Surrey weak spots a focus for the future says Batty

Surrey weak spots a focus for the future says Batty

Surrey captain Gareth Batty says they will need to address the make-up of their side in order to break their streak of losing in white-ball finals after losing to Nottinghamshire by four wickets.

The Londoners have been runners-up in the last three Royal London One-Day Cups and suffered defeat in the 2013 T20 final too, meaning their most recent limited over success remains the YB40 in 2011.

Batty – who won the toss and chose to bat against Notts – believes that it was the right decision for their side and that things must change.

He said: “You can’t keep losing and expect to say that it’s right because obviously it isn’t. It’s something that we need address further down the line. 50 over cricket is done for another year and we need to address where we’re at.

“It was a good pitch. For the way that we’re made up, our make-up at the minute, it was definitely right.

“We can’t and shouldn’t be relying on certain individuals. Everybody’s got to be performing the roles that are required.”

Alex Hales smashed records with an incredible 187* as his side won by four wickets, captain Chris Read – in his last Lord’s final appearance – chipping in with 58.

The England opener now boasts the highest score in a one-day match at Lord’s; the highest score by a Nottinghamshire batsman in List A cricket and he broke his own high score in the format.

“He’s been a fine player for a very long time for England and we saw that,” Batty said of Hales. “An international player [did] it on the domestic scene today, [he] played quite magnificently well.

“You [aren’t] going to get 187 and lose too many times. So, look, credit to him, but that’s no excuse from us. We could have and should have made the difference in other parts of the game.”

The defining moment of the innings undoubtedly came with Hales on nine as he chipped a Sam Curran delivery to cover where Ollie Pope couldn’t hold on to a chance that came at him quickly and Batty is adamant the blame doesn’t lie with the 19-year-old.

“He’s a young kid and he was magnificent in the field. He’s one of us, he’s got a massive future. We’re all to blame today, certainly not a young fella that’s putting himself on the map in a big way. If anything, that’s down to me.”

Surrey were defeated despite a well-fought 144* by opener Mark Stoneman, who held together his side’s hopes during a mid-innings collapse that saw them lost three for eight.

Stoneman was not included in the England Test squad for next week’s match against South Africa and his skipper is hesitant to criticise the selectors for their decision.

“It’s not the first time this season he’s played well. There’s been a couple of big hundreds in the Championship as well.

“We obviously want as many players as humanly possible to be playing for England from Surrey but it’s not my place to be saying who should and who shouldn’t.”

Surrey must now turn their attention to Monday’s County Championship game against Hampshire.

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