Surrey have sacked team director Chris Adams and first-team coach Ian Salisbury as they attempt to change the dismal form they have shown in the first part of the summer.
The pair were dismissed today, with the county’s former England captain Alec Stewart and bowling coach Stuart Barnes taking charge until the end of this season.
In contrast with football, it is rare for a county to axe their coach in the middle of the season and this step highlights the level of fear at Surrey that they might drop out of the top division. They expect to begin the search for their new coach in the coming days but do not anticipate appointing a replacement until the season concludes.
Surrey signed a host of battle-hardened players, including South Africa’s Graeme Smith as captain and former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, to improve results and change the culture on the playing staff, which some believed was being influenced by a group of younger players who enjoyed London night life a little too much. The club experienced tragedy last June when batsman Tom Maynard died aged 23. It led to an extremely difficult time and the hierarchy hoped that Surrey would begin their recovery in 2013.
But they are third-bottom of Division One in the Championship, without a win in four-day cricket all season, and results have also been patchy in the Yorkshire Bank 40.
Smith’s season-ending ankle injury after three matches did not help matters and Gareth Batty led the side in his absence before he, too, was injured. Vikram Solanki has been the third captain of the season.
Since retirement, the 50-year-old Stewart has worked as both a coach and club ambassador for Surrey and he will be assisted by Barnes.
Adams joined in 2008 and helped the club win promotion from Division Two and the domestic 40-over competition in 2011. He had been under serious pressure since the middle of last month and club executives demanded an improvement.
Yet that revival never occurred and even though there was a stronger performance against Sussex at Arundel last week, it was not enough to save Adams. In a statement, the club thanked them both for their hard work and contribution.
