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Opener produces vital half-century to help revive England from another wobbly start

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2025After their combined tally of eight runs in four innings at Perth, it proved to be a day of revived fortunes at the Gabba for two of the most scrutinised batters in England’s ranks. While Joe Root secured the plaudits for his magnificent maiden century on Australian soil, Zak Crawley’s bounce-back from a first-Test pair proved a similarly cathartic display.Though he fell when well set, gloving a pull off Michael Neser shortly after the first interval, his 76 from 93 balls was nonetheless a crucial contribution, coming as it did after his first-Test nemesis Mitchell Starc had again struck hard with the new ball, dismissing Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks in his first two overs.Crawley, by then, had already driven Starc through the covers for four, to bring up his first runs of the series, and he carried on in a similar vein, picking off a total of 11 boundaries, the majority coming when Australia’s bowlers strayed into his arc.”I did feel good, to be honest,” Crawley told TNT Sports at the close of the first day’s play. “I felt much better than Perth. I was just trying to keep it simple, just trying to score straight on the leg side, and then if it was really full, maybe on the off side. Yeah, I was happy with my knock.”Crawley’s relative watchfulness outside off was the key feature of his innings, and a tribute to the hours in the nets that England have put in (in between some notable moments of downtime) since their two-day defeat in the series opener.”I think it’d have felt a long break if I’d have got two hundreds, to be honest,” he said. “It was big old gap after a two-day game. But yeah, it’s a good chance to get some practice in. And I felt comfortable. I felt calm today, and managed to settle the nerves. So I was pleased with how I played.”I had a clear plan and I stuck to it. There were still a couple of loose shots in there, as I tend to do, but got away with them, and I played nicely down the ground as well. By trying to score on the leg side, that made me leave a bit better outside off with the extra bounce today, and then when I got in, the ball started doing a bit less.”England’s close-of-play score of 325 for 9 looked significantly more healthy thanks to an unbeaten tenth-wicket stand of 61 between Root, who finished unbeaten on 135, and Jofra Archer, whose 32 not out was his highest Test score, in just his second innings at No.11.Until Australia have batted, it will be hard to tell how good that score actually is, but after the groundstaff had given the pitch a final trim to 3mm of grass before the match, Crawley knew it had been a good toss for England to win, notwithstanding their early collapse to 5 for 2.Related

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“The last few days, it’s been really green here. So we all thought it’s going to be a green nipper again. And they obviously shaved it this morning, so it looked like a great wicket to bat on, with the overheads as well.”I was gutted to get out when I did, the pitch was just getting a bit flatter there,” he added. “But obviously we finished the day well with Rooty and Jof at the end there. So it’s good day.”At 264 for 9 with approximately half an hour of the day remaining, there had been some speculation that England might declare to insert Australia under the lights, much as they had done in their previous pink-ball Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui two years ago. But with Root going strong, and with memories of England’s infamous declaration at Edgbaston in 2023, Crawley said a repeat scenario had not been on the cards.”No talk of declaring,” he said. “We were talking about boys going really hard, and if they got out, then it was kind of a win-win situation. So they went hard, and they came off, and there’s a valuable 50 runs there for us.”Root will be on strike when day two gets underway, and will have the chance to extend England’s innings into the morning session, with six overs to come until the new ball is due. For now, though, he will have a chance to savour a significant landmark in his career, and one that may just confirm his credentials as England’s greatest Test batter.”I’m chuffed for him,” Crawley said, after Root’s 40th Test hundred and his first in Australia. “He hasn’t been speaking about it at all to us, that’s just the outside noise. He’s just very focused on just getting whatever score is needed on the day, and proved to be a hundred today.”But he’s the best player I’ve ever played with, or probably against as well. And he’s a champion bloke. I’m chuffed to bits for him.”

Opening batter arrives in time for four-day clash with Surrey at Scarborough; Jewell back at Derbyshire in 2026

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2025Imam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan opening batter, has joined Yorkshire as an overseas signing for the remainder of the season.Imam, the nephew of Pakistan great Inzamam, has scored three hundreds in 24 Test appearances, and a further nine in 75 ODIs, and has previously represented Somerset in the County Championship in 2022.He will go straight into Yorkshire’s squad for their Championship clash with Surrey at Scarborough, and will remain with the team for their Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign, and the culmination of the Championship in September.Related

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In March, Imam helped Pakistan Television win the President’s Cup, Pakistan’s domestic tournament. He arrives at Yorkshire after Ruturaj Gaikwad, the India batter, withdrew from his planned stint at the club for personal reasons.”We’re delighted that Imam has joined us and that he will be available immediately,” Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, said. “Whilst we were naturally disappointed that Ruturaj couldn’t join up with the squad, in Imam we have an exceptional player of proven international quality.”Imam has an impressive record and is already familiar with domestic cricket in this country which will stand us in good stead for a crucial block of fixtures.”We are grateful for the speed in which he has arrived in the country and everyone at the club is looking forward to working with him through until the end of the season.”

Jewell signs for Derbyshire return in 2026

Derbyshire, meanwhile, have confirmed that Australia A batter Caleb Jewell will be back at the County Ground next summer after signing a contract for the 2026 season.Jewell has been a key part of the Derbyshire side that is currently second in Division Two and looking to secure promotion for the first time in more than a decade. The left-hander is fifth on the division’s run-scoring list, with 821 runs at 54.73, including a career-best 232 against Kent.”Caleb has performed brilliantly in the first half of the season, despite adapting to new conditions, and we were keen to get a deal done quickly,” Mickey Arthur, Derbyshire’s head of cricket, said.”As well as his stellar performances, Caleb has also settled into our dressing room really well. He brings real grit and determination to our ranks, the exact qualities you want from an overseas signing.Jewell said: “I’ve loved my time with Derbyshire so far and I’m really happy to have signed for next season already. There’s a great bunch of players at this club, they’ve all made me feel so welcome and that’s been reflected on the field with positive results, particularly in red-ball cricket.”Hopefully we can have a strong 50-over competition and then focus our efforts on staying in the hunt for promotion, to give our supporters a really memorable season.”

Wicketkeeper/batsman had been due to play seven County Championship fixtures

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2020Somerset have announced that Matthew Wade will not be joining the club as planned this summer due to a knee injury, though his involvement in the county season was in jeopardy regardless due to the ongoing COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic which has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the English summer.Wade, who played all three games of Australia’s recent T20I series in South Africa and was an unused ODI squad member both on that tour and in their aborted series at home to New Zealand, had been due to play the first seven games of the County Championship season for Somerset.”It’s a big blow,” Wade said. “I was looking forward to the challenge of playing county cricket in England this summer, but after discussions with the Cricket Australia medical team regrettably, it became clear that I wouldn’t be in a position to join Somerset.”ALSO READ: Crunch time for English cricket as domestic game feels the COVID-19 squeezeWade will now have a prolonged period without cricket for the first time in almost a year, having gone straight from an Australia A tour in June 2019 into the Ashes series, and then into the Australian home summer a matter of weeks later.In practice, he is unlikely to have been available even before that medical advice. The Championship season is scheduled to start on April 12, but there is a growing acceptance that the date will not be achievable, and given the UK’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said last week he expected the virus to peak in “10-14 weeks” – late May to June – meaning all of the games Wade was scheduled to play could well end up being postponed.Somerset have signed Babar Azam for the T20 Blast and two Championship games and are hoping to find another overseas player for the second half of the Championship season as it is scheduled.

Marsh continued his fine form in the series with a player-of-the-match display

Andrew McGlashan15-Jul-2021When Fabian Allen kept depositing the ball in the stands in the penultimate over, bowled by Riley Meredith, at Daren Sammy Stadium, it seemed as though one of Mitchell Marsh’s best nights in coloured clothes for Australia might not end in victory.But Allen edged behind, and with 11 to defend in the final over against Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc produced a masterclass to deny boundaries for five deliveries and earn Australia their first win of the tour.After Starc had expensive outings in the first two games of the series – where his combined figures were 8-0-89-0 – he responded with his most economical four overs in the third game (1 for 15) and then this match-clinching over when the odds had appeared to favour the in-form Russell.Related

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“I thought he was world class,” Marsh said. “At the start of that over, I was at short third man with Finchy [Aaron Finch] and those moments, that’s the ultimate. Mitchell Starc versus Andre Russell, two of the best in the world at what they do, that’s why you play. We love that stuff. You’d like it to be not as close but that’s cricket at the highest level, was awesome to watch that last over.”He [Starc] may have had a slower start to the series but he’s the best in the world and that over tonight, we’ve got a lot of young bowlers who aspire to be like that. He’s a great leader, a great white-ball bowler.”Adam Zampa also had his best outing of the series so far with 2 for 20 as he and Marsh hauled West Indies back from a rapid start to the chase courtesy Lendl Simmons. Jason Behrendorff was impressive on his return – his first Australia outing since the 2019 World Cup – and it was somewhat surprising he wasn’t handed the 19th over, which then almost took the game away from the visitors.

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“We saw with both teams batting against the new ball was the time to do and we knew it was going to slow up,” Marsh said. “It was about hanging in there, the plan was really simple, Zamps does what he does, he’s done it for a long time now, and for me it’s about taking as much pace off the ball as I can.”Marsh has been the biggest gain from this tour so far for Australia as he has taken the chance to bat at No. 3 with three half-centuries in four games. Whether that clarifies anything ahead of the World Cup should Steven Smith be available is another issue but the selectors have seen one of their plans come off. He was just the third Australia men’s player to score a half-century and take three wickets in a T20I.”I’m 29 now and have had a lot of experiences, both good and bad, in international cricket,” he said. “I came into this tour really well prepared, had a great break, feel in great physical shape and mentally feeling really good.”As an allrounder, it’s pretty rare you get a game where you have the opportunity to get stuck in with bat and ball, but most importantly to get a win after going 3-0 was important for this young group.”

“Security is the main challenge there, like teams have been attacked in the past, which is a concern,” India’s sports minister Anurag Thakur said

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Nov-2021Just one day after the ICC awarded the rights to the 2025 Champions Trophy to be played in Pakistan, the Indian government has expressed apprehensions about participation in the global tournament. Anurag Thakur, India’s sports minster and former BCCI president, on Wednesday, said that the Indian government will monitor the security situation at the time in Pakistan before taking a decision on whether the India team will travel for the eight-team global tournament.”The Indian government – the Home Ministry – has earlier also made its decision,” Thakur told reporters in Delhi on Wednesday. “When such global tournaments happen several factors are considered.”Even in the past, you would have seen many countries have pulled out to go there (Pakistan) and play because the situation there is not normal. Security is the main challenge there, like teams have been attacked in the past, which is a concern. So when the time comes, the Indian government will take a decision depending on the circumstances then.”The Champions Trophy is the first ICC tournament that will be hosted in Pakistan since the 1996 men’s ODI World Cup which was co-hosted by two other countries: India and Sri Lanka. No Indian team has played cricket in Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup.The two neighbours have not played any bilateral cricket in Pakistan since Rahul Dravid’s side travelled to Pakistan in 2005-06 for a full tour comprising three Tests and five ODIs. Pakistan toured India for a reciprocal tour in 2007-08 but the strained political equation between their governments since then has restricted ties to one white-ball bilateral series in 2012-13 in India and games between the two in ICC tournaments. Pakistan traveled to India to play in the 2011 ODI World Cup semi-final and later to participate in the 2016 T20 World Cup.

He is also hopeful of playing more Test cricket, which remains his favourite format

Matt Roller09-May-2023Trent Boult still has “a big desire” to represent New Zealand at the 50-over World Cup in India later this year, and remains hopeful that he will add to his 78 Test caps.Boult was released from his central contract last August at his own request in order to spend more time with his family and increase his availability for franchise leagues around the world.He has not played any international cricket since New Zealand’s T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to Pakistan in November and has not played a Test match in nearly a year, with New Zealand prioritising contracted players in their selection.Related

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But, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo in Jaipur, where he has been representing Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, Boult expressed his hope that he will return to India in October-November for the ODI World Cup.”I’ve still got that big desire to play for New Zealand,” Boult said. “It is what it is: I’ve made my decision. I’ve been lucky enough to have a 13-year career in the Black Cap and hey, I’ve still got a big desire to play in the World Cup as well. We’ll see how that unfolds: there’s still a bit of movement in the landscape at the moment.”I remember after the 2019 final, I said to Kane [Williamson] that we’ve got to be there again, come 2023 in India. It’s a shame with what’s going on with his knee but he’ll be working as hard as he can to try and get there. It’s such a great tournament… One hundred percent, I’ve got that desire to be out there.”We’re a great one-day side. We’ve got some players that have travelled to India and experienced the conditions a lot, and that’s what it comes down to in World Cups. You can’t buy experience, and you can’t replace players that have toured for however many years across these conditions.”Boult has not featured in any of New Zealand’s past six Test matches, and in February, was overlooked for the fixture against England in Mount Maunganui, where he and his family are based. “It felt bizarre,” he said. “Test match cricket was on, a couple of kilometres down the road, and I wasn’t part of it.”But he retains hope that he will be considered for their home Tests against Australia and South Africa in early 2024. “Hopefully not, no,” he said, asked if he had played his final Test match. “There are some big Tests coming up next year: Australia and South Africa are due to travel to New Zealand. And Test cricket is still my favourite format.”I’ve played nearly 80 Tests and had some pretty great times in the Black Cap, but they said that, if I chose to move away from that contract, my time in it would be limited. And I’m pretty sure they’ve never had anyone play Test cricket that isn’t contracted – so that probably makes it hard as well.”Boult has played in the Big Bash League and the ILT20 since stepping away from his national contract, and is likely to play in at least one other league later this year. With new tournaments emerging, heavily backed by IPL franchises, he predicted: “International cricket, I think, is going to suffer in some aspects.”It’s an interesting time for both franchise and international cricket, I reckon,” Boult said. “The leagues – there’s a lot of movement happening in that space, but the golden question is what it’s going to look like in a couple of years.”

Australia slumped to 45 for 6 with Akeal Hosein taking three quick wickets

Andrew McGlashan22-Jul-2021 • Updated on 25-Jul-2021Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder rescued West Indies from more top-order troubles to level the ODI series in Barbados in the match that was delayed by 48 hours after the Covid-19 scare in the home side’s camp.In the end it was Australia’s collapse that proved decisive when they crumbled to 45 for 6 as left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein claimed three wickets in six balls. The last four wickets turned the innings around by adding 142, which included a 59-run ninth-wicket stand between Adam Zampa and Wes Agar, then when West Indies slipped to 72 for 5 – with Mitchell Starc again brilliant – there was the chance of a remarkable resurgence.However, Pooran and Holder played with excellent composure knowing that the required rate was never an issue. Pooran was given lives on 26 and 49, the first when Moises Henriques spilled a simple chance at mid-off, and Holder was reprieved by the DRS but it was a well-constructed stand during which Holder brought up his first ODI fifty since the 2019 World Cup while Pooran was unbeaten to finish things off.Even though the toss remained from two days ago, West Indies had given permission for Australia to make a change to their XI with Agar replacing Josh Hazlewood who had been managing a calf niggle and hadn’t been able to get the usual treatment due to two days of isolation while everyone in the bubble was retested.West Indies struck in the opening over when Ben McDermott nicked a wide delivery from Sheldon Cottrell’s second ball and after Josh Philippe had briefly shone he picked out deep square leg with a pull.Cottrell’s first spell had been just two overs as he left the field but his replacement, Holder, made a significant inroad when he produced an excellent delivery to take Mitchell Marsh’s outside edge.Then it was over to Hosein. There was no captain’s innings from Alex Carey this time as he was comprehensively beaten through the gate by a fantastic delivery that spun sharply from quite wide. Henriques’ disappointing tour continued when he edged a drive to slip, a reward for Hosein throwing his line a touch wider to entice the shot.Two balls later, he produced another gem, dropping a delivery on the middle and leg which then ripped past Ashton Turner’s edge to take middle stump. At that point, a very early finish was a possibility.Starc and Matthew Wade started a rebuild with a stand of 51 which was broken by Hayden Walsh Jr who had Starc lbw sweeping, via the DRS, having survived the same mode of dismissal on 7 when the review system overturned the decision. On both occasions, the umpire was Joel Wilson on a day he had four decisions overturned.Wade never found fluency but had little choice but to try and bat through the innings. However, the revival then came from the unlikely pairing of Zampa and Agar in a stand of 59 in seven overs which included Agar twice clearing the rope as West Indies became a little ragged in the closing stages until things ended in consecutive deliveries.It did not take long for a target of 188 to look much more challenging on a challenging surface. Starc was again on-song in his first spell as he pinned Evin Lewis lbw – having seen the opener saved from a caught behind in the opening over – and produced another pearler for his collection to extract Darren Bravo’s off stump.Spin then made an impact as Zampa caused plenty of problems with his googly, firstly removing Jason Mohammed with some help from the pad and then going right through Kieron Pollard. Between those wickets, Turner, a part-time offspinner, struck with his second delivery in ODIs when Shai Hope, who had played superbly against Starc, ran past one that slid on to take off stump.While that was a smart piece of captaincy by Carey, it also highlighted one of Australia’s problems as they lacked the second frontline spinner which West Indies possessed. Alongside the absence of Hazlewood, it left a lot on the shoulders of Starc and Zampa who couldn’t conjure another breakthrough in time – although Zampa should have done when Pooran was shelled with 65 still needed.In the over following that miss, Holder pulled debutant Riley Meredith for six over deep square leg which saw McDermott clatter into the boundary borders as he tried to reach the catch and hobble away.The rest of the chase was not without the occasional nervy moments particularly when Starc had Holder lbw with 23 needed. Pooran, who earlier became the third-fastest West Indies men’s batter to 1000 ODI runs, went to 49 with a six off Turner and brought up fifty when Wade could not hold a top edge at slip which he was moving the wrong way for. There was then a sigh of relief when Starc finished his 10 overs.

Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton were the other first-time additions to the list that has grown from 16 to 20

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2023Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton have been added to South Africa’s expanded list of centrally contracted players for the 2023-24 season. Cricket South Africa has made provision for four more players, increasing the list from 16 to 20.Heinrich Klaasen, who was upgraded during the past season, also keeps his new grade, while Wayne Parnell has been contracted for the first time since returning from his Kolpak deal in 2021. Three players have lost their deals from the last contracting cycle: Janneman Malan and Andile Phehlukwayo have been dropped off the central contracts list and Dwaine Pretorius has retired.Though CSA’s director of cricket, Enoch Nkwe, had initially indicated a split-contracting system, this was not specifically announced. Instead, Nkwe said the increased number of contracts was created to allow for single-format players to get national deals. “The number of contracted players has increased from 16 to 20 this season to ensure that we have a wider pool of white-ball specialists and Test players. We look forward to seeing them compete at the highest level in what is an important next 12 months for the limited-overs and Test sides, with the [ODI] World Cup taking place later this year as well as the start of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.”On the list, Quinton de Kock and David Miller are white-ball players only, with both having announced their retirement from red-ball cricket in previous years, while Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen have only played for South Africa in Tests. The rest of the players on the list play in all formats at domestic level and would be in contention for national selection on that basis. There was some suggestion that de Kock and Elgar would walk away from international cricket soon but their re-contracting suggests they have committed to South African cricket for another 12 months.South Africa are currently playing their last Test of the 2021-2023 WTC cycle, where they could finish third, and will not play in whites until hosting India in December. For the rest of the year, their focus is on white-ball cricket, with the team yet to secure automatic qualification for this year’s 50-over World Cup. They play Netherlands in two must-win World Cup Super League matches on March 31 and April 2. South Africa will then go into a winter break – which may be interrupted by World Cup qualifying in Zimbabwe in June – and then play Australia in white-ball matches at home in August-September.The national women’s contracts are expected to be announced later this month.South Africa men’s contracts listTemba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen.

Allrounder earns reappraisal from Anderson after crucial match-turning innings

Osman Samiuddin02-Jul-2022You’d think an allrounder who averages over 35 with the bat and under 25 with the ball (and takes four wickets per Test) across 60 Tests might not need the validation of a century to boost his confidence. You’d think Ravindra Jadeja might not need that boost of confidence. You’d be wrong.Jadeja’s first Test hundred outside India, and especially because it was in England, is one that he will draw from. “I’m feeling really good, to do it outside India, especially in England to hit a hundred as a player is a really big thing,” he said. “I can really take some confidence in myself as a player from this, to score a hundred in England, in swinging conditions, so yeah it feels really good.”The innings was overshadowed by Rishabh Pant’s 111-ball 146 but was marked by a discipline and sense of game-management that spoke of the work of a proper batter. Which is precisely what James Anderson identified as a shift from previous encounters with Jadeja – and the pair have, of course, history.”In the past he was coming at 8, bat with the tail so he had to chance his arm a little bit,” Anderson said, “whereas now at 7 he can bat like a proper batter. He leaves really well and made it difficult for us.””In England you have play close to the body,” Jadeja added. “The ball swings here so if you look to play the cover- or square-drive there is a chance you can edge to the cordon. My focus was to initially not play at too many balls outside off-stump.”When the cover or point is vacant there is a temptation to hit the ball through that area for a boundary, but then you can get out in the slips. My thought was only to hit the ball that was really close to me and to hit it straight. Luckily, all the balls that I picked were in my areas and converted them into boundaries. If you know where your off-stump is, then you can leave the balls outside that line.”And Anderson’s assessment?”See, when you score runs, everyone says they think of themselves as a proper batter. But I’ve always tried to give myself time at the crease, to set a partnership with whoever is at the crease, to play with him. It’s nice Jimmy Anderson has realised that after 2014… so I’m happy.”Facing opposition bowlers is one thing but long partnerships with a batter like Pant brings its own questions and decisions. The pair put on a record 222 and Jadeja said that, while batting with Pant, he understood Rahul Dravid’s line about the difficulties of batting with Virender Sehwag: such was Sehwag’s attacking game that it was difficult for the partner to not get swept alongside in a similar vein.”Yes totally,” he said. “A little pressure goes off because he’s hitting every bowler in the same way. He wasn’t leaving anyone alone. At the non-striker’s end it feels good because they then don’t focus too much on me.Related

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“But as a batsman you still have to come to [a place like] England and concentrate and focus because it is never easy here. You’re playing on 50 or 70 and you can get a good ball anytime. Me and Rishabh were talking about this, that we just try and put on a long partnership. When I came to bat we had to take the team to a good position and really had to put some effort in. Hopefully we’ve put a good total on the board.”With England 84 for 5 at the close of a rain-hit second day, that total of 416 was looking even more imposing. Three fast bowlers have done all the bowling and the wicket-taking thus far, but with England’s engine room this summer of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes at the crease, it may be that Jadeja’s second suit is called upon as well.”It might be that I have no role to play at all which will be a good thing,” he said. “The way our four fast bowlers are bowling, Bumrah, Shami, Siraj and Shardul, I want that I don’t have a role. That’ll be best for the team.”My job is to do whatever the team needs me to do. As an allrounder, sometimes the situation is that you need to make runs and save the team and help them win. In bowling you sometimes have to provide the breakthroughs and break partnerships or chip in with one or two wickets. I consider myself only a team player who does whatever the team needs.”

Former Middlesex and England seamer signs a three-year deal to become the new assistant coach at The Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2018Richard Johnson, the former Middlesex and England seamer, has transferred his allegiance south of the river, after signing a three-year deal to become the new assistant coach at Surrey.Johnson had been part of Middlesex’s coaching set-up since 2011, a spell that included their County Championship triumph in 2016, and even stood in as interim coach this season after Richard Scott was sacked in July.However, having missed out on the permanent role at Lord’s – a job that instead went to the former Australia batsman, Stuart Law – Johnson has decided the time is ripe to switch to London’s other major county.There, he will take over the bowling duties from Ryan Sidebottom and Alfonso Thomas, who had been working with the club on a consultancy basis in 2018, although Geoff Arnold will be retained in his own coaching role.”Surrey are one of the biggest clubs in the country and proved their strength by winning the County Championship this year,” said Johnson.”This is an excellent chance to be part of something exciting moving forward with a high quality group of players both senior and younger.”There are plenty of people already at the club that I know well and I can’t wait to get in to the Kia Oval to start work later this month.”Director of Cricket Alec Stewart added: “First of all, I would like to thank both Ryan Sidebottom and Alfonso Thomas for their excellent work with us last season. When I spoke with them they both understood our need for a full-time bowling coach.”I’ve known Jono for a long time, having played Test cricket with him, and he has shown himself to be one of the very best bowling coaches in the game. I’m looking forward to seeing his expertise and qualities have a positive impact on our bowling group.”Johnson, 43, retired from the first-class game in 2007 after a career that included three Test matches, ten ODIs and 528 first-class wickets at an average of 28.58, including ten wickets in a single innings against Derbyshire in 1994.His credentials as a bowling coach have been enhanced by the development of talents such as Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and Tom Helm, and he has also worked with the England Lions on recent overseas tours.