STUART Meaker says he must transfer his blistering second-team form into the County Championship if he is to ever cement a place in the Lion's first team.

The 21-year-old seamer has consistently taken wickets for the Surrey second string but has so far flattered to deceive in first-class cricket, with only limited success thus far.

However, taking 5-57 and 7-99 with the new ball against Middlesex seconds and hitting an undefeated 150 in last week's five wicket success against Somerset forced Meaker back into the thoughts of Chris Adams and he found himself back in the team for the Championship clash with Gloucestershire which started on Tuesday.

And Meaker knows he must start delivering regularly if he is to nail down a place.

He said: "During my last first team game against Derbyshire I was a little bit rusty because I hadn't really bowled with this new action outdoors, so it didn't really click.

"It clicked at times and when it did I felt good. So I went away and played in the twos game against Middlesex, got a really good feeling and I've had a really nice rhythm since then."

Meaker says attending the Dennis Lillee fast bowling academy in Chennai, India, last winter has given him greater control and hopes the tricks he learnt from the Australian great will help him this season.

He said: "Dennis was very good. He may be a bit old school in his methods, but he's done it for such a long time that he knows what kind of action and technique is safe for a bowler and what's going to get them bowling fast.

"So, for me, it was really good because my action suits the way he tries to coach. He got me standing a little bit more upright in my action, which is something other coaches have mentioned.

"I came away from there being able to swing the ball away from the right-handers more consistently. Hopefully that's going to take me to that next level, because it's something I wasn't able to do last year."

During Surrey's televised match against Glamorgan towards the end of last season, Sky's Paul Allott likened Meaker to Darren Gough, but it's not something Stuart has allowed to go to his head.

"I'm hoping that wasn't because of my height, but I've got a feeling it might have been," he said. "But I can now get it to swing both ways, which is a great thing to have. I've got to be able to use that to be successful on any type of pitch and not just ones where it's going to skid on nicely."