Burns' captaincy status grows as his hundred leads Surrey

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Surrey 278 for 4 (Burns 137*, Foakes 72) vs Worcestershire
Scorecard

Rory Burns played a captain's innings of 137 not out as Surrey took the first day honours in their Specsavers County Championship match against Worcestershire at the Kia Oval.

Burns was joined by Ben Foakes, who scored a fluent 72 from 105 balls, in a fourth wicket stand of 125 as Surrey reached 278 for 4 against Division One's bottom side.

Promoted Worcestershire, who have begun the new campaign by losing all three of their previous games, bowled with spirit in the first session and a half after Surrey had chosen to bat on winning a toss.

Joe Leach's two-wicket burst immediately after lunch, in which he had both Scott Borthwick and Ryan Patel caught behind, initially pegged Surrey back to 99 for 3 - before Burns and Foakes carefully launched the counter-attack in impressive fashion.

At tea they had taken the total on to 176, with Burns on 84, and it was something of a surprise when Foakes fell in the 73rd over having just extra cover driven Ed Barnard regally for his 11th four. Barnard, to his credit, then produced a superb delivery which moved away from Foakes just enough to touch the edge of a defensive bat on its way into the gloves of wicketkeeper Ben Cox.

In the final hour and a half, however, Burns and Ollie Pope added a further 54, with Pope finishing unbeaten on 18, and by the close Burns had faced 294 balls, hitting 12 fours.

Earlier, Mark Stoneman's run out for 28 was the only blot on an otherwise profitable morning for Surrey as they reached 87 for 1 by lunch. England Test opener Stoneman featured in a hard-working first wicket stand of 50 with Burns, with both left-handers dealing well with a new ball that did nibble around enough to give Worcestershire's seam attack significant encouragement.

But then Stoneman pushed a ball from Josh Tongue into the covers, called for what was always going to be a risky single and was beaten by Barnard's excellent pick-up and direct hit on the bowler's stumps.

Both Borthwick and Patel got to 10 before the two left-handers were beaten by Worcestershire captain Leach's away movement from around the wicket and edged to Cox.

Fast bowlers Stuart Meaker and Conor McKerr were brought into Surrey's team, replacing Matt Dunn and Jade Dernbach, and Patel - who played in the draw at Lancashire last week - was pushed up the order to bat at No 4 in place of overseas batsman Dean Elgar, who is missing this match due to a prior commitment back home in South Africa.

For Worcestershire, the 20-year-old former England Under-19 all-rounder Ben Twohig was making a first-class debut and he bowled his slow left-arm spin with energy and decent control in several spells during a well-fought day in which Burns - and Foakes - proved to be the difference.

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Surrey thrilled to have Virat Kohli playing for the county: Alec Stewart

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Tags: India tour of England 2018, India, Yorkshire, Virat Kohli, Alec James Stewart

Published on: May 04, 2018

India captain Virat Kohli will play county cricket for Surrey in June. Kohli will head to the county after the IPL finishes at the end of the month

India captain Virat Kohli will play county cricket for Surrey in June. Kohli will head to the county after the IPL finishes at the end of the month. The Indian captain won’t be part of the one-off Test against Afghanistan to be played in June.

"Surrey county cricket club are delighted to announce the signing of India captain Virat Kohli for the month of June Kohli will be available for all cricket throughout the month until the close of Surrey's trip to Scarborough to face Yorkshire," Surrey County Cricket Club said in a statement released on Thursday.

"It has long been an ambition of mine to play county cricket and I am thankful to Alec Stewart and Surrey for allowing me the opportunity to join them during their 2018 season. I can't wait to get to the Kia Oval,” Virat Kohli was quoted as saying in an NDTV report after the signing.

Kohli is the fourth Indian player in county cricket this year.

Alec Stewart, Surrey's Director of Cricket, was quoted as saying in an NDTV report, "We are thrilled to have signed the biggest name in world cricket for the month of June. Playing and training alongside Virat will be a massive benefit for our players who will have the opportunity to learn so much from him.”

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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Surrey confirm Kohli deal as India's captain gets licence to warm up for England

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Surrey have confirmed the signing of India's captain Virat Kohli for the month of June so ending months of anticipation that he would use the county circuit to warm up for the Test series against England.

Kohli will become the fourth Test-eligible Indian player in county cricket this year with fellow batsman Cheteshwar Pujara currently at Yorkshire and seamers Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron representing Division Two clubs Sussex and Leicestershire respectively.

Although there have been a few voices decrying the fact that Surrey have given Kohli useful acclimatisation ahead of India's Test series in the country this summer, the vast majority of followers of England's professional circuit will welcome the additional publicity and status it is bound to bring.

Kohli will be available for all Surrey cricket throughout the month, beginning with Royal London Cup 50-over matches against Middlesex - an opening match at Lord's for India's captain - and Glamorgan and three Championship matches against Hampshire, Somerset and, finally, Yorkshire where there will not be a guest house room to be had in Scarborough.

Kohli's presence in county cricket owes much to the attitude of India's Committee of Administrators, headed by Vinod Rai. Rai had prepared the ground for Surrey's announcement by confirming that India players would not be forced to play in a one-off Test against Afghanistan against their wishes.

"Afghanistan is playing versus India and not Virat Kohli. No player (Cheteshwar Pujara especially) will be called back from UK to play versus Afghanistan. Priority is England and to do well there, so, whatever it takes," Rai said.

England will hope that this will signal a general softening of India's resistance to their leading stars playing professional cricket in England if and when the opportunity arises.

Kohli said: "It has long been an ambition of mine to play county cricket and I am thankful to Alec Stewart and Surrey for allowing me the opportunity to join them during their 2018 season. I can't wait to get to the Kia Oval."

Stewart, Surrey's Director of Cricket, added: "We are thrilled to have signed the biggest name in world cricket for the month of June. Playing and training alongside Virat will be a massive benefit for our players who will have the opportunity to learn so much from him.

"At a time when there is much discussion around the future of county cricket, the arrival of Virat should give our domestic game a massive boost and positive exposure around the cricketing world which in turn can benefit every county."

Surrey, the wealthiest professional club in England, are making a habit of such marquee signings. Kumar Sangakkara had an outstanding summer in 2017, averaging 106.50 as he made eight centuries and three half-centuries in 13 innings.

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Ollie Pope and Amar Virdi evidence of Alec Stewart's plan for a home-grown Surrey

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Old Trafford on a diluvial Friday afternoon. The first day of the game between Lancashire and Surrey has just been abandoned. The normally well-attended Primary Schools' Open Day has been limited to a Mascots' Race and even that became a straight five furlongs on the outfield rather than the Chorlton Gold Cup.

But if Manchester is conforming to its glum stereotype, the same cannot really be said of Surrey cricket these days. Officials at The Oval have striven mightily to demolish their reputation as metropolitan flash-Harrys who think they can build a team with a flourish of their cheque-book. Seven of the side which defeated Hampshire last Monday had come through the county's Academy system, albeit the greying Rikki Clarke is more an Emeritus Fellow than an ambitious PhD. student.

What is more, two of that heptad, Ollie Pope and Amar Virdi, played leading roles in what was a notable victory. In other words things are unfolding rather as Alec Stewart, Surrey's director of cricket, has planned.

"Since coming into this role I've wanted to bring Surrey players through," said Stewart, who is beginning his fifth season in charge. "When I took over there were a lot of people who had been brought from outside but I believe we now have a nucleus of players who understand what Surrey is and what it means to play for Surrey. That rubs off on everyone and sends a clear message that we give our own an opportunity."

"In the past we've been accused of being a cheque-book county and some of that was fair. Will we ever lose that tag? We're trying but it is a question of people's perceptions. Recently we've had a few who have come through as professionals and they are beginning to perform. There may be one or two years when we don't have that quality but as a rough guide my aim is that 60% of our staff should have come through the Surrey system. That's my challenge to the academy and age-group set up. And recently there have been some nice stories. Rory Burns first played for us as a nine-year-old, he's now our captain."

But anyone who has run a first-class side knows it isn't as simple as preferring local players. There are few things more dispiriting for younger players than the rhythm of defeat. Stewart judges people in such adversity because, "that's when you see the true person" but sometimes it is necessary to recruit from overseas. Any county with the means to sign Kumar Sangakkara would have been daft not to.

"I want to sign a top-class overseas player for what he can do out in the middle and how they can help our players," said Stewart. "Sangakkara was brilliant. Anyone batting with him for two hours in the middle learned a lot more than he would have done from having three months with a coach. Ben Foakes is the best example because and he and Sanga had a lot of good partnerships and now Ben's batting has really kicked on."

It is, though, about so much more than talent. Cricket is revelatory of character and tests players in ways no other sport quite manages. And even when players seem to have emerged as fledged professionals they still need guarding.

"I'm trying to protect our younger players in the same way that Alex Ferguson protected Ryan Giggs when he was perceived as a superstar at the age of 17," said Stewart. "There is so much media and social media now that young players can start believing their own publicity. That's the biggest concern but you can also have bad times as a young player, so we want to promote our own in a controlled way.

"They need to understand this is just the start. They can be taken in and then spat out very quickly. All we are saying to them is keep your feet on the ground. There will be dips in the graph but we don't want there to be crashes. I want people writing about our players in a nice way but I don't want the players in a situation where they might come out with a quote which makes sense at the time but which will make them look silly six months down the line. As their careers grow their media coverage can grow."

Stewart knows many of his principles are also pursued elsewhere but applying them at Surrey presents its own challenges. It is important that the county does not miss players, whether they emerge via a more traditional public school route like Pope, who went to Cranleigh, or the more unconventional pathway trodden by Virdi, who attended the Guru Nanak Sikh Academy. And having identified a talent, Surrey will never prevent them coupling their cricket development with further education.

"We have an excellent scouting system and I'm big on making sure we don't miss players," said Stewart. "And we will never tell a player not to go to university. We tell them cricket may not last for ever so get your education done. There are times when we don't pick academy players because their A Levels are coming up. In gap years we might suggest they go to Australia and we will line them up with clubs and coaches we know and then get feedback on them.

"When players go up a level and find there are other players as talented as them, some will work even harder to succeed and others will drop off because they don't like the competition. You have to see if they will stand up in professional sport, which is cut-throat."

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