Surrey CCC: Reece Topley backing Kemar Roach to start racking up the wickets

BY MARCUS HOOK

Reece Topley has backed fellow fast bowler Kemar Roach to come good for Surrey. Despite bringing much needed control to the Oval outfit’s attack, the 32-year-old Barbadian only taken three wickets in two outings at an average of 75.00.

But Topley says it’s only a matter of time before Roach gets his just desserts.

“Kemar has been unbelievably tight and I’m sure there’s a stack of wickets coming his way,” said the left-arm seamer, who, once again, was the pick of Surrey’s bowlers against Middlesex with figures of 4-56.

“Like at Bristol, it was my turn to get the wickets, but we bowled well as a unit.

“One of the things that happens to you as a bowler is you can bowl well and things don’t go your way. But Kemar’s a quality performer, so there’s no question he’ll get what he deserves if he continues bowling well.”

Surrey’s visit to Lord’s, for the London derby, did not bring an end to the South Londoners’ early season woes in the County Championship.

Either side of Middlesex’s 268 – during which the visitors dropped five catches – Surrey made just 154 and 130.

Director of cricket Alec Stewart said: “I won’t knock the bowling at all. We created 15 chances in Middlesex’s first innings.

“I’ve been very impressed with Reece. I’ve also been impressed by Kemar. His wickets column isn’t what he wants it to be, but the way he’s bowled it deserves to be coming up to double figures.

“He’s created chances and he’s led the bowling group well. Hopefully, he’ll get rewarded very soon, because he’s fitted in well.”

Surrey CCC are now taking bookings from members for the opening three T20 Blast matches at the Kia Oval. However, due to the Covid restrictions for all sporting events played between May 17 and June 20, the club can only allocate a quarter of the ground’s capacity.

Current ticket-holders for these matches will be contacted once Surrey know how many members are attending, to confirm if there is still capacity. If there is not space, ticket-holders will receive an automatic refund and a free ticket for a Royal London One-Day Cup fixture.

In advance of the Blast, Surrey will be staging a warm-up T20 game on June 4, with academy graduates taking on players from the rest of the world. The graduates side is set to include Rory Burns, Tom Curran, Will Jacks, Jason Roy and Ollie Pope, who will go up against a rest of the world 11 including the likes of Sean Abbott, Hashim Amla, and Liam Plunkett.