INJURY meant 2012 was a year to forget for Chris Tremlett but now the fast bowler hopes a successful campaign for Surrey may get his England career back on track.

After a good spell for the national side, Tremlett was forced to undergo back surgery in February 2012, and soon after he returned to action he received another setback in August.

Since then, the 31-year-old has been working hard on rehabilitating his back and a problem with his knee that he suffered in September.

But now Tremlett is confident his injury luck has turned.

"I guess when you are in pain like that you are just trying to get through the day and to look ahead to a day when you wake up and it'll be better," he said.

"Effectively with my back injury in August it took about six weeks before I could get up and think 'oh my back's all right'.

"You aren't really thinking about cricket, you are thinking about day-to-day things.

"But once those things heal, your goals move on. Once I was better I was gearing towards my next challenge.

"I had a long 2012 and it was a pretty rubbish one, I didn't play much cricket and the start of my winter was very tedious in terms of rehab and seeing the physio a lot, running on an anti-gravity treadmill, which I had to do for four to six weeks.

"Since Christmas it has been really good but before Christmas it was quite tough in terms of rehab and stuff in the gym to get my back and knee better.

"Like I say, since Christmas it has been good, smooth-flowing and then I've had a really good pre-season. I got some good bowling under my belt."

After being awarded a one-year England contract in September 2011, Tremlett's injuries could not have come at a worse time but the Southampton-born cricketer still believes he has something to offer the national side ahead of an Ashes-focused summer.

"It did come at a pretty bad time," Tremlett said of his injuries.

"It was a bit of bad luck I guess, it was a bit like Graham Onions who was out for a year or a year-and-a-half after he had a really good spell in the England team.

"I guess you have to look past that and put it behind you as quickly as you can and you just have to accept that.

"I still feel I'm the same bowler and I still feel I can offer that to the side. It's just staying on the park, staying fit and looking after myself and then hopefully putting in some performances for Surrey and trying to work my way into that [England] squad.

"It's not going to be easy but I just have to believe in myself, which I do, and hopefully my body holds up. Figures crossed, I get a bit of change of luck."

SURREY captain Graeme Smith is to miss a "few months" of the season to return to his native South Africa to undergo surgery on an ankle injury.

Despite issues with his ankle caused by a hard winter's cricket, Smith was determined to start his Surrey career on time, but has now accepted the injury will not heal on its own.

Last week, the club's official website revealed: "After scans this afternoon [Wednesday] it has been determined that surgery is required and he will miss a few months of the English County season for Surrey."

Smith said: "To have to head home now, so early in my time at Surrey is very frustrating but I leave the team in a good place and hope to be back with them as soon as possible."

Surrey team director Chris Adams said: "Graeme has made an impressive start as a leader and the squad have really responded to his leadership.

"It's clearly disappointing for all, especially Graeme, but we wish him a speedy recovery."

EVERYONE is a little bit different when you are at the crease alongside them.

I'm obviously sad that I won't be batting alongside the skipper, Graeme Smith, for a few months while he returns to South Africa for treatment on his injury. We will miss him, and not just for his batting but also his leadership on and off the field.

However, it has given me the chance to spend some time with Jason Roy at the crease. Really, Jason and Graeme aren't that different; they were both born in South Africa for a start. But I've been playing alongside Jason since I was ten, so by now it comes pretty easy to me.

I guess the main difference is without Graeme alongside me, the focus is more on me to do well. The added pressure doesn't really affect me, I don't think I play any differently, but if anything it might make me a little more responsible which can't be a bad thing.

Every batsman has a different way of speaking at the crease; some people are tense but both Jason and I are quite relaxed.

Most of the Surrey squad are quite relaxed, the only one I can think of who is serious is Arun Harinath. It's no bad thing, and in fact, the more serious he is, the more I enjoy it. He is just very intense.

My Surrey team-mate, and regular dinner-date, Matthew Dunn made his debut for Banstead on Saturday. I've been trying to convince him to sign for Banstead for a while, but after Normandy got relegated he finally caved. He had a good debut and, being the ultimate club man, I went down after the game to see everyone.

There has been a bit of talk on Twitter between Tom Jewell and the Banstead players whether Tom's side, Guildford, would finish above Banstead or not this season.

Tom said that if us "clowns" finished above Guildford this season then he would retire from cricket altogether. He thinks we build Banstead up too much.

I'm not going to bet my career on it, but I think Banstead will finish the higher.

All I can say is I see a long holiday in Tom's future...

KEVIN SHERIDAN is backing Roo Abbott to become the second Juggernauts Gym fighter to hold two Queensbury Boxing League belts at different weights.

The 25-year-old painter from Oxted has the opportunity to emulate the achievement of Gareth Gardner when he steps into the ring against knockout king Ben Middleton for a light heavyweight bout on Saturday night at the Effingham Park Hotel.

Abbott, who trains out of Sheridan's gym in Felbridge was handed the unexpected shot at a second title earlier this year when the Brighton-based Queensbury light heavyweight champion's opponent was forced to withdraw through injury.

And although Abbott wasn't intending to fight again until later this year with his partner Kerry expecting the couple's first baby, he has taken on the task and worked hard to reach the required weight.

And his trainer says the super middleweight champion is now confident going into the bout that he can beat Middleton, who holds the record for the quickest knockout in the competition.

Sheridan said: "Roo is fighting a weight above here, but he is confident he can take Ben on.

"He has worked hard to get himself fit and ready, having not fought since winning his title in November, but we are feeling really confident now.

"We have a game plan that we have been working hard on and it would be brilliant if he can become another Juggernauts fighter to have two belts."

And Sheridan is expecting a great fight between the two, who know each other well having appeared on the same shows and done some sparring together in the past.

He said: "They have trained together in the past and they know all about each other from the league.

"It does mean that they can't really hide from each other, but when the two fighters know each other well it normally makes for a good fight."

And Abbott himself is relishing the chance to test himself at the higher level against such a fighter as Middleton.

He said: "After watching him fight a couple of times I've always fancied fighting and now that I've been given this fantastic opportunity to win my second title in the league I'm going to take it with both hands."

WARLINGHAM chairman Steve Rolfe has confirmed the club are considering leaving the Combined Counties League.

The club, who currently ground-share at Whyteleafe's Church Road stadium, are weighing up the possibility of leaving Division One of the Combined Counties League and volunteering to drop into the Surrey Elite League.

The move would see Warlingham drop out of senior football but would pave the way for the club to move back into Warlingham village. And Rolfe is hoping the board can come to a decision by the end of the week.

"Those discussions are ongoing. Going into the Elite League is a possibility and staying in the Combined Counties is a possibility, everything is a possibility," Rolfe said. "If we did go into the Elite League it would be so we don't have to ground-share and occur the financial issues that comes with."

Should Warlingham decide to move back to their namesake Tandridge village they would then have to decide where to play, with both Warlingham Sports Club's Church Lane facilities and Verdayne Gardens a possibility.

However, that is not the only change at Warlingham ahead as Rolfe prepares to step down as chairman next month.

"That is one rumour that is definitely true," he said. "I gave my notice in two years ago in fact. I told the club I would be standing down after the end of this season and I will official step down at the AGM in June.

"I haven't fallen out of love with football or Warlingham and I will still be the treasurer of the football club and vice-chairman of the sports club. We are just waiting to see who is going to be the next chairman."

CHARLIE ROBERTSON is aiming to challenge for the first podium of his maiden season in single-seaters when the BRDC Formula 4 Championship travels to his 'home' track at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit this weekend.

The Whyteleafe teenager, who drives for leading team HHC Motorsport, heads into the second event of the season fifth in the championship standings – with a best result so far of fourth place to his credit – after a consistently competitive outing at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit two weeks ago. Graduating into single-seater racing this year after winning the Ginetta Junior title in 2012, the Investigo-backed driver made a solid start on his Formula 4 bow and was within just 1.5 seconds of climbing the rostrum during round three.

A lot of home support is expected to cheer the 16-year-old on at Brands Hatch, an event which will be the biggest of the year for the F4 contingent with the category running on the support card for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and spectacular DTM touring cars.

"I'm really looking forward to Brands, it's always great to race there and we'll have a lot of friends and family coming along so I'm determined to have a good weekend and try and get on the podium if we can," said the Caterham School pupil.

"It'll definitely be the biggest race weekend I've ever been involved in, the DTM always attracts massive crowds so that'll be a nice boost.

"Silverstone wasn't a bad start to the season at all, we wanted to come away with strong points scores from each of the races and we managed that. The aim now is to build on that at Brands and keep moving forward."

One of the main challenges for Charlie will be to qualify as high up the order as possible at Brands Hatch with overtaking at the 1.2-mile Indy Circuit notoriously difficult.

Starting on the first couple of rows of the grid is of paramount importance at the Kent track so the MSA Academy racer is targeting a strong qualifying performance as a priority.

"Qualifying is always a big part of the weekend but especially at Brands Indy," he said.

"You've really got to get it right and put a good lap together. In Ginetta Junior it wasn't so much of a problem but in a single-seater like the F4 car, the chances to overtake are really limited.

"Hopefully we can qualify well and then take things from there."

Qualifying will take place at 12pm on Saturday, with the first race of the weekend following at 3.20pm.

On Sunday, round five is set to begin at 2.15pm, with round six expected to commence at 4.40pm.

Adult Learners' Week (18-24 May) provides a reminder of the huge range of opportunities available for anyone who wants to further their education in Croydon.

Courses can be taken in a large number of subjects, some of which are focused on developing careers and others of which are more about building personal skills.

Croydon's library service and CALAT (Croydon Adult Learning and Training) have teamed up to provide nearly 70 individual sessions on subjects ranging from IT, languages and photography through to first aid, creative writing and ancestry research.

These will be held in all of the borough's libraries and a full programme can be found under the special events section of the council website at www.croydon.gov.uk/libraries.

The taster sessions are designed to give people a feel for what each course has to offer and allow anyone the opportunity to consider signing up for further studies.

Croydon's adult learning service is one of the largest in the country, with many learners achieving national recognition for their efforts. Over the next few months the council is in the process of moving out of some of its old buildings into new facilities and these will make a huge difference to the quality of education on offer.

The week runs across the UK as a celebration of the positive impact that lifelong learning has on people and those around them.

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THE organisers of a food market held in Upper Norwood last weekend believed they were taking a gamble in bringing top quality produce to the area.

But after at least 600 people turned up for the first of the markets on Saturday, they are admitting to being completely overwhelmed by the success.

They are now confident that the weekly market being staged in the Haynes Lane market area, off Westow Street, will become a favourite part of Upper Norwood's shopping experience.

The market was the brainchild of members of the Crystal Palace Transition Town project, which sets out to make the area more resilient and sustainable in its own right.

The formula organisers chose has proved to be the right mix to attract the shoppers.

It had two distinct elements, with one group of traders selling quality meat, vegetables, bread and cheese sourced as locally as possible, while the other strand featured local businesses selling home-produced goods, including cakes, jams, and gluten-free products.

There were even opportunities on the Transition Town's own Patchwork Farm stall for individuals, schools and allotment holders to sell their own fruit and veg surplus.

The main bulk of the meat, vegetables, fruit and eggs came in from East Sussex and Kent, while the bread was baked freshly in Brixton.

While the organisers had to turn to Wales to get their cheeses, even these were "finished off" in Bermondsey.

Karen Jones, one of the organising team, said: "I had a sleepless Friday night before the market.

"It was scary thinking about all the farmers coming here and then nobody turning up."

But once things got started, Ms Jones soon realised all her fears had been groundless.

She said: "We had such an amazing response from the community. The market was supposed to run until 3pm but many of the main stalls were sold out by 1pm.

"There were queues at the stalls all day."

Ms Jones added that, encouragingly, the farmers taking part had also been delighted with the market.

She said: "A lot of them said this was one of the best market launches they had been to."

The Transition Town group charged ten per cent of the takings for each stall, with a minimum charge of £20 and a maximum of £90

Ms Jones said many of the stalls had taken more than £1,000 on the day.

She added: "The success was really good news because we are helping real sustainable small farmers, which is good for them, while also bringing quality products into people's homes.

"We are not about profit, we are a community group trying to build a community project."

The market will return to town tomorrow (Saturday) between 10am and 3pm.

More details can be found at www.crystalpalace foodmarket.co.uk

UNCOMPROMISING backing for a referendum to determine the UK's future membership of the EU has come this week from Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell.

Mr Barwell has told the Advertiser he is not "desperate" to see Britain leave the EU, but does want people to have the chance to vote on membership as soon as possible.

On Monday, Mr Barwell, who is a ministerial aide to education secretary Michael Gove, told the BBC's Today programme he supported Tory MPs' plans to put forward a motion expressing regret at referendum legislation not being included in the Queen's Speech.

He said: "This isn't an issue about Conservative MPs trusting David Cameron.

"It is about using the legislative process to convince the electorate that the clear commitment he gave in his speech in January is going to happen.

"What we need to do is convince the sceptical electorate that we actually mean it.

"I think a very effective way of doing that would be by bringing forward legislation, so we can go back to our constituents and say 'look, if you vote Conservative at the next election, here is a guarantee that we will get a referendum'."

On Tuesday, he went on to welcome the Government announcement that it was producing draft legislation for a referendum to be held in 2017.

Mr Barwell, who said he did not consider himself to be a Eurosceptic, added: "I am not someone who would be desperate to see us leave the European Union."

But he said there needed to be a response to the weight of public opinion over future EU membership and "the only way to do that would be to have a referendum".