{"id":21955,"date":"2026-03-17T12:43:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/2026\/03\/17\/surrey-head-coach-gareth-batty-routes-from-county-cricket-to-england-team-have-misted-over\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T12:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:43:00","slug":"surrey-head-coach-gareth-batty-routes-from-county-cricket-to-england-team-have-misted-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/2026\/03\/17\/surrey-head-coach-gareth-batty-routes-from-county-cricket-to-england-team-have-misted-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrey head coach Gareth Batty – routes from county cricket to England team have ‘misted over’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Surrey head coach Gareth Batty believes the path from domestic cricket to the England Test team has become \u201cblurred\u201d and has defended the County Championship as \u201cthe best breeding ground in the world\u201d ahead of the start of the 2026 season.<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Batty coached Surrey to three successive Championship titles before finishing second last year and saw a number of players called up to the Test squad during his tenure, including Gus Atkinson, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith in the recent 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

England’s management, under Rob Key (managing director) and Brendon McCullum (head coach), have been open about prioritizing player attributes over domestic performances, citing the different requirements for success at county cricket and Test level.<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking at Surrey’s pre-season media day at The Oval on Tuesday, Batty suggested that the direct link between county performance and international selection has become blurred in recent years. \u201cI think the path is partly fogged depending on what choices have been made recently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not my place to comment on how other people do their jobs, but I\u2019ll say it again: I believe this to be the truth. [county cricket] It is the world’s greatest hotbed for producing players for all formats. [into players].<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

"The best players don’t play as much because they are with England. That’s what central contracts are for. I want to give young players a lot of cricket and a lot of game time so we can select the best players to make England a top team.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

"this [county cricket] It will always have a very large place within our system. Because you can’t have it. [Test cricket] \u201cWithout this.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

England are without a male selector after Luke Wright announced he would step down from his role following retirement, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Wright left the role after England reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup and the ECB is yet to advertise for a replacement.<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Surrey captain Rory Burns, who has not played Test cricket since the 2021-22 Ashes series, said England selection had changed following his fourth successive 1,000-run Championship season to reach the international team.<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019ll know when you\u2019re going to be valued or wanted,\u201d Burns said. \u201cWhen I first came on board the criteria was you had to score the most points in a year and then you were selected and you were next in line.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

"I think there’s still room for that. If you’re still knocking on the door, suddenly your name will appear among the selections. You might not feel like you’re there as a player, but if you keep putting in numbers, it’s going to be inevitable at some stage.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

"On the other hand, it’s probably a pretty cool thing because even if you don’t think you’re in the conversation, you’ve gone a few innings and now you can just hit a few shots on Instagram and you’re right in the conversation. Basically, there’s a positive and a negative.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Surrey’s England players have struggled to make an impact in Australia. Pope was dropped after three Tests, Smith scored his solitary half-century, Atkinson took six wickets at 47.33 and the Jacks leaked runs with off-spin, but continued to play a key role in the T20 World Cup. The Jacks will miss the start of the Championship season while in the IPL, but Batty said Surrey would act as a "comfort blanket” for the remaining three.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re here, that\u2019s why county cricket exists,\u201d Batty said. \u201cThis is not, or should not be, the end game. We have to be the ones constantly trying to create the players\u2019 dreams and get them where they want to be. \u201cI hope everyone is still desperate to play for England, that\u2019s very clear. [from] The way people trained.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut it should also be a comfort to people that when they go to the UK we can come back and say, \u2018We\u2019ll have some positive truths, but we\u2019ll have some work done.\u2019 Because nothing can fix itself. [if you are] Feeling sorry for yourself and not doing your job.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that international cricket is a very difficult place to operate when it is not on your terms and it is very difficult to operate when things are not going your way, but we are certainly here to help and get people back where they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Key and McCullum are expected to retain their positions following the ECB’s internal review of England’s Ashes defeat. England’s next international fixture is a three-Test series against New Zealand in June, with the players spending the next two months either in their respective counties or in the IPL.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

\n

Matt Roller is a senior correspondent for ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nSource Link : https:\/\/www.espncricinfo.com\/ci\/content\/story\/1528193.html?ex_cid=OTC-RSS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surrey head coach Gareth Batty believes the path from domestic cricket to the England Test team has become \u201cblurred\u201d and has defended the County Championship as \u201cthe best breeding ground in the world\u201d ahead of the start of the 2026 season. Batty coached Surrey to three successive Championship titles before finishing second last year and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47242,19142,47239,47241,47240,47238],"class_list":["post-21955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-circular","tag-cricket","tag-daily","tag-headline","tag-package","tag-tidings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}