Two North Conference points in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy were not the only positives to come out of Worcestershire 61-run win over Leicestershire at Grace Road last Sunday.

Even though that victory came in the limited-overs format and a largely redundant challenge to qualify for the final, the fact that Matt Mason and Gareth Batty successfully returned is a massive boost for the Pears in today's Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two match against Surrey at the Oval.

Add to that the arrival yesterday of overseas player, Australian batsman Phil Jaques, who makes his Worcestershire debut, and for once Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire's director of cricket, approaches a match with a full squad.

"It's probably the first time this season," Rhodes said. "We had Vikram Solanki's finger at the start of the year, Matt Mason's shoulder and then Gareth's knee.

"It'll make a change to be at full strength."

Jacques, the former Northamptonshire and Yorkshire left-hander, is a latecomer to New Road after spending ten days on honeymoon and will open the batting with Stephen Moore, meaning there is no place for Daryl Mitchell.

It will be pleasing that Worcestershire can call on Jaques, given Worcestershire's parlous batting performances in the Championship.

Although they have played only two matches, both have been lost to leave the county at the bottom. Only three batsmen have made it past 50 in four innings, a situation Rhodes is sure Jaques will improve.

"We are talking about a player that averages 55 in first-class cricket," he said. "Anybody with that sort of average is a quality player and one that will make a big impact.

"Whether that comes straight away or later on we will have to see but there will be an impact.

"He will be a bit jet-lagged for Surrey but he will be OK to go straight in."

With the batting line-up fortified, the attack should also be reinforced by the recovery of Batty and Mason.

Batty, in particular, impressed against the Foxes, taking four for 27 including a delicious stumping with his second delivery that beat Claude Henderson through the air and off the pitch.

With Surrey habitually fielding two slow bowlers in four-day cricket, Batty's partnership with Ray Price, the left-arm orthodox spinner, could be a major arbiter of the outcome of the match. It certainly was in Leicester.

Rhodes said: "I was pleased he came on and took a nice wicket early on. The ball had nice drop on it, it turned and bounced and lured the batsman out of the crease.

"It looked out as soon as he bowled it and it gave him confidence to go on and do well."

Mason put in a decent rather than spectacular performance, claiming two for 15 from six overs, and his addition to the bowling corps could also be significant.

At New Road last week, when Derbyshire won by 35 runs, the home attack looked thin with little support offered to Kabir Ali and Zaheer Khan [2014] both of whom took nine wickets in the match.

With Mason coming back the seam attack looks much more balanced and could cause the Londoners serious discomfort.

With things looking up Rhodes is confident his team's poor start to their campaign could be about to come to an end, especially after the morale-boosting success in the C&G.

He said: "It was an important win for our state of mind.

"The two championship losses have been gut-wrenching results and something we are desperate to put right for both the club and the supporters."

With Batty, Mason and, crucially, Jaques in the side, that will be considerably easier, though second-placed Surrey are perhaps not the opponents Rhodes would have hand-picked for the next encounter.

Surrey will be without James Ormond, the former England seam bowler, who has a lower back problem, but Rikki Clarke, the all-rounder, returns after England A duties kept him out of the comprehensive victory over Gloucestershire.

Tim Murtagh, though in a 12-man squad, is likely to miss out while Martin Bicknell is close to a return to full fitness after a groin injury. ..SUPL: