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Defeat ‘hurts like hell’ but Batty sees Surrey’s progress
- Updated: September 17, 2016
Gareth Batty branded Surrey’s performance “unacceptable” and “embarrassing” as they slumped to an eight-wicket defeat with almost 20 overs left unused in the Royal London Cup final at Lord’s.
Batty, Surrey’s captain, admitted his side had “not turned up” as they succumbed to their second Lord’s final defeat in successive years. Collapsing from 99 for 2 to 136 all out, they gave themselves little chance of defending such a meagre total against a Warwickshire team including players such as Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell.
“To lose in this manner is a little bit embarrassing,” Batty said. “We have not really turned up today. We just got it wrong and it hurts like hell.”
This was, not for the first time, a disappointing surface for a major match at Lord’s. There are mitigating factors: the redevelopment of the Warner Stand necessitated the use of pitches towards the bottom of the square at the start of the season – they usually start at the top end here – resulting in some overly safe pitches in early season and some unusually dry ones towards the end.
Meanwhile, the decision to televise the Championship decider between Middlesex and Yorkshire from the ground next week has forced them to press another mid-square surface for that game. With the ground relentlessly busy and the square exhausted, the groundstaff were left struggling for options.
This pitch, then, had already been used for an ODI this season and had been glued to ensure it did not break up. That is unusual at Lord’s and resulted in neither side knowing quite what might constitute a par score. The way Surrey started -with Jason Roy, in particular, unleashing some magnificent strokes – it appeared 280 might be on the cards but, as the pitch slowed and Warwickshire’s bowlers began to gain spin and seam assistance, the relatively inexperienced middle-order failed to adjust.
It was not easy, though. Jeetan Patel, bowling noticeably quicker than either of Surrey’s England spinners, was markedly the best potent of the slow bowlers on display. Gaining sharp turn …
