) and the neutral eye will be firmly set on how the home side fares.

Surrey, led by Morris' former Derbyshire team-mate Chris Adams, have spent heavily to recruit Steven Davies, Chris Tremlett and Gareth Batty following a poor 2009 campaign.

They have also taken a huge gamble by installing 22-year-old Rory Hamilton-Brown as their captain after signing him from Sussex and Morris believes it will be to his side's advantage to face them so early in the season.

"It could be seen as a good time to play them," he said. "They are the big spenders of the league and we want to show them we are not intimidated by that.

"You only need to look at what we did to them last year at home in the Championship and in the one-day game at Whitgift School for them to know we have players they should be worried about.

"It is a good chance for us to show we will be competitive again this season.

"Everyone knows Chris Adams is a good friend of mine and I wish him well but not at the expense of Derbyshire. I think Chris has more reason to be worried about this game than I have."

Apart from Jon Clare, who is recovering from a shoulder operation, and Ian Hunter, who has a slight knee problem, Derbyshire have a full squad to choose from.

Skipper Chris Rogers would not have played in the three-day match against Loughborough but has tested his recovery from a broken finger on his left hand in the nets and is fit to lead the side at The Oval.

All three days of the Loughborough match were washed out – the first time the opening first-class fixture of Derbyshire's season has been abandoned without a ball bowled in the club's history.

But Morris has no doubt that the players are ready for the season to begin.

"The sooner the better," he added. "We are ready to go. Nearly everybody is where we need them to be.

"This is a stupid time of the year to be playing cricket and the weather did exactly as we feared for the Loughborough match but that just goes to underline how important it was for us to go to Barbados.

"The ground staff did a tremendous job of making sure we could get outside to practice on grass, even though we could not play the match, and we have taken good advantage.

"All we need to do now is tell the players who will travel to London.

"It is an awkward time of year because there are always people disappointed at not being involved in the first game and that is the way they should feel.

"But those not involved this time will know everybody will be needed some time soon and so they need to be ready when needed.

"I am conscious that the team we pick for the first game might not be the team we pick for the second.

"There is a lot of cricket in the first month and we will need to rotate the bowlers in particular."