Roach’s Surrey capture third successive County title

LONDON, England (CMC):

West Indies veteran fast bowler Kemar Roach etched his name in history when his Surrey side won their third straight County Championship here yesterday.

The defending champions captured the title they also won in 2022 and 2023 when they beat Durham by 10 wickets on Thursday and Somerset went down to Lancashire by 168 runs yesterday.

Fellow Barbadian Chemar Holder, representing Durham, took two wickets for 56 runs in Surrey’s first innings.

Somerset had to win at Old Trafford to keep their hopes of a first-ever county title alive heading into the last round of games.

While the 36-year-old Roach did not feature in the win over Durham, he played an integral role in Surrey’s success early in the season, taking 18 wickets in their opening six matches of the campaign, including 6-46 in the second innings of Surrey’s nine-wicket victory over Warwickshire in May.

He returned for the final four matches of the 2024 season.

Roach was part of all three winning teams and took 25 wickets in Surrey’s title defence last year.

The result meant Surrey became champions for the 23rd time overall and the first team since Yorkshire 56 years ago to win three titles in succession.