THERE'S an adage that a batsman is only as good as his last innings, which is only true to an extent – for instance Mark Ramprakash has made as many ducks in first-class cricket as he has scores over 130.

What the saying really means is that if a batsman hits a hundred one day and gets a blob the next, chances are you'll remember what he did last.

Driving home from the Oval after the Glamorgan defeat, all I could think about was Surrey's inability to convert 68-1 after six overs into a total up near 200.

A plethora of injuries aside, it had been a great week for Rory Hamilton-Brown's men up to that point. A victory against Derbyshire in the championship, followed by a convincing win against the Somerset Sabres in the FPT20, but then defeat at the hands of one of the sorrier-looking teams in this summer's T20.

It wasn't difficult to tell that the Welshmen had been struggling. The other day their head coach Matthew Maynard was moaning about the format of this season's competition.

Looking at the South Group table, Sussex, Essex and Somerset appear to be as good as through to the last eight, which means Surrey now need to win more games than Hampshire in the run in.

I never thought it would come to this, but I might even start cheering on Middlesex next week. The Panthers are playing Hampshire at home and then away.

Mind you, it wouldn't exactly help Surrey's cause if Middlesex finished the group strongly.

So, first things first, the Lions really need to go into this Sunday's visit to Arundel with a victory in the London derby.