Butcher tribute to Outlaws

Mark Butcher praised Notts

Surrey skipper Mark Butcher paid tribute to Nottinghamshire after the Brown Caps crashed out of the Twenty20 tournament at the semi-final stage.

Butcher, who was run out for one run, saw his side make 139 all out in response to the home side’s 176 for six.

“It’s difficult to recover from a bad start and it needed a partnership,” he said. “Instead of that we kept trying to hit sixes to relieve pressure in that way.”

That approach did not pay off for Surrey who were pegged back by a tight spell by Ryan Sidebottom, whose four overs went for just seven runs.

Butcher refused to blame his players for their bowling performance, instead pointing to some inventive batting against Surrey’s spin trio of Anil Kumble, Nayan Doshi and Ian Salisbury.

“Nottinghamshire played our three spinners better than anyone this season. We would have played those three anywhere in the country. They’ve been our best bowlers this year.

“If we’d got a wicket when the ball was new, when it was swinging for the first four overs we could have put them under pressure but Stephen Fleming and Graeme Swann put Surrey under pressure.”