Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: Surrey look on the brink of signing Fisher from Yorkshire – but McKerr still needed to clinch title
It has been widely reported that Surrey are on the brink of signing the former England seamer Matthew Fisher from Yorkshire, with Conor McKerr heading in the opposite direction
Maybe the reason it hasn’t been confirmed is because McKerr – who averaged 29.83 with the bat and 27.60 with the ball in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup – might still be needed for the climax to the County Championship.
As a competition, the Metro Bank might have its flaws, but, yet again, it has given a platform to some genuinely exciting young talent while also providing fringe players, like McKerr, the chance to show us what we’re missing.
Given that Ryan Patel, Dominic Sibley and Cameron Steel could well be key in terms of what remains of Surrey’s red-ball season – with a third successive championship crown on the line – it was heartening to see their form hold up in the One-Day Cup, even though the South Londoners never had any chance of attacking it as they would like, due to the absence of so many players off partaking of The Hundred.
With just two home games out of the last five in the championship, the run-in could be tricky. Surrey’s 23-point advantage at the head of affairs is a decent cushion but not when there’s Lancashire, Notts, second-placed Somerset, Durham and third-placed Essex – so none of the bottom three in the table – left to come.
It seems inconceivable that Surrey will seek to get by without any overseas signings, even if Sam Curran and Will Jacks are made available by the England management.
Both were prominent in the final of The Hundred. Curran junior was named the men’s tournament’s most valuable player, with 201 runs at an average of 40.20 and 17 wickets at 10.52.
If ever there was a player tailor-made for Bazball, Sam is surely one which is why, with Ben Stokes ruled out for Test series against Sri Lanka, it’s astonishing the 26-year-old all-rounder seems to be surplus to England’s requirements.