Surrey CCC head coach Gareth Batty: Resting on our laurels is not an option

BY MARCUS HOOK

If doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is, according to the phrase, a form of insanity, one might assume Surrey are loath to tinker with the formula that has brought back-to-back County Championship titles to The Oval in the last two years.

But head coach Gareth Batty maintains the worst thing he and his squad can do is rest on their laurels.

Already this season the South Londoners have made spin a weapon and, not content with four-day success, it irks Batty that Surrey haven’t won the T20 Blast since 2003.

“If you think you’ve cracked it and you’re not trying to improve, you’ve already lost in my eyes,” said the former Surrey and England spinner.

“We have to keep evolving.

“If we don’t evolve, somebody will catch us.

“Every single player has come back better this season. They’ve improved and added some things.

“It’s not always visual. It might be something physical or mentally the guys have worked on, but every player worked extremely hard over the winter. I wouldn’t change any of the players we have.

“There’s lots of moving parts and that needs a lot of planning, which starts with Alec Stewart and filters through the staff.

“It’s about each player understanding that being ready is the most important thing. And not just being ready, but being ready so that it’s a very difficult decision to be made in terms of when they play, or the shirt is never taken away from them and they just keep flying.

“We try and pick a team that has length in the batting, but an ability to take 20 wickets on any given surface against any given team, and spin bowling is an integral part of that.”

The moving parts Batty refers to is the challenge of mixing and matching depending on when his players are available.

Not only are Sam Curran, Will Jacks and Reece Topley participating in the Indian Premier League, they’ve also been named in England’s provisional squad for the T20 World Cup.

“The world of franchise cricket and what that looks like is an evolving thing,” said Batty.

“The players themselves don’t always know where they’re going to be. That’s a challenge and it’s difficult for those players.

“But we’re always here to help and, again, to make every player better. You can have the best player in the world walk through the door – our intention is to make them better.”

Batty is delighted that Australian fast bowler Spencer Johnson will be joining the Oval outfit for the first eight fixtures of the Blast.

The left-arm seamer, who is representing the Gujarat Titans in the IPL, has impressed in the Big Bash as well as last year’s Hundred in which he bowled a remarkable spell, delivering figures of three for one off his 20 deliveries for the Oval Invincibles against Manchester Originals.

“We’ll be looking to operate differently in T20 cricket,” said Batty.

“We have to be open to the fact that we haven’t won the Blast since the inception of T20 cricket, so we have to do something differently in terms of using the assets we have as a squad.”

Johnson said: “Surrey have a great squad and I can’t wait to contribute with the ball in front of the packed out crowds in South London.”

MAIN PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD