Yorkshire sign Conor McKerr on five-game Blast loan – Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire have signed Surrey fast bowler Conor McKerr on a five-game loan deal for the Vitality Blast, starting this weekend.

The county are pleased to be able to add the pace and experience of the 26-year-old former South Africa Under-19 to the squad for the middle phase of the North Group campaign.

McKerr is in line to debut against Derbyshire at Headingley tomorrow (3pm), the tall quick having previously represented the Falcons as one of a number of loans.

As well as Surrey, he has also represented Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in the Blast as well as Kent in the County Championship.

McKerr joined Surrey ahead of the 2016 season having left his native South Africa in order to build a career in England.

To date, he has taken 109 wickets across all formats in first-team cricket, including 13 in 16 T20 appearances. 

The majority of his recent success has come in 50-over cricket.

McKerr joins a Yorkshire squad which has been hit by injuries to a number of fast bowlers. 

Mickey Edwards (foot) and Matt Milnes (back) have both been ruled out for the season due to stress fractures, Matthew Fisher (ankle) has been out since early May and Dom Leech only bowled two overs in Sunday’s Blast win over Northamptonshire having picked up a side strain which will sideline him for the next couple of weeks.

McKerr’s Yorkshire debut will be his first first-team appearance of 2024, but he has been in impressive form for Surrey’s second team, claiming 12 wickets in five appearances.

That includes six wickets in two T20 outings in recent weeks. On Monday, he claimed 4-28 from 3.4 overs in a win over Sussex, striking with the new ball and then again at the end of the innings.

McKerr is a two-time Vitality County Championship winner with Surrey. He played five times for them in 2018 when they won the title and three times for them in 2022.

The majority of his first-team cricket for them in the last three seasons has come in the One-Day Cup.

Since the resumption of 50-over county cricket in 2021, post-Covid, he has taken 37 wickets in 25 List A matches, including two four-wicket hauls.

Picture by Steve Bardens/Getty Images. Conor McKerr celebrates a wicket during last season’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson said: “With the unprecedented amount of injuries we have to Coad, Fisher, Milnes, Edwards and Leech, who picked up a side strain at Northampton on Sunday that will keep him out for a couple of weeks, the fast-bowling unit is threadbare at the minute.

“We felt like we had to bring somebody in, and Conor is someone I’ve seen and like.

“I’ve spoken to Alec Stewart (Surrey director of cricket) about him, and they rate him quite highly. 

“He has some experience having played for Surrey and been on loan at a few other counties.

“He was at Nottinghamshire last year, and I also spoke to Peter Moores (Notts coach) about him. They really enjoyed having him.

“The opportunity to get somebody with his experience is a good one for us.

“He hasn’t played a lot of first-team cricket at Surrey. But he does very well in second-team cricket, and we know we are getting a quality performer.”