NICK HOWSON AT THE KIA OVAL: The Cricketer picks out some important talking points as Surrey claim a four-wicket win over Glamorgan in their T20 Blast opener
Standing at over two meters high, weighing in at nearly 80kg, five back stress fractures, multiple surgeries, dozens of misgivings, one near-retirement and heaps of bad luck; if you look at Reece Topley close enough you can see the masking tape keeping him together.
I wrote in my pre-season Surrey preview that if you're not a fan of the left-armer then you're doing cricket wrong. By no available measure should he still be playing cricket. But here we are.
Given the droves of injuries England are beset with - and Topley knows plenty about - he is set to be a key figure when the white-ball matches begin against India and South Africa this summer.
Yet, with so much at stake, it is impressive just how willing he is willing to put his body in the firing line.
He showed admirable athleticism to run out Shai Hope in the second T20 against West Indies in January, diving and flicking the ball at the stumps.
But this latest display of commitment was on another level.
The assist came from Sunil Narine, who offers you so little and is so tough to read batters just feel they have to pounce on anything loose.
Kiran Carlson is a calm operator but even with the south London sun still shining you could see his eyes light up when Narine dropped one short in the 12th over.
Carlson reacted quickly, stepping across to flick the ball behind square. What he didn't account for was Topley leaping like a proverbial salmon and clinging onto a one-handed catch at deep fine leg.
On a Friday night with people continually buzzing around, food being demolished, beer glugged and chat flowing, there was a united gasp as Topley climbed off the turf with the ball in hand. It was just that good.
Reece Topley (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
The build-up to the 20th edition of the T20 Blast wasn't about the impact of the format on English cricket or the development of the game over the last 20 years, but instead how it is supposedly being undercut by The Hundred.
This was the first evening of the May/June half-term, the opening Surrey match of the competition, a Friday evening in the capital and a gorgeous sunny day to boot. The Kia Oval should have been packed out.
Instead, there were droves of empty seats, particularly in front of Archbishop Tenison's School. For a club whose business has thrived in the Blast era (their £5.4 million pre-tax profit saw them return the money it received from the government through the furlough scheme), it wasn't what you would normally expect.
Pre-pandemic, their turnover was comparable to low-level Premier League football clubs (removing broadcast revenue). Even with the £1.2m sweetener from the ECB for indulging The Hundred, and profits from hosting Oval Invincibles matches, those kinds of levels are a pipe dream.
Bar 40-year-old Michael Hogan (and he is seemingly always the expectation in this Glamorgan XI), Sam Northeast was the oldest member of this Glamorgan XI.
Of players yet to reach three figures in county cricket this season, none have more runs and few are in better form than the ex-Hampshire and Kent batter.
This was his second successive fifty in the T20 Blast, third in a row across the formats and fifth in the last eight innings.
However, it was the intelligence of the knock that made ensured Northeast was a shoo-in for this category.
Building platforms in T20 is a risk. It relies on you going deep, for others to bat around you and to know when to up the ante.
Northeast's timing couldn't have been better. Thirty-seven of the 51 deliveries he faced ended in a dot or a single. In the 19th over he was 48 off 47 as Glamorgan looked to be heading for a total below 160.
But if he hadn't built a foundation, he wouldn't have been there at the end to capitalise when Surrey got things wrong. From 122 for 3 after 16.3 overs, the wheels slightly came off at the death.
The weight of the damage was done in the 19th over when first Dan Douthwaite and then Northeast heaved the ball over the rope for three maximums from Topley's final over.
Northeast (62) could have seen out the remainder of the innings, settled on something in the 160s and watched his average soar (it is still 128 after two innings). But he unleashed two huge hits and would eventually lose his wicket the same way, picking out Jason Roy.
The stage was then left to Joe Cooke to hit successive boundaries in the final over, all set up by the senior statesman of the batting line-up.
Sam Northeast hit a much-needed 62 (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Surrey might have the most intimidating line-up in the South Group but even they will have off days. The key for their opponents will be taking advantage of them.
Regretfully for Glamorgan, they let Surrey off the hook not once, but twice.
First, Laurie Evans, when on four, was put down by David Lloyd, a skier that was spilt underneath the bright blue sky over the Kia Oval.
Then Prem Sisodiya missed a tough caught and bowled chance as Sam Curran - at the time on 32 - sent one into orbit, as the 23-year-old failed to get to the flight of the ball.
It cost the south Wales club 22 runs, a costly concession as Surrey got home with a ball to spare via a mini late collapse thanks to the evergreen Hogan (5 for 18).
To find out more about Kia’s multi award winning electric range and their strong commitment to take the lead in electrification click here (www.kia.com/uk/new-cars/ev6/)
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.