Reece Topley a positive for Surrey as they misfire in County Championship opener

BY MARCUS HOOK

Surrey’s eight-wicket defeat in their season opener against Gloucestershire was tinged with the re-emergence in red-ball cricket of left-arm seamer Reece Topley, who took 5-66 in the first innings at Bristol.

A succession of injuries have meant Topley, 27 – who is now at his fourth county – has not played a great deal of championship cricket since 2013.

But it has not held him back in terms of his England ambitions, having picked up 13 one-day international caps as well as appearing in six T20s for his country.

“Red or white ball, it doesn’t matter. I just enjoyed being out there,” said Topley. “I would have taken how I bowled and that’s a good place for my red-ball season to start. I’ll have to see where it goes from here. Coming off a fairly big winter of work (with England), I felt pretty good to be honest.”

However, the root causes of Gloucestershire’s victory were the failings Surrey inflicted on themselves – a poor showing in the first innings with the bat followed by an erratic display with the ball on the second morning.

Topley’s five-fer was central to keeping the visitors in the game. But despite the efforts of Ben Foakes (133), Rory Burns (74) and Jordan Clark (52) insufficient time was taken out of the contest to prevent the Bristolians romping home with 16 overs to spare, thanks to Graeme van Buuren’s unbeaten 110 off just 98 balls.

“The way we came back with the ball is the standard we want to take moving forward,” said Topley. “The first two hours was unfortunate. We recognised that at lunch and did all we could to fight back, which we did. These things happen. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. No one goes out there aiming to bowl badly.”

Surrey have also announced the signing of Australia’s Sean Abbott for the T20 Blast, which gets underway on June 10, as well as for the divisional phase of the County Championship in September.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Surrey, one of the biggest counties in England,” said Abbott, 29.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to come over and play. I’ve had the pleasure of playing with a few of the Surrey guys who played at the Sydney Sixers (in the Big Bash) and done very well.

“Obviously I’m keen to pull on the Surrey colours and be involved in the set-up; and continue to learn and get better as a cricketer.

“I know they’ve got a great bunch of lads, so I’m looking forward to getting to London, playing some great cricket, and making new friends.”

Surrey’s director of cricket Alec Stewart added: “I’m delighted to have secured the services of Sean for three County Championship matches and all of our T20 group games. His all-round skills and the experience of having won back-to-back Big Bash trophies will add real strength to our group.”