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Kemar Roach returns to Surrey for start of Championship campaign

Amla returns for third season as Surrey line up their overseas players

Kemar Roach starred with the ball during his last stint with Surrey  •  Getty Images

Kemar Roach starred with the ball during his last stint with Surrey  •  Getty Images

Kemar Roach, the West Indies fast bowler, has rejoined Surrey for the first five matches of the LV= Insurance County Championship season, where he will team up with his fellow overseas player, South Africa's Hashim Amla.
Roach, who will lead West Indies' attack against England in the forthcoming Test series, impressed for Surrey in his first spell with the club in April & May 2021, taking 22 wickets in five matches before returning to international action.
His efforts included a career-best innings haul of 8 for 40 against Hampshire, and a further nine-wicket match in the London Derby against Middlesex at the Kia Oval.
Roach, 33, will be available from the start of the Championship campaign, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in April, and will remain with the club until their home meeting with Northamptonshire, which gets underway on May 5. He will also be on hand for the home clashes with Hampshire and Somerset, and a further away fixture against Gloucestershire.
"After my thoroughly enjoyable time at the Kia Oval last season I am thrilled to be heading back for another stint with Surrey CCC," Roach said. "I finished last season well with ball in hand and hope to pick up where I left off. I would like to thank both Surrey and CWI for this opportunity and I can't wait to get back to the UK."
Roach has taken 231 wickets in 68 Test matches for West Indies. In total, he has 432 first-class wickets to his name since making his debut in the format in 2008.
Surrey's Director of Cricket, Alec Stewart, said: "We're very pleased Kemar will return to Surrey for the first five matches of the season. He had a real impact on the squad in the first part of 2021, not just as a bowler but as an experienced international player in the dressing room too.
"He is a proven performer in all conditions and showed last year how he is perfectly suited to the early part of the English domestic season and we look forward to seeing him perform in a Surrey shirt again this year."
Amla will be back at Surrey for a third consecutive season as the club's second overseas player. He was the club's leading run-scorer in Championship in 2021, making 994 runs - and is expected to be available for the entirety of the first-class season.