Daniel Worrall in line for England squad for Ashes, Surrey in County Championship, video, highlights

Former South Australian sailor Daniel Worrall is an outsider to represent England on next year’s Ashes tour after a successful campaign with Surrey in the County Championship.

The 32-year-old, who played three ODIs for Australia in 2016, is currently the top wicket-taker in this year’s County Championship with 34 scalps at 16.38 and an economy rate of 2.51.

Since switching allegiances and committing as a local English player in 2022, Worrall has helped Surrey win back-to-back County Championship titles as the south-eastern county look set to make it a hat-trick of titles this year.

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“It’s something I honestly wish I had done 10 years ago,” Worrall said recently of his decision to sign as a local player.

Worrall was born in Melbourne and made his first-class debut for South Australia in 2012. He took 195 wickets in the Sheffield Shield at an average of 29.43 for the Redbacks and represented the Melbourne Stars and Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League.

The right-handed pacer, who signed a three-year contract with Surrey ahead of the 2022 season, holds a British passport due to his family background with an English father and Irish mother.

Most wickets in the 2024 County Championship

34 – Daniel Worrall (Surrey)

34 – Jamie Porter (Essex)

32 – Oliver Hannon-Dalby (Warwickshire)

31 – Dillon Pennington (Nottinghamshire)

Worrall, who turns 33 next week, will represent England when his three-year absence ends in April 2025. He recently announced his desire to play Test cricket for his adopted country.

“I’m prepared to go if necessary,” Worrall said in April.

“I’ve learned in my time that if you think so far ahead, you’re fooling yourself.

“When I joined Surrey I did so thinking I had a whole career ahead of me and I always had the ambition to play in England as an Englishman and have a career in England.”

If selected, Worrall would become the first cricketer to represent Australia and England at Test level since Albert Trott in 1899. After match-winning spells of 8-91 against Hampshire and 10-57 against Worcestershire this year, a national call-up is not out of the question.

Worrall can bowl well in English conditions, but his previous experience on Australian decks with the Kookaburra could make him a serious option for the 2025/26 Ashes series.

However, the Surrey pacer could be dropped considerably down the rankings after England named young pacers Dillon Pennington and Gus Atkinson for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies, which starts next week.