As a captain you always have to ask yourself certain questions. Are the team still responding to me? Am I the right man for the job?
When the team aren’t playing well, like Surrey at the moment, it is particularly important to do that. The last thing I want is a role I don’t believe is right for me but I still firmly believe I am the right man for this job.
I speak to people I trust about these matters, sometimes outside the club, because they are more likely to give you an objective take on the situation.
My natural way of dealing with a poor run of results is to take it to heart and take it personally. I probably will be a bit grumpy away from the game when we’re in a situation like this. You do take it home. It’s inevitable that you will. But I’m experienced enough to know that you have to try to go the other why. Even though we’re struggling, we have to try to enjoy our matches. We have to try to remember why we love the game, why we all wanted to play it professionally when we were younger.
I know this sounds strange after our result last night, when Glamorgan beat us by eight wickets in our T20 Blast game at The Kia Oval, but I’m encouraged by the conversations we had after our County Championship defeat by Lancashire at Old Trafford earlier this week.
It was not a case of the management reading the riot act to the players. This was led by the players and the common theme was the need to stick together and to take individual responsibility for helping the team. Hopefully we can turn those words into actions over the remainder of the summer.
