Morne Morkel returns from Australia to aid depleted Surrey

There is no word yet on when the South African, who took 309 wickets during his Test career, will be ready to return to first team action

Surrey seamer Morne Morkel is returning to the UK from Sydney, where he has been staying with his Australian wife due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The news is a boost to the county, who have found themselves heavily depleted since the Bob Willis Trophy got underway on August 1.

However, there is no word yet on when the South African, who took 309 wickets during his Test career, will be ready to return to first team action. He has been in Sydney, with a combination of winter and lockdown restricting the 35-year-old’s ability to train.

With 14 players unavailable for their trip to face Essex at Chelmsford last week, Surrey signed Sussex batsman Laurie Evans and Worcestershire seamer Adam Finch on weeklong emergency loan deals.

Ben Foakes, Sam Curran, Rory Burns and Ollie Pope are all in England’s Test bubble for their series against Pakistan, while Jason Roy and Tom Curran were made unavailable for selection following their white-ball exploits with England against Ireland.

In addition, Reece Topley, Jordan Clark, Nick Kimber, Connor McKerr and Jade Dernbach have all been carrying injuries.

As well as Morkel, Hashim Amla – signed on a Kolpak deal ahead of this season – has been awaiting clearance to travel to the UK.

Speaking after Simon Harmer took 14 wickets at Chelmsford to consign Surrey to a second successive defeat, new head coach Vikram Solanki said: “You are always going to be on the back foot at Chelmsford when you lose the toss and Harmer is the biggest threat which he proved to be in this game.

“To bowl Essex out for 262 and 261 is a credit to the young bowlers. It was tough conditions but they applied the plans that we discussed.

“We need to be patient as young bowlers sometimes miss, but they didn’t miss very often.

“Between now and Arundel we need to assess the players who have played in this game and be smart because we have plenty of cricket coming up.

“We need to be mindful of keeping the bowlers in some sort of a healthy state because the numbers are down. There is no getting away from the fact we are 0-2 but we are honest enough to take it on the chin. We will work hard to rectify matters and put things right against Hampshire.”

For unrivalled coverage of the county season, subscribe to The Cricketer and receive four issues for £15