We have to deal with bad breaks says Surrey skipper, ‘don’t dwell on loss’

BY MARCUS HOOK

Jade Dernbach has cautioned against getting too carried away when victory follows victory in Vitality Blast.

And likewise, he has warned his players against dwelling on a defeat when it comes along, as it did against Glamorgan on Tuesday.

Surrey’s T20 captain said: “Because there are so many games in this competition, they come thick and fast, so you can’t get too high or too low. You’ve got to try and stay as level as possible.

“We’ve got another big game here on Friday night, against Middlesex, which will be a chance to dust ourselves down and put in a big performance.”

The Oval outfit appeared on top after posting 194-4 in their 20 overs, as Nic Maddinson led the way with 70. But with Glamorgan’s Craig Meschede blasting 43, including three successive sixes off Gareth Batty, and Kiran Carlson and Graham Wagg also selecting sixth gear, the Welshmen eased home with an over to spare.

“At the halfway stage we were pretty happy,” said Dernbach. “We got stuck at one point, but Nic Maddinson came in and played a beautiful innings that accelerated our score to what I thought was definitely a defendable one.

“I think we just misjudged conditions, with the ball skidding on a little bit under the lights. It didn’t quite stick in the pitch like it did when we batted, which made it difficult for our spinners.

But hats off to Glamorgan. We saw some serious striking there.

“From the first innings to the second the conditions did change, but Gareth Batty is a great performer for us and I just think we saw a couple of boys strike the ball so beautifully.

 “It was hard to contain. Once they got going, they made it look pretty easy at times.

But Gaz comes out on top more often than not and although [leg-spinner] Scott Borthwick hasn’t bowled a lot it’s nice to have his experience out there.

“Glamorgan seem to enjoy playing at the Oval, and they produce good games. People want to see fours and sixes and excitement and that’s exactly what they got.

That’s what Twenty20 is all about. ”

Jonathan Batty, who  kept wicket for Surrey during their successful run of three County Championship titles in four years under Adam Hollioake, is thrilled that the Oval outfit are in with a chance of taking the title this year.

“It’s brilliant as an ex-player to see how well the side have done under Rory Burns’s leadership,” said Batty.

“He really has led from the front and put himself right in the frame for an England call-up.

“But it’s also great to see so many Surrey youngsters playing, and there’s a lovely balance with the likes of Rikki Clarke coming back.

It obviously makes us proud as ex-players to see how they’re going and if they keep playing the way they’re playing it’s up to the other teams to catch them.

“They’re probably a year or two ahead of schedule. We’ve seen the youngsters coming through in the last couple of years and at twenty years old the likes of Sam Curran have got huge potential.

“The question is – have they reached anywhere near their potential yet?

Three or four years’ time is when we will know, where they can get to. As long as they keep working hard, you’ve got to say the future is incredibly bright for Surrey.”

Batty is Surrey Stars’ assistant head coach, and said there is still a great atmosphere in the women’s camp despite sitting fourth out of six in the Kia Super League after four matches.

He added: “We’re now two weeks in, but it’s flown by.

The girls are brilliant. Some of them are superb cricketers and there’s a really good atmosphere around the group.

“With a franchise team you’re in a position to bring in players from outside the normal Surrey set-up.

That means some players are going to be unlucky and miss out, but the challenge for them is to make sure their names are further up the pecking order next year.”

Batty added: “It’s interesting to see how the girls learn from the international and more experienced players in the group.

They’re like sponges, accumulating all that knowledge and all that information, from how the international girls train and go about their work. It’s been a little bit disappointing that hasn’t reflected in our results so far.

“The girls were outstanding last week at Cheltenham, against Western Storm.

We’ve played okay, but I thought Southern Vipers and Lancashire Thunder played fantastically well, and all credit to them, but we weren’t quite at one hundred per cent in those games.

“But against Western Storm we came out and delivered an outstanding performance. The thing with franchise cricket is that every team is strong.

There are no weak teams in the competition, so as long as we’re playing at the top of our game we’ll be in with a chance of beating anybody.”