88 all out, followed by 67 all out...uh oh...

Ok, so I wasn't too worried after the utter capitulation against the Cobras, it was a dreadful result and doubtless a poor performance, but there were some mitigating circumstances.

However, news of this defeat, to Sussex is more troubling. After all the work done in the off season to rebuild the team I'm reluctant to be overly critical, but to be bowled out for 67, chasing only 100-odd, by a team at exactly the same point in their pre-season is ominous. Only Hamilton-Brown reached double figures with 27 off 23, and he was the only Surrey player to hit a boundary, with three of them. Robin Martin-Jenkins too 2 for 5 from 4 overs. Dreadful performance.

Like I said before, there are players to come in to the side who will up the quality quota significantly, but this should show that some of the players out there aren't quite of the necessary quality yet. Gary Wilson...I'm sure he's a good lad and all, but he has never, ever performed, why persist? I don't know if county batsmen are going to be running scared if we field an attack featuring Jewell and Linley come the competitive games.

It also shows that to compete in the Twenty20 Cup we need a genuinely world-class overseas signing - no more bits and pieces players, no more average trundlers, no more past-it internationals, we need true quality, and we need it soon! I'm in favour of giving the younger players a go in the Twenty20 - we're unlikely to win it anyway, but its not fair on the supporters to potentially subject us to more humiliations like this when the tournament proper starts later in the year.