Champions need just 39 minutes on the fourth morning to
defeat Warwickshire.
Surrey 464 (Smith 155, Sibley 64, Foakes 52, Abbott 50*, Miles 5-43) and 89 for
1 (Sibley 46*) defeated Warwickshire 343 (Barnard 108, Clark 4-65) and 209
(Yates 52, Roach 6-46) by nine wickets.
Jamie Smith has the "grounding" to become a "high-quality
international," according to Surrey coach Gareth Batty, who pushed Smith
to be a "dreamer" as he competes to be England's Test wicketkeeper
this summer.
Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes struggled with the bat in England's 4-1 loss to
India earlier this year - neither scored a half-century and both averaged in
the low 20s - and Rob Key and Brendon McCullum have made it clear that the
position is up for grabs ahead of the West Indies Test series in July.
Smith, 23, has been a part of England's development squad since the Under-19
level and earned his international debut against Ireland in the ODI series in
September. He began the County Championship season with half-centuries against
Somerset and Kent, but was Surrey's match-winner against Warwickshire, smashing
155 off 179 balls to set up their bowlers.
"He's coming on very nicely," Batty added. "I thought last year was his major coming-of-age season, converting promise into output. There were some fantastic knocks for us, and with international play coming up shortly, how well he played in this game will be on everyone's mind. The good news for Jamie is that it hasn't just been this innings; it's been going on for some time. "He has a strong foundation or platform."He is the modern-day player. To be a high-quality international, you must have an old-school background. He has it, and he is willing to work hard. He possesses a strong defense, but we can also see his expansive side. We also see what he is capable of in white-ball cricket and what he accomplished today against a tired attack. It's all up to the individual today."
Surrey have backed Smith to bat at No. 4 this season, despite the arrival of Essex's Dan Lawrence, England's spare batter on their India tour, who has been assigned to No. 6. Foakes had been their first-choice wicketkeeper. Still, Smith took over in last week's triumph against Hampshire and kept things tidy despite only being involved in one dismissal.
Batty declined to comment on Smith's Test aspirations, which
is understandable given Foakes' desire to remain in the England squad. But he
urged him to be ambitious, adding, "Everybody's a dreamer, aren't they?
"I don't think you should play sport if you don't have
dreams."There's a solid foundation behind the great things we see out
there, which should prepare you for the unexpected. Jamie is part of a level-headed
group that has received positive feedback. It's good that people are
complimenting him; we want that, of course, but he has earned it."
Surrey took 39 minutes to complete their nine-wicket victory on the last day,
chasing their score of 89 without breaking a sweat. Rory Burns chipped Jacob
Bethell to mid-on, but Dom Sibley led them home with a steady, unbroken 46.
Ollie Pope scored the winning runs by working Rob Yates' offspin into the leg
side and returning for three.
"We fought hard throughout the game to get the win and it was a very good
team performance," Batty stated. "Our bowling was actually a bit
clunky at the start of the match, after a bye week last week, but we got better
and better and really turned the screw later in the game and showed just what a
wonderful bowling unit we have."
Warwickshire were missing several first-choice bowlers in
this match - Chris Rushworth (calf) and Liam Norwell (back) were injured, Hasan
Ali was unexpectedly called up to Pakistan's T20I squad, and Chris Woakes was
at the IPL - and Craig Miles suffered an ankle injury while celebrating his
fifth wicket on day two.
"We've done a lot of things right, but we haven't been good enough,"
their coach Mark Robinson admitted. "It's aspirational for us as a major
club like Warwickshire to catch up with them [Surrey]; at the moment, they're
Man City, and we're not. To maximize your chances, a few factors must be in
your favor. We have four frontline bowlers who are unavailable, which doesn't
help."
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