{"id":629621,"date":"2025-12-13T05:56:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T05:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/629621\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T05:56:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T05:56:47","slug":"matthew-fisher-and-england-have-unfinished-business-this-is-his-right-place-right-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/629621\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Fisher and England have unfinished business: \u2018This is his right place, right time\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic\u00a0has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to join.<\/p>\n

March 2022 in Bridgetown, Barbados. England\u2019s men Test team were, unbeknownst to them, on the cusp of a new era.<\/p>\n

Matthew Fisher, an exciting 24-year-old fast bowler whose talent had drawn admiring glances since his professional debut aged 15, had finally grown into his body and clutched a shiny new ball in his right hand on debut.<\/p>\n

A strong finish to the 2021 English domestic summer when, having recovered from injury, he took 18 wickets at 17.5 runs apiece in 100 overs across Yorkshire\u2019s final four Division One games, saw Fisher Australia-bound with the Lions. He impressed enough to be named in the Test squad for the West Indies trip. That tour. The one when James Anderson<\/a> and Stuart Broad were left at home.<\/p>\n

Heir apparent, Fisher was economical and took the wicket of John Campbell. It was his shirt to lose, and a strong start domestically would surely have seen him retained if not in the XI, then at least in the squad for New Zealand\u2019s visit to Lord\u2019s in June.<\/p>\n

Then everything changed.<\/p>\n

A few months before Chat GPT entered the world\u2019s consciousness, \u2018Bazball\u2019 did. The Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes axis formed<\/a>, Broad and Anderson were reinstated, and one win in 17 Tests became two in 18.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n Matthew Fisher bowling in the West Indies on the 2022 tour (Gareth Copley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Fisher played for Yorkshire in the County Championship against Gloucestershire in April 2022 but suffered a back injury. Sidelined initially for four weeks, he did not reappear until September.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Matthew Potts and Jamie Overton debuted for the national side, and thereafter a slew of seamers seemingly overtook him: Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Josh Hull, Brydon Carse, even Sam Cook. Fisher remained relatively fit, making 16 red-ball appearances across 2023 (28 wickets at 28.53) and 2024 (27 wickets at 22.25). A move to Surrey ahead of 2025 brought 31 wickets in 11 outings last summer.<\/p>\n

And now, perhaps again unknowingly at the end of another England era, the 28-year-old is back in the frame to gain a second cap. With Mark Wood ruled out of the Ashes<\/a>, Fisher, already in the country with the Lions, is in the squad for the last three matches.<\/p>\n

Thrown to the Australian wolves, or has his time finally come?<\/p>\n

Like many in his generation, Fisher fell for cricket in 2005. Fixated by Simon Hughes\u2019 back-of-a-van analysis, he watched on in awe as fellow Yorkshireman Michael Vaughan led England to Ashes glory \u2014 what a concept, eh?<\/p>\n

However, he also found love far closer to home.<\/p>\n

Sheriff Hutton Bridge, his family\u2019s club side, made the National Village Cup final at Lord\u2019s. Brother Adam, nine years his senior, was in the XI.<\/p>\n

With the team travelling to London on the Saturday, the Bridge were short that weekend and Matthew, aged seven, played alongside his dad. \u201cDad wasn\u2019t a cricketer,\u201d explains Adam. \u201cHe was actually colour blind and couldn\u2019t see between red and green, which wasn\u2019t ideal. But he loved his sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

The younger Fisher had started playing a year previously, competing \u2014 or at least attempting to compete \u2014 with Adam, and middle brother Mark. It was the classic \u2018tape around a tennis ball and into the back garden\u2019 scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatty was always talented,\u201d Adam says. \u201cBut I think the talent that was most obvious was his competitiveness. He did not like losing. Given the nine years between me and him, and the five between him and Mark, he lost quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aged six, Fisher had tried out for Bridge\u2019s under-11s but was rejected by the club chairman as he chucked the ball rather than bowled it. \u201cHe went away, worked out what to do \u2014 we didn\u2019t coach him or anything \u2014 and came back the following year saying, \u2018Now I want to play\u2019,\u201d Adam recalls. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t stop him then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam also remembers Fisher\u2019s under-11s debut. \u201cMatty was batting and at the end of the over went to have a chat with the other batter, which we found hilarious because no other kid did\u2026 What are you going to talk about at that age? They just waited for the change of ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe drama was that Matty then sent the other kid to the other end. He swapped ends between overs so he could face the next ball. We were like, \u2018What seven-year-old is thinking about basically cheating to get to the other end?\u2019. We were cringing on the sidelines. You can\u2019t do that\u2026 but he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisher barely looked back after that, constantly playing an age group or three above his peers.<\/p>\n

At 13, he lined up for Yorkshire\u2019s Academy in the Yorkshire Premier League. When named in the Yorkshire XI for a domestic 40-over game against Leicestershire in June 2013, he was just 15 years and 212 days old. He became the youngest player to feature in a professional county game in the post-war era and took 1-40.<\/p>\n

Ex-Australian Test quick and then Yorkshire head coach Jason Gillespie assures The Athletic that Fisher\u2019s selection was carefully considered and merit-based. \u201cHe\u2019d done really well for the second XI and we needed a bowler for the first XI,\u201d says Gillespie. Five days previously, Fisher had taken 6-25 for the second XI. \u201cWe all agreed he deserved the opportunity, and he was the next bowler ready to go. He certainly didn\u2019t disappoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisher made his England Under-19 debut that summer, finishing a tri-series against Pakistan and Bangladesh with 10 wickets at 21.5. In February 2014, shortly after turning 16, he went to the Under-19 World Cup. England lost the third-place play-off to Australia, but Fisher claimed 10 wickets at 19.7, including figures of 10-3-21-2 in the semi-final.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n Matthew Fisher trains with England\u2019s Under-19s in August 2013 (Matthew Lewis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In 2015, Fisher made his first-class debut at Trent Bridge. He played three matches that summer, taking five wickets, as Yorkshire defended the title they had won the previous year.<\/p>\n

Amongst his bowling team-mates were England internationals Tim Bresnan, Liam Plunkett and Ryan Sidebottom. By then, two operations on his left ear to remove a cholesteatoma \u2014 an abnormal skin growth \u2014 had left him partially deaf.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved it,\u201d recalls Gillespie of Fisher\u2019s time as part of a bowling unit that also included experienced county bowlers Steven Patterson and Jack Brooks. \u201cIt was a great environment for him to learn and develop. These were guys he looked up to. They were heroes of his, and then he\u2019s sharing a dressing room with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey couldn\u2019t have been more supportive of young Fish. He fitted in really nicely and, when called upon, performed quite strongly.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, since then, injuries have consistently frustrated Fisher\u2019s attempts to kick on. You name it, Fisher has had it. Three tears in his left hamstring meant he missed the entire 2016 summer. There have been shoulder dislocations, thumb fractures, side strains.<\/p>\n

In 2021, he suffered a recurrence of a back injury while driving, a journey that ended with him in tears on the phone to his mum. \u201cIt\u2019s been super tough,\u201d Adam says. \u201cJust seeing what you have to go through as an injured sportsman. His trajectory was pretty obvious and we were thinking, \u2018God, he\u2019s going to go and do everything here, isn\u2019t he?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d never had an injury until he was 15, and then all of a sudden it just started hitting him. Some were really unlucky. Others just happened naturally. I think it really knocked him and has been the biggest challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I would say that, with Matthew, the easy story is the injuries. That\u2019s what you\u2019ll see all over. However, knowing him and knowing the background, he has reached an elite standard in what he does. Imagine doing your job that little throughout 10 years and still being at such a high level? Kudos to him for where his skill levels are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always just said, \u2018We hope it changes for you at some point, and you get the opportunity to show what you are really about\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n Matthew Fisher bowling on his England debut against the West Indies in Barbados (Randy Brooks\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The first such opportunity came in 2022.<\/p>\n

Fisher found out he was playing that Barbados Test about an hour and a half before the toss. Craig Overton had fallen ill and Fisher was in. Fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root presented him with his cap, and he snared what is to date his only Test wicket with just his second ball. His appearance earned the family a significant windfall: they had previously put a bet on him playing for England.<\/p>\n

Not present to witness that match, though, was Fisher\u2019s father, Phil, who passed away having battled bowel cancer when Fisher was just 14. \u201cDad and Matty were super close,\u201d Adam explains. \u201cThey\u2019d spend hours and hours, days even, together in the car travelling to games. They were really tight.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatty had been playing for Yorkshire Academy and it was clear that he was doing really well, but obviously Dad would be super proud of where he\u2019s come, and the grit he\u2019s shown through adversity. It\u2019s a real shame that Dad did not manage to see it, but you don\u2019t control the amount of time you\u2019re on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbados was Phil\u2019s favourite place, and he\u2019d twice previously taken the Bridge on tour there. It was fitting.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n Matthew Fisher talks to Mark Wood, the man he has replaced in the Ashes party, in Antigua in March 2022 (Gareth Copley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But then, with a clear path ahead, a stress fracture to his back blocked the road like a felled tree.<\/p>\n

During his protracted time off, Fisher looked at preventative measures, learning to straighten his back foot contact so that, as he landed, his toes pointed towards fine leg. That has helped remove the strain on his left side.<\/p>\n

His recovery also included a concerted effort to bulk up. He had looked at the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc and wanted a comparable frame. He added 5kg of muscle ahead of the 2023 summer. Worth it? Well, 30 of Fisher\u2019s 56 first-class games have come since the start of that season.<\/p>\n

Surrey\u2019s call is very difficult for any cricketer to reject and, in October 2024, some 4,139 days after his professional debut, a then 26-year-old Fisher was confirmed to be Oval-bound.<\/p>\n

Fisher\u2019s home county had announced a few months previously that he would be departing, but rather than down spikes, Fisher took 18 wickets in the final three County Championship games to secure promotion back to Division One.<\/p>\n

Yorkshire had been slow to offer a new contract and Alec Stewart had pounced. It was one of the last pieces of business then outgoing director of cricket Stewart \u2014 he has since returned to Surrey on a full-time basis \u2014 completed. Stewart had visited Fisher\u2019s school a decade earlier as part of sponsorship commitments and had kept tabs on him since.<\/p>\n

However, later that month, Fisher\u2019s England Development contract was not renewed, with John Turner, Hull, Tongue, Potts and Olly Stone all seemingly having superseded him. It was a kick, but Fisher had returned to his feet plenty of times before.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n Matthew Fisher in Surrey colours (Ben Hoskins\/Getty Images for Surrey CCC)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to sit here and say we\u2019ve created this wonderful bowler called Matt Fisher,\u201d says Surrey head coach Gareth Batty after Fisher\u2019s recent call into the Test squad. \u201cWe identified a very fine skill set with a young lad who had an ability to hit an area that challenges the batters, had a robust and repeatable action, but who had, by his own admission, struggled with injuries and with stringing games together.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything was there. It was just a question of how to fit the jigsaw pieces together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surrey asked Fisher about his aspirations and his response was simple: he wanted to play for England. Surrey\u2019s depth meant they could assure him he would not be bowled into the ground and, despite Fisher\u2019s injury history restricting him to just 105 Yorkshire appearances in 12 summers across all formats, they did not view his signing as risky.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a young lad who\u2019s desperate to play,\u201d Batty says, \u201csomebody who is prepared to grab their career, make a change and come to what is not traditionally a bowler\u2019s ground in the Oval, that tells you all you need to know about the lad and his mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Surrey\u2019s advantages is its marquee that hosts outdoor nets from the end of January. To be on grass so early is a dream for a quick bowler. Then there is the fact that they are at the forefront of technology.<\/p>\n

They have liaised with top-level football clubs to drill deeper into the use of GPS data to keep players\u2019 physical bandwidth. Bowling workloads are managed carefully with very few \u201cflat out, impact\u201d training sessions. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe that you need to always be going at maximal output,\u201d Batty explains. \u201cWe steal that from baseball. Pitchers don\u2019t throw in practice at their max, but they do lots of practice throwing to get good depth and strength into their body and their physicality and movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to get more overs than most (other counties) in at 70 to 80 per cent through what we would call \u2018technical drill sessions\u2019. These get the body more robust.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has worked for Fisher, who played more red ball games than ever last summer. Even so, Batty admits he was \u201ca fraction surprised\u201d that Fisher even made the Lions squad this winter, \u201cpurely because the lad himself wasn\u2019t expecting to be in\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n Matthew Fisher bowling for the Lions against England at Lilac Hill Park in Perth last month (Philip Brown\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

To date, Fisher has 175 red-ball wickets at 28.16, a record similar to that of Atkinson. Batty has seen the latter flourish at the highest level. Could Fisher be next?<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching somebody on the training ground is a totally different animal to seeing them in a game,\u201d Batty responds. \u201cBut what I would say is, if you had a list of things that you need to tick off to give yourself the best chance, he certainly ticks all of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the right sort of lad. He\u2019s prepared to keep going to the well. His skill set is very, very good. You never know how that stands up against the best of the best until you\u2019ve given it a go. Has he done enough to be in that conversation? Absolutely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that about lots of players, but it\u2019s \u2018right place, right time\u2019. This is his right place, right time, and it\u2019s very good timing for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n Matthew Fisher was a surprise inclusion in the Lions squad (Gareth Copley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Wherever Fisher lands, whether internationally or domestically, the Bridge will always remain his home \u2014 a safe cricketing haven.<\/p>\n

He has played only twice since 2019, but several times last summer, he spent spare Saturdays travelling home to watch. Occasionally, he would help former England player and head coach David \u2018Bumble\u2019 Lloyd carry the drinks on. Previously, while at Yorkshire, Fisher drove across from Leeds to stand at slip as a substitute fielder for the Bridge.<\/p>\n

Should he make a second Test appearance in the coming weeks, there will be a strong Bridge presence at the ground.<\/p>\n

Adam, who is joint director of cricket, is already in Australia with his young family, while his mum is en route. Several club members are also dotted around the country, and the news of Fisher\u2019s call-up sent the team\u2019s WhatsApp group into overdrive.<\/p>\n

Stevan Savkovic, a 55-year-old fourth XI player who recently made his international debut for Serbia in a T20 against Cyprus, had a simple message for Fisher: \u201cFrom one international to another, good luck!\u201d<\/p>\n

A little bit of that could take Fisher a long way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic\u00a0has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click\u00a0here\u00a0to join. March 2022 in Bridgetown, Barbados. England\u2019s men Test team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,1406,393,6869,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-629621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-cricket","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-global-sports","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115710726593434757","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}