Surrey aiming to be ‘on the cutting edge’ of fast bowling as fitness monitoring has added facets

Injuries are part and parcel of professional sport but Surrey’s fitness monitoring has gone to another level.

The South Londoners’ domination of the County Championship in recent years has been driven by their seam attack.

As his side bids for a fourth successive title, head coach Gareth Batty has been talking about leaving no stone unturned in the pursuit of data.

“Fast bowling is a very physical job,” said Batty. “We’re trying to be on the cutting edge. It’s an evolving process. We’re trying to use GPS appropriately. We’re also trying to look at other sports.

“I speak a lot with football managers and their strength and conditioning coaches. I’ve also explored American sports to see how we can put cricket into 2025, so we do it differently to most.

“It’s easier to assess injuries now, because of the information we have at hand. I think injuries have always been there, but the game is played at such a level now you need to be more aware of it. We also have a duty of care to look after our players appropriately.

“We want athletes to be performing their skills at a higher level. We know that being fitter and stronger gives you a better opportunity to get your skills right. So, we’re trying to promote the modern game and where it could go.”

With so many players coming and going, whether that’s due to England call-ups or the lure of franchise cricket around the world, Batty’s job also requires meticulous back-filling, where possible, in the shape of short-term overseas signings.

He said: “It’s a question of knowing when lads are away due to franchise cricket, knowing what workloads they’re going through and then sitting down with the captain and saying: ‘Ideally, this is what we want.’

“It’s our job to predict and to have an idea when our franchise and international players will be available, but it’s also our job to understand that we’ll have to roll with the punches in terms of what the individual requires and what England require.”

With Gus Atkinson, Ollie Pope, and Jamie Smith in the England squad for the upcoming Test against Zimbabwe, this weekend’s four-day clash with Warwickshire will see New Zealand’s Nathan Smith and Australian batter Kurtis Patterson make their debuts for Surrey.

Last year, in his first professional stint outside of New Zealand, Smith emerged as Worcestershire’s joint-highest wicket-taker in the championship, with 27 victims in seven matches at an average of 21.14.

Smith’s scalps included some former as well as current top order English batters, including Ben Duckett, Haseeb Hameed, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope plus his soon-to-be captain Rory Burns.

“Nathan is deceptively quick and particularly quick through the crease, which makes him skiddy,” said Burns. “But he’s also someone who gets the ball to swing and reverse.

“He made light work of me in that game at The Oval. About eight balls, I think, before that was that.

“He gave us a bit of a whacking at the end of that game as well, making 60 in a losing cause. He struck the ball quite nicely and we’ve also seen how handy he is over the winter with New Zealand.

“We see him as a perfect fit. Our duty is to evolve every single player in our squad. If Nathan comes in, it’ll be because he’ll make our team better, rather than blocking off any of our homegrown players.

“We see Nathan as somebody who hasn’t reached his full potential. His skills set is there for all to see – he’s an international cricketer – but, with bat, we want to evolve his prowess. With ball, he’s probably ahead of where his batting is.

“Our promise to him is to create an environment where he thrives and gets better.”

Kurtis Patterson’s career to this point has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

Five years after playing two Tests for Australia – scoring an unbeaten century and finishing with an average of 144 from just two innings – the top order batter now finds himself back in the conversation in terms of an international recall.

In addition to making 743 runs at 57.15 in the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales last winter, the 32-year-old hit 137 against England A.

“Playing Test cricket is still the North Star,” said Patterson. “I’m not worrying about playing cricket for Australia, but it’s certainly a guiding light.

“You look at the Australian team and it doesn’t look like Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are going anywhere for a while at three and four, but I haven’t lost hope.

“I would have lost hope if I’d had a couple of blinding years and hadn’t found myself back in the Australian team, but I can only look at myself and I haven’t been consistent enough.

“I’ve always wanted to play county cricket, so, when Surrey came calling, I jumped at the chance.”

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