Warwickshire 143 for 8 (Mousley 55*, Roach 3-31) vs Surrey

How revered will Kemar Roach be when the next history of great West Indies fast bowlers is written? Not quite in the pantheon perhaps, but worth considerably more than an afterthought. At a time when county cricket is more vulnerable than ever to a rapidly-changing landscape, his presence for Surrey provides encouragement that all is not lost. A player who insists county cricket should value what it has, not yearn for what is now unachievable.

Late-career Roach (more Use Your Loaf these days than Meatloaf - think "Bat Out of Hell") is a handful on moody days such as this one, his natural inswing given more venom by movement off the pitch.

He is fifth on West Indies' all-time Test wicket-taking list now, ahead of acknowledged greats such as Garner, Holding, Roberts and Hall and, if his average is a little higher, and if he has never won the same acclaim, he has had to contend with an era when Test cricket no longer absorbs West Indies in the way it once did. He has often found himself playing a lone hand in a hopeless cause. It is a lot easier to hunt in a pack when the force is with you.

Alongside him, Dan Worrall makes up the other half of a Surrey new-ball partnership of impressive pedigree. Worrall never won an Australia Test cap, and, at 31, doubtless never will unless there is a mass incident of food poisoning on the eve of an Ashes Test (Stuart Broad's fire-hit pub has not quite reopened, but that come to think of it that would be quite a reopening night). But Worrall is a redoubtable campaigner for all that. His alliance with Roach is a formidable one.

Three wickets for Roach, two for Worrall, one for Tom Lawes and, vitally, two-in-two for Jordan Clark just before bad light prematurely ended a rain-affected first day made up a day of Surrey superiority. Warwickshire, 143 for 8 in 51 overs, need equally grim Friday weather in the hope that Chris Woakes and co can respond in kind.

Surrey dispensed with Hampshire a fortnight ago and if they do the same to Warwickshire at Edgbaston, two of their likeliest challengers would be put in their place by the end of the month. There is an awful lot of poetry written about how divine April is, but that's poetry for you - you just can't trust it. As Lee Anderson might one day say.

One Warwickshire batter was steadfast in his resistance, however. Dan Mousley, a 21-year-old leftie, looks as judicious as any young batter in the country. This is the county where Sam Hain has been frequently lauded but never selected, but Mousley is definitely worthy of attention from an ECB apparatchik. He emerged unscathed from a highly difficult day with an unbeaten 55 from 125 balls, and assessed conditions with great maturity. He struck an unselfish 94 against Kent at Edgbaston earlier in the season, with a declaration looming, so he appears to have a flexible mindset.

Ian Bell, as loyal as anyone to the Bears' cause, named the emerging talent of young players like Mousley as a good reason for him to retire and, in a neat passing of the flame between generations, they combined in a memorable stand together in Bell's farewell innings.

Jonathan Trott felt exactly the same as he, too, stood down, the only difference being that Trott stayed on as part of the Warwickshire coaching staff and kept breaking Mousley's fingers in fielding routines: three breaks in two seasons were an unfortunate introduction to the hazards of a cricketer's lot.

If Mousley wondered whether his fingers were vulnerable, he can find relief in the fact that he has now withstood a clank on the helmet with no ill effects. He was struck when 20 as he failed to crouch under a short ball from Lawes, who can be more waspish than he first appears. After passing concussion protocols, he played subsequent bouncers with equanimity, including the predictable, leery one in the following over from Clark.

He also gave a chance on 16 - a fast catch to third slip off Lawes, put down by Ryan Patel. His square driving was particularly well-honed; his riskiest shot perhaps when he stole a yard down the pitch to whip Roach through midwicket soon after lunch even though the ball left him off the pitch.

There was a time early in his career when Roach looked out-of-sorts against left-handers, but now he swings the ball away from them without a care in the world. As Surrey's bowling day began, it took him eight balls to remove Rob Yates for nought, leaving him off the pitch to force a catch at fourth slip.

There was nothing special in Will Rhodes' edge to slip off Worrall, just a ball angled across. Roach then struck again three balls later. Alex Davies had batted with great deliberation, but then his true self announced itself and he was late on a pull and sliced it high to the wicketkeeper. Ollie Pope at slip, Ben Foakes behind the stumps: two England players fed and watered early.

That Warwickshire were resolved to prove their worth was also apparent in Hain's stubborn 10 from 42 balls, but he played around a full inswinger from Lawes. Ed Barnard and Mark Burgess went their way soon after lunch as Roach and Worrall returned for seconds - Barnard surrendering to Worrall's insistent length and edging to second slip, and Burgess athletically picked up in his follow-through by Roach. There are not many fast bowlers at 34, nearly a decade after a serious car accident, who could pluck the ball, one-handed, from the turf while executing a forward roll.

Then, as the groundstaff hovered by the covers, two successive leg-befores for Clark - Chris Woakes and Hasan Ali - to confirm it was Surrey's day.

The previous evening, Warwickshire's coach, Mark Robinson, had proclaimed: "The overriding emotion for me and the players is excitement; we want to take on the best and test ourselves." A day later, the overriding emotion was concern. One part of the country wants this lousy April weather to continue a little longer.

Kemar Roach shows his pedigree as Surrey seamers take control

2023-04-27 18:15:36