Nannes buoyed by Surrey potential

New Surrey Lions signing Dirk Nannes is predicting happy times at the Kia Oval in this season's Friends Life t20 after seeing his team-mates in action last week.

The left-arm seamer, who is the leading wicket-taker in Twenty20 cricket, saw some of Surrey in action and believes they have the tools to compete in the shortest form of the game.

"I've only seen the guys a little bit," said Nannes, who has recovered from a side strain he picked up during the IPL.

"I saw them playing at the Whitgift School the other day and the guys I was watching were just smashing it everywhere. It was great to watch. If that's the way the whole team plays I'm sure we're looking forward to some good success.

"It seems like everyone can hit the ball pretty well and there is a big battery of fast bowling. It looks like we've got a pretty good team on paper - let's just see how it pans out."

Dirk Nannes celebrates dismissing Shahid Afridi when Australia played Pakistan at Edgbaston last summer

Nannes knows all about T20 cricket in this country having spent time at Middlesex and Nottinghamshire as well as appearing for Netherlands in the ICC World Twenty20 when he helped the minnows shock England at Lord's.

He says the domestic T20 competition in England continues to improve, even if that means that he and his fellow bowlers have a harder job containing inventive batsmen.

"People are getting a lot smarter about the way they play their Twenty20," he said.

"The standard is getting better and better every year. A few years ago when I played for Middlesex, the way everyone played the game was completely different to how it's played now.

"Bowling is getting a lot tougher, which I am experiencing every year unfortunately. You try and bowl to counter that and bowling improves as a result. It's a really good competition to be involved in. There's a lot of cricket, momentum is huge in this game.

"Hopefully Surrey can get off to a few wins at the start and get the ball rolling and make it a good, easy tournament for us when we are winning."

The 35 year old, who is a replacement for Shaun Tait, added that he's looking forward to taking on former employers Middlesex.

"I'm very excited to be here," he said.

"It's a great Oval, I've only played here a couple of times. I love England, I have had a great time everytime I am here. I've moved over here so I'm really excited to get stuck into it.

"I'm really looking forward to get out there on the wicket at the Oval and have a good competition and play against my old team Middlesex - that'll be a cracking event."