Cricket

LEWIS OUT OF RETIREMENT FOR SURREY TWENTY20

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26 March 2008

By Jon Surtees 

Surrey have persuaded the 40 year old England veteran Chris Lewis to come out of retirement and boost their Twenty20 campaign this summer.

Lewis, who last played first class cricket in the year 2000, has been keeping in shape by playing regular premier league club cricket as well as stints with the PCA Masters XI and will join up with the Brown Caps squad shortly before their first Twenty20 game against Essex on June 11 this year.

Lewis, who in his prime was effective with both the bat and the ball, started his career with Leicestershire in 1987 but played at the Oval in between stints at Nottinghamshire and back in Leicester. During his time in London he helped Surrey to victories in the 1996 Sunday League and the 1997 Benson and Hedges Trophy.

Surrey Cricket manager Alan Butcher was delighted with the signing saying: “Lewis has remained extremely fit and could play a vital role in Surrey’s Twenty20 campaign as an all-rounder. Having Chris in the squad is a huge plus especially when you combine the facts of us losing two all rounders from last season. The reports from respected judges of Chris' form for the PCA Masters and the advent of a million pound competition in the IPL (Indian Premiere League) Champions Trophy, he starts to look like the right option for us.

“IPL has suddenly put domestic Twenty20 on a different level and Surrey would love to be competing against seven of the world's best Twenty20 teams next autumn. I believe Chris Lewis can help us be very competitive in that aim. He ticks boxes on many levels: he's an all rounder who is still a brilliant fielder; he does not require a full time, long term contract as a young kolpak player would and therefore 1st team opportunities will still be available for our young players throughout the season.”

As Butcher said, the addition of Lewis to the squad will help balance the all rounder heavy Surrey Twenty20 line up, especially given the departures of youngster Rory Hamilton-Brown and Pakistani star Azhar Mahmood, both of which have happened since last year’s competition.

Speaking this week, Lewis said he was excited about experiencing the rigours of Twenty20: “It's something that I didn't get to play during my time and it's a pretty sensational form of the game”, he said. “You get to do everything in a short space of time, it's very exciting stuff.

“I spent a couple of fantastic years here and we played some pretty great cricket, so it's great to be back at Surrey.

“I had some wonderful times here; we won a couple of one-day competitions. When the ground is full it's absolutely fantastic and now the new stand makes it looks more like a stadium.

“I said to Al (Butcher) at the beginning that if I was going to come back and give it a go then I wanted to do it properly not just turn up and play, I wanted to go into the gym and do the work and see if the body was up to it and it's so far so good.

“Going to the gym and staying in shape helps your overall standard of life, you feel healthier and more confident so it's something that has held me in good stead and enabled me to come back.

“I thought that perhaps there could be a comeback, however I didn't expect it to be at 40. It's a bit late in the day but all is well with the body and I'm really looking forward to it.”

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