Richard Spiller sat down with Surrey pacer Dan Worrall to talk about the Australian’s cricket journey, life in the Three Feathers, season’s ambitions and more.
Dan Worrall has a straightforward approach to bowling.
“I’m not exactly tall and I’m not exactly fast. So I have to use my skills to get the best out of the pitch.”
That expertise has been built up over a career which took him from his home city of Melbourne to Adelaide, having been offered a rookie contract by South Australia aged 21, before heading to England initially with Gloucestershire in 2018.
A broken foot cut short his first year at Bristol and he was not able to return for a second season until 2021 and later that season made the decision to use his British passport to become a locally qualified player, signing for Surrey.
Worrall’s arrival at the Kia Oval was initially delayed by family circumstances but the seamer with the curved run-up – as a youngster a rather inconvenient tree in his family’s back yard prevented him approaching the wicket straight – established himself as one of the leaders of the attack. That was reflected by claiming 39 Championship wickets at 24 in nine matches.
He admits that the whole summer rushed by from the moment he made his belated debut – ironically back at Bristol in a draw against Gloucestershire in late April – to wrapping up the title against Yorkshire at the Kia Oval.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind. I missed a few games and then it was straight into it. April became September pretty quickly,” he recalls.
Winning a medal was all the more special to Worrall: “It’s my career highlight – I’d been on the losing side in every competition I played in.”
That’s a modest appraisal for a man who played three one-day internationals for Australia against South Africa in 2018-19 but, particularly now he has moved permanently to England with his wife and one-year-old child, the focus is on what might be achieved over the next few seasons.
“We have the all-round squad to be winning trophies year after year rather than one and done. There’s a lot of depth, with a mix of older players and some youngsters who are showing real quality. We will probably see players like Will Jacks and Jamie Overton being picked for England and there’s plenty there for the future. The club has high standards and we have to set the bar high.”
Worrall enjoyed a rare winter off, spending part of it visiting family in Adelaide while keeping a paternalistic eye on county colleague Tom Lawes playing grade cricket for his club Kensington as they took a league double.
“I’d been going back and forth to Australia for five years, playing seasons nose to tail, which takes a bit of planning. The pitches are very different and in England you’ve got a few rain days to help you through. But it was good to have a chance to refresh.”
When it comes to durability – plus grit thrown in – Worrall showed he possessed it in skipfuls with an outstanding display against Essex at The Kia Oval last July. His 6-56 from 19 overs on the opening day of the match, bowling out the visitors for 271, came in temperatures above 40 centigrade. It was backed up by 5-66 in the second innings, earning him best match figures of 11-122 as Surrey took a step further to the title through winning by six wickets.
Even if the thermometer was down to easier levels, there was another handicap: “I tore the pec in my right arm in the first innings, so it was pretty uncomfortable. But that’s four-day cricket – you need to have the physical and mental stamina to deal with whatever comes your way.
“In the context of the season it was a big match for us. You have to stick your hand up when it counts.”
There was much talk last season about the quality of the balls being used and this year two rounds of the Championship will see the Australian Kookaburra being used.
“I thought I’d got away from them in Australia!” is Worrall’s reaction before adding: “You can have too many preconceived ideas about what a ball or pitch might do or not. You just have to bowl with whatever you’re given and get on with it.”
That’s a mantra which has served well the man known as “Frankie” – after the legendary West Indian skipper Frank Worrell – in his rise through the game since playing in Melbourne’s third grade side in 2010-11, helping them take the title.
“That was the season we knew Frankie had something,” recalled his captain back then, John Fitzgibbon.
Having taken five wickets in the second innings and played a pivotal part in Surrey’s win over Hampshire in the 2023 season at The Kia Oval, Worrall has already continued his good start to life in the Three Feathers.
There should be plenty more to come.
