As good as gold... and green

Andrew Symonds may be the bad boy of Australian cricket, but for Surrey he has been as good as gold... and green.

That was the verdict of skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown, who had nothing but praise for the man who joined just before the start of this year's Twenty20 campaign.

The surprise move came less than a year after Symonds was sent home from the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009, the third time he had fallen foul of the Australian selectors for disciplinary reasons.

But while many thought he may unsettle a young Surrey dressing room, his captain says it couldn't be further from the truth.

"He's been fantastic," Hamilton-Brown told Cricket AM.

"I think when someone like that - not just his physical stature, but him as a person and what he's achieved - walks into your dressing room halfway through the season it gives you a lift, it gives everyone a lift.

"He's been brilliant. His ethos on winning, everything about cricket, has been good for us. I've found him really good - he's made an effort to help me out."

"With me obviously being a young bloke and the experience he's got, I've tried to pick his brains as much as possible without boring him!

"His physical presence, what he's achieved, his aura, bring so much - and it doesn't just life me or the other young guys, it lifts someone like Ramps (Mark Ramprakash), because you know you've got someone fighting in your corner."

Gamble

Scrapping is something Surrey have become used to this year, not least on Friday night when they were floored by a sensational Friends Provident t20 century from Scott Styrus.

The New Zealander smashed an unbeaten 106no off just 50 balls, including 22 off Symonds' last over, to snatch an unlikely win and leapfrog Essex over the Lions and into second in the Southern Group.

Hamilton-Brown admitted that the morning after he still wasn't sure what had happened, but says his young side have aleady had a few setbacks along the way this season.

But at 23, the skipper could not be happier leading out his home county into battle.

"Of course it was a tough decision to leave Sussex," I was sort of getting into my career at Sussex, really enjoying my time, when I got approached by Surrey, which was obviously my home club. It sounds corny, but it was a dream come true.

"I'm sure it was perceived as a gamble, but we're trying our best and we're getting to quite a good place at the moment."