CHRIS Schofield, the forgotten hero of Lancashire's NatWest Trophy quarter final win at Surrey last week, is hoping for another capital show at the Oval tomorrow.

Lancashire return to South London for a crucial Championship game against the First Division leaders Surrey.

And they are again planning to field a three-pronged spin attack to counter the threat of Surrey's Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury.

The plan worked to perfection last week, with Schofield taking four wickets and Gary Yates and Gary Keedy also bowling well to restrict Surrey to 211.

But all that was forgotten as Andy Flintoff blazed Lancashire to victory with one of the greatest one-day innings in the club's history.

"It was a great match to play in, and I'm looking forward to getting back down to the Oval," said Schofield today.

"I had never played there before the NatWest game but the pitch seemed to suit me and our other two spinners. Hopefully it will be the same again for the Championship."

Schofield has suffered the most frustrating spell of his career since being left out of England's recent Championship matches against Yorkshire and Durham at Old Trafford.

"It has been a bit up and down for me in the last few weeks," he admitted.

"But I have been getting my rhythm back in the nets and I thought I bowled better in the second innings against Durham. I only conceded 10 runs in eight overs, but didn't get much of a chance because Gary Yates and Gary Keedy bowled so well. "Then at the Oval I just concentrated on bowling as consistently as I could and going for as few runs as possible. To get four wickets was a bonus. The Hollioakes both played bad shots and Graham Lloyd took a great catch for another, and I just tried to bowl to my field."

Schofield had a chat with Salisbury, another leg-spinner who has suffered at the hands of the England selectors, in the Oval dressing rooms.

"I had met him once before in Melbourne, and we had another word about how you go up and down as a leg-spinner, because it is a difficult art," added Lancashire's 23-year-old.

"But the Surrey game is another important one for us. If we can get another result there, we've got a very good chance. And hopefully I can get a few wickets and put myself on one of the England tours this winter."

Lancashire closed to within four points of Surrey, but slipped one point behind Yorkshire into third, after the Roses Match was abandoned as a draw yesterday.

Yorkshire took four batting points to Lancashire's two, so leapfrogged John Crawley's team in the table -- although with four points separating the top three, the title race is set to go down to the wire.