Surrey appoint Gareth Batty as their permanent head coach

Gareth Batty [Source: Twitter]

Former England off-spinner Gareth Batty has been permanently appointed as the head coach of the Surrey County Cricket Club. 

While playing for Surrey, the wily spinner retired from domestic cricket in 2021. He finished with a total of 1,092 wickets across all formats. 

He then served as the assistant coach of Surrey, with Vikram Solanki as the head coach. However, the position was vacant after Solanki left the team for IPL commitments with Gujarat Titans. 

Surrey Cricket

@surreycricket

🖋Gareth Batty signs as permanent Head Coach🖋 Gareth Batty has today been confirmed as the Head Coach of Surrey's men's team. Gareth had been doing the role on an interim basis for the 2022 season, leading Surrey to the @CountyChamp title 🏆 #SurreyCricket🤎

Then, the 45-year-old was given the opportunity to be the head coach. He chose Azhar Mahmood and Jim Troughton as his assistants. 

Surrey secured eight victories in 14 games, and emerged as the winner of the County Championship Division One 2022 title. Furthermore, they reached the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast as well. 

As a result of team's impressive performance, Batty has been given a permanent charge as a head coach. 

Gareth Batty expresses his delight

"The hard work put in by the coaching staff and the players was crucial in the success this year and we're looking to get straight back to it as pre-season begins," he added. "There's a huge amount of potential in this group of players and I’m excited to get going again with our eyes firmly set on more success in 2023."

Batty featured in 9 Tests and 10 ODIs, scalping 20 wickets for England in international cricket. He returned to the Three Lions Test team after a hiatus of 11 years in 2016, with the final appearance against India in the same year. 

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