Club captain Rory Burns was delighted to retake the armband for the first time this summer during Surrey’s Bob Willis Trophy win over Sussex.
Burns has been away with England’s Test team for much of the shortened summer but has recently returned to The Kia Oval following the end of their summer programme.
Burns has played a pivotal role in the side’s Vitality Blast so far but under Gareth Batty’s captaincy. This week’s meeting with Sussex, Surrey’s final match in the Bob Willis Trophy, was his first opportunity to lead from the front.
It clearly helped him too as he made 155 runs as Surrey sealed a six wicket win despite conceding a first innings deficit.
He said: “I am delighted that we played the way we did in this game and got the win. Everyone has been working very hard in the squad to put things right in red-ball cricket, as obviously results in the Bob Willis Trophy had not been going our way.
“It was also nice to be back playing at the Oval and I felt a lot of freedom, to be honest, coming out of the Test bubble and I’ve felt in quite good nick this summer.
“The responsibility of being captain has also allowed me to think about other things, and I’m very pleased with the way these four days have gone. Now we have to concentrate on the rest of our T20 campaign, and to maintain the momentum we have got in that competition.”
More than 800 runs scored in the first two innings of the match but then an incredible spell of spin bowling from Daniel Moriarty & Amar Virdi reduced Sussex to 128 all out in their second knock.
That left Surrey a tricky chase of 156 to win the match but Burns’ speedy run scoring proved crucial in chasing them down.
“It was a very placid pitch in the first part of the game but it began to take more and more spin as the game went on and, in the end, it was a tricky surface to bat on. It was nice for me to get the Surrey captain’s armband back on and to chip in with some runs in this match.
