Surrey's sights on success

Interview: Azhar Mahmood

By Martin Gough

Surrey were once described as the Manchester United of cricket, and just like the residents of football's Old Trafford, they have endured a barren spell.

TWENTY20 CUP FINALS DAY Saturday, 12 August 1130 BST First semi-final: Essex v Leicestershire 1500 BST Second semi-final: Surrey v Nottinghamshire 1915 BST Final Listen to the semi-finals on BBC Five Live Sports Extra, the final on BBC Radio Five Live and all matches on this website

The Red Devils - winners of the Premiership four times between 1999 and 2003 - have gone three years without winning major silverware.

And the Brown Caps - winners of four County Championship titles between 1999 and 2002 - have gone without a trophy for the last three years too.

Last year they suffered the ignominy of Championship relegation, and Aussie coach Steve Rixon departed by mutal consent.

This year they are challenging for three titles, and new boss Alan Butcher is gaining plenty of plaudits for realising how to adapt to the workload of county cricket.

"The last two years, when Steve Rixon was here, were tough for Surrey cricket," said Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood.

"Alan is a team-friendly man. Because you play too much cricket you need to relax [in practice].

"Alan is doing so well, the boys really are happy, working hard for each other, enjoying each other's success and enjoying each other's company."

I'm not worried about somebody trying to hit me over the top - I bowl aggressively Azhar Mahmood

They still have to fight their way out of lower divisions in the other competitions but nothing would prove that Surrey's spirit is back like a second Twenty20 Cup crown.

Under Adam Hollioake, they won the inaugural competition at Trent Bridge in 2003 and have since been beaten in the final and last year's semi-final.

Mahmood has been there throughout, his attacking style with bat and ball typifying the team's aggressive approach to the shortest form of the game.

Surrey prefer to bat first, making use of pyrotechnic opening batsman James Benning.

"In the first six overs you go for big hits, then in the middle overs it's like a proper one-day game, with singles and twos and the odd boundary," Mahmood explained.

"Then in the last six if you've got wickets in hand you can go for runs again."

Mahmood opens the bowling and said: "I always get two slips to start with.

"I'm not worried about somebody trying to hit me over the top - I bowl aggressively. That's why we get wickets early on and people are under pressure."

Hollioake hoisted the inaugural Twenty20 trophy in 2003

Twenty20 was supposed to signal the death of spin bowling. Surrey will use three, including India veteran Anil Kumble and former England leggie Ian Salisbury.

Left-armer Nayan Doshi, the only uncapped member of the trio, has been Twenty20's leading wicket-taker for the last two years, with 37.

Surrey's sights are not just on the Twenty20 Cup.

"We are top of Championship Division Two and looking to play next year in Division One again," Mahmood pointed out.

"We're in finals day in Twenty20 and we've played three and won three in Pro40 [Division Two].

"We've got a good chance to win all three competitions."

If anything, it is their temporary deportation to the lower tier of the Championship that rankles most.

"It's good experience to play in different places on different wickets," Mahmood conceded.

"We don't want to stay in that division, though.

"We want to go back where we belong."