Australian-born Surrey seamer Dan Worrall has expressed his willingness to accept an England call-up when he qualifies to represent the side in international cricket, but cautioned that he didn't see that call coming in time for the Ashes series later this year.
Speaking ahead of the start of the County Championship, in which Worrall will lead a Surrey attack looking for their fourth consecutive division one title, Worrall said when asked if he would accept an England call-up: “Yeah, of course. I’ve said it before.”
Worrall represented Australia in three ODIs in 2016, but holds a British passport through his father. Since joining Surrey as a local player in 2022, he has been a constant source of wickets for the side. He took 52 wickets in division one last year at an average of 16.15 - no bowler took more wickets than him at a lower average. Those numbers led to Rob Key voicing the possibility of Worrall representing England in the Ashes later this year.
However, Worrall stated there was no update on whether he was in talks with the ECB over playing for England.
In this month's edition of Wisden Cricket Monthly, Dan Worrall gives an inside account of Surrey's 'winning culture' and why he's not looking too far ahead in his career.
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“No. Nothing’s progressed as far as I’m concerned,” said Worrall.“If anything is happening in the background, it is but as far as I’m concerned that’s for everyone else to deal with and speculate about. To be honest with you, I haven’t thought about it. Everyone else keeps talking about it. I’m just going to go out and do my best for Surrey and hopefully enjoy another successful season at The Oval.
“The way I go about it is I’m just not interested about what anybody else is saying. I’m just trying to do my best for the team I’m representing, fully invested to my team-mates and just trying to get the best out of myself.”
When asked whether his style of bowling could succeed Down Under, Worrall quipped, "Probably not, that’s why I retired from Australia. I might just announce my international retirement and you can all go home!
"Maybe there is a job to do as a sweatband-swinger, but we’ll wait and see."
England have suffered some blows to their fast-bowler availability over the last few months. Mark Wood will miss likely the entire of their Test series against India this summer after undergoing knee surgery, while Brydon Carse was ruled out of the IPL with a toe injury.
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