Picture by John Heald. George Hill celebrates the first-innings wicket of Essex’s ex-South Africa Test captain Dean Elgar.
Jonny Bairstow has hailed the development and form of in-form all-rounder George Hill.
The former England Under 19 has taken 22 wickets with his seamers this summer, and he is the second leading wicket-taker across either division of the 2025 Rothesay County Championship.
Hill, aged 24, claimed a career best nine-wicket match haul in the weekend draw against Essex at Chelmsford, which Yorkshire dominated the majority of. He claimed a standout 6-51 in the first innings as the hosts were bowled out for 123.
Hill has added two fifties from the middle order, while the first-slipper has also taken six catches. His only frustration, by his own admission, so far has been that he would have liked to score more runs.
Late last September, Yorkshire’s new captain Bairstow was given the honour of handing Keighley-born Hill is county cap, and the pair have a strong relationship.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s trip to the Kia Oval (11am) to face reigning champions Surrey, Bairstow said: “He’s doing really well, isn’t he.
Picture by John Heald. Jonny Bairstow congratulates George Hill after his first-innings 6-51 against Essex on Saturday.
“He’s got all skill sets, has George. He catches them, bowls them, and his batting will come.
“There’s no question marks over his batting and his talent. He’s just getting out in different ways at the moment, and that’s part and parcel of the season.
“But his contribution with the ball is just outstanding.
“His control that he’s got, but also when the ball starts swinging, he’s got all avenues with his in-swinger, out-swinger and what have you. If you need him to nip it, he can do that as well.
“Hopefully his improvement keeps going, because that’s an exciting thing for everyone at Yorkshire and potentially for further honours as well.”
Yes, it was frustrating that Yorkshire were unable to claim the last wicket against Essex on Monday evening to seal a victory, but their dominant performance, especially across days two and three of that game, will give them significant confidence ahead of this clash with the champions.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Bairstow presents George Hill with his county cap ahead of play against Northamptonshire at Headingley last September.
While Yorkshire sit third-bottom with a win, two draws and a defeat, Surrey are fourth in Division One with a win and four draws. They drew against Warwickshire at Edgbaston at the weekend, avoiding having to follow-on during the final day.
“We’ve got big games now against Surrey and then Notts (at Headingley, May 23),” said head coach Anthony McGrath. “I keep saying we’ll know where we are by the end of this first block. The league’s still pretty tight.
“Surrey at the Oval is always an exciting fixture.
“If we repeat what we did for three-and-a-half days against Essex, it’s going to be a very good game.”
This game will be televised live by Sky Sports, and viewers will potentially see home-grown fast bowler Matthew Fisher face his former county.
One-time England Test quick Fisher left Yorkshire for Surrey over the winter.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Surrey’s Yorkshire old boy Matthew Fisher.
He has taken six wickets in four matches and has a top-score of 40 with the bat, posted from number 11 against Warwickshire to help his new county avoid the follow-on.
Fisher is a hugely popular figure in the Yorkshire dressing room, but that will all be cast aside come Friday morning should he play alongside the likes of New Zealand overseas signing Nathan Smith and talismanic new-ball seamer Dan Worrall.
Hill, who heads to the Oval sat on 96 career first-class wickets, said: “We’re all looking forward to it. Obviously, Fish is a great bloke – got on with him really well. I hope he goes well at Surrey, just not against us.
“I’ve known Fish since I was 15, 16. We went through the Academy together. He’s always been great to me and great to all the younger lads. He’s probably one of the nicer people you’ll meet.
“He had good reasons to leave. He wants to play for England, and I really hope he goes to Surrey, tears it up and plays for England because he’s good enough.”
Surrey’s only win so far this season came against Somerset at the Kia Oval in late April. Alongside Kiwi Smith, they can also call upon Australian overseas batter Kurtis Patterson, who could debut this week.
Picture by John Heald. Adam Lyth will look to continue his stunning start to the season. He is the leading run-scorer in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship with 611 runs so far.
In the Warwickshire draw, England one-day World Cup winning batter Jason Roy played his first first-class match since the shortened Covid summer of 2020.
Left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty could face his former county having swapped Surrey for Yorkshire ahead of 2024, while overseas pacer Jordan Buckingham is in contention to play having missed Essex for selection reasons.
SURREY v YORKSHIRE, FIRST-CLASS CRICKET 1863-2022 – STAT PACK
Results (home and away): County Championship: Played 198; Yorkshire won 59, Surrey won 57, Drawn 82. (Abandoned 2).
In addition, the counties have played 53 non-Championship matches; Yorkshire won 28, Surrey won 14, Drawn 11.
At The Oval (CC & non-CC): Played 123; Yorkshire won 32, Surrey won 37, Drawn 54. (Abandoned 1).
Most recent results: 2022, Surrey won by 10 wickets at The Oval. 2022, Surrey won by 4 wickets at Scarborough.
Yorkshire’s most recent victory was by 123 runs at Scarborough in 2019. At The Oval, by 346 runs in 2007. Most recent draw was at Guildford in 2019.
Most successive wins: Yorkshire 9 (1872-1876); in CC 3 (3 times). Surrey 8 (1886-1889); in CC 4 (twice).
Two wins in a season: Yorkshire 17 times, Surrey 16 times.
Highest innings totals: For Yorkshire, 704 at The Oval in 1899. For Surrey, 634-5dec at The Oval in 2013.
Lowest innings totals: For Yorkshire, 26 at The Oval in 1909. For Surrey, 31 at Holbeck in 1883.
Highest individual score: For Yorkshire, 255 by W Barber at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1935. For Surrey, 273 by TW Hayward at The Oval in 1899.
Highest partnerships: For Yorkshire, 372 for the fourth wicket between JE Root (213) and JM Bairstow (198) at Headingley in 2016. For Surrey, 448 for the fourth wicket between R Abel (193) and TW Hayward (273) at The Oval in 1899.
This is recorded as 447 in the Yorkshire records due to a difference in the fall of the fourth wicket between the scorers. A Surrey record for all wickets against all opponents.
Best bowling figures (innings): For Yorkshire, 8-5 by E Peate at Holbeck in 1883. For Surrey, 9-47 by T Richardson at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1893.
Best bowling figures (match): For Yorkshire, 14-77 (6-47 and 8-30) by E Peate at Huddersfield in 1881. For Surrey, 15-154 (7-55 and 8-99) by T Richardson at Headingley in 1897.
Hat tricks: For Yorkshire, 2 – By A Hill at The Oval in 1880 and M Leyland at Sheffield (BL) in 1935. For Surrey, 5 – By W Brockwell at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1900, WH Lockwood at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1903, Intikhab Alam at The Oval in 1972, RD Jackman at Headingley in 1973 and AH Gray at Sheffield (Abbeydale Park) in 1985.
Most dismissals in an innings by a wicket keeper: For Yorkshire, 6 by D Hunter (5 ct, 1 st) at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1891. For Surrey, 6 by EW Pooley (4 ct, 2 st) at The Oval in 1870.
Most dismissals in a match by a wicket keeper: For Yorkshire, 8 by D Hunter (2 ct, 6 st) at Bradford in 1898. There are four instances of 7 in a match. For Surrey, 7 by EW Pooley (5 ct, 2 st) at The Oval in 1870, WW Read (5 ct, 2 st) at The Oval in 1883 and H Wood (7 ct) at The Oval in 1894.
Most catches in an innings by a fielder: For Yorkshire, 5 by D Wilson at The Oval in 1969. No-one has taken more than 4 for Surrey.
Most catches in a match by a fielder: For Yorkshire, 6 by J Tunnicliffe at Sheffield (Bramall Lane) in 1893. No-one has taken more than 5 for Surrey.
A century and five wickets in a match: For Yorkshire, GH Hirst 232* and 5-43 and 1-6 at The Oval in 1905. For Surrey, PGH Fender 177 and 6 and 6-116 at Bradford in 1928 and KF Barrington 158* and 5-51 and 2-54 at The Oval in 1967.
At The Oval…
Highest innings totals: Yorkshire 704 in 1899, Surrey 634-5dec in 2013.
Lowest innings totals: Yorkshire 26 in 1909, Surrey 44 in 1935.
Highest individual scores: For Yorkshire, 232* by GH Hirst in 1905 and 232 by H Sutcliffe in 1922. For Surrey, 273 by TW Hayward in 1899.
Best bowling figures in an innings: For Yorkshire, 8-21 by W Bates in 1879. For Surrey, 8-40 by J Beaumont in 1888.
Best bowling figures in a match: For Yorkshire, 14-123 (7-41 and 7-82) by FS Trueman in 1960. For Surrey, 12-112 (6-33 and 6-79) by GA Lohmann in 1891.
Compiled by Paul Dyson, Peter Horne and Martyn Webster – members of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
