Dan Worrall spearheads Surrey county title drive again

Dan Worrall has again been among the county championship wickets for Surrey at The Oval.

Dan Worrall, the former Australia international, has for the second time in a week put Surrey on the road towards a potentially huge win in their bid to defend their county championship title.

The wholehearted Worrall, whose wickets were also instrumental in Surrey lifting the title in 2022 as well as last season, earned six scalps as the champions wrapped up victory at Canterbury against Kent on Monday.

And back on his home patch at The Oval on Friday, the 32-year-old seamer was quick to carry on where he left off, with a devastating early three-wicket burst that ripped the heart out of the Hampshire batting, moving Surrey into the driving seat after the first of four days.

It was Worrall’s brilliant early seven-over spell that did the damage as, first, he dismissed Fletcha Middleton for four, inducing him to edge to second slip.

He then got rid of key ex-England batter James Vince and Tom Prest with successive balls in the final over of his 3-21 opening salvo, only to be denied his hat-trick by Liam Dawson.

But Hampshire then succumbed to Surrey’s other pacers wth Gus Atkinson (3-40), Jordan Clark (3-29) and Worrall (3-44 off his 13 overs) eventually skittling the visitors for 151.

In reply, Surrey battled to 5-123 by the close, with England opener Rory Burns still going strong on 39 after nearly three-and-a-half hours of serious application, with the hosts having a great chance to grab a significant first-innings lead.

Worrall, who has a UK passport now, reckoned he was delighted the Dukes ball, which has served him so well with 87 wickets in his last two seasons, was in operation again after English cricket’s early-season experiment with the more batter-friendly Kookaburra.

“It’s nice to have the Dukes ball back in my hands, I think most guys around the country would say the same,” said the Melburnian.

“My opinion is it’s better cricket (with the Dukes) just for the pitches that we play on here where there’s not quite the pace, or bounce or liveliness like Australian or South African pitches.

“The Kookaburra, when it’s a bit slower and lower and not a lot of live grass, it’s a pretty dull affair. The Dukes ball has worked well for more than 100 years and I think it’ll continue to work well.”

The return of the Dukes didn’t help Australian Test batters, though, with Matt Renshaw falling for 30 as Somerset made 9-309 against Worcestershire at Kidderminster and Cameron Bancroft being bowled for 12 as Gloucestershire struggled to 3-82 in reply to Middlesex’s 203 at Bristol.

But England opener Ben Duckett didn’t seem to mind, compiling 197no for Nottinghamshire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in their 8-367 total.

Joe Root (65no) was in form too in division two, sharing an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 71 with fellow England batter Harry Brook (44no) as Yorkshire closed their opening day on 3-276 against Derbyshire.