England Test capped pacer Matthew Fisher took five wickets at The Oval yesterday (September 15), in the title-deciding round of the County Championship between Surrey and Nottinghamshire.
In the only match that was able to get underway on Day One of the penultimate round of the Championship, with rain wiping out the action across the rest of the Country, Surrey followed their tried-and-tested method on their home ground and bowled first. Fisher was one of three Test pedigree seamers in the home attack, alongside Gus Atkinson and fellow single Test participant, Tom Curran.
After Atkinson took the big wicket of Haseeb Hameed, Nottinghamshire captain and second-leading run-scorer in Division One, Fisher took charge. Brought on 20 overs into the morning session with Nottinghamshire 51-1, he made the breakthrough after switching ends five overs into his spell. Going wide of the crease from around the wicket, Fisher found Freddie McCann's edge with the catch routinely taken by Ben Foakes. Ben Slater was next to fall victim to Fisher after reaching his half-century, in a similar dismissal to McCann's.
Nottinghamshire's final eight wickets fell for 142 runs. Fisher's next wicket was South Africa international Kyle Verreynne, who was struck plumb on his pads to a ball which nipped back in from outside off. Cleaning up the tail, Fisher induced a big, booming drive from England teammate Josh Tongue to claim his fourth, and completed his first five-for in Surrey colours by trapping Dillon Pennington lbw as the final wicket of the innings. He finished with figures of 5-61, with Atkinson ending the innings with 4-41 and Nottinghamshire all out for 231.
Fisher finally reaps rewards at new home
Fisher made the move to the reigning County Champions at the end of last year, having helped Yorkshire secure promotion back to Division One in 2024. While the appeal of Surrey as three-time consecutive Championship winners is clear, Fisher's signing was equally to help The Oval-based outfit shore up their bowling stocks to accommodate those dropping in and out on England duty.
In addition to Atkinson, Surrey have also been without Jamie Overton, and recently Sam Curran during this season, with Reece Topley, Jamie Smith, Ollie Pope, and Will Jacks all members of their staff who hold England central contracts.
While Fisher is not contracted to England, he played one Test against the West Indies in 2022, the series following the 2021/22 Ashes which James Anderson and Stuart Broad were both left out of. He took one wicket in that match, before picking up an injury to his back the following season that ruled him out of contention for the start of the international summer.
Having moved down to Surrey, Fisher took time over the season to produce returns of note. Despite putting together good spells and starring in the Kookaburra-ball rounds, his five-for yesterday was his first for the club in his 10th game this year. He has taken 23 wickets at 37.39, with one round left to go this season.
After bowling Nottinghamshire out for 231, Surrey finished Day One one wicket down, having lost last week's centurion Dom Sibley for 14.
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