Gareth Batty column: Skipper tells us Surrey have the skills to do well at the top – so long as they’re a bit smarter

Our first game of the summer has shown us exactly what Division One cricket is all about.

Last season, we might have got away with the kind of mistakes we made in our opening game at Nottinghamshire. That’s not going to happen this season and we need to realise that as quickly as possible, starting in our next game against Somerset next Sunday.

There is no doubt we have the skill to do well at this level and we showed glimpses of it at Trent Bridge. But we were also a bit naive at times and we have to nip that in the bud.

We have to recognise situations where, for example, a good batsman is playing well, and make sure we do not get hurt too badly. We need to be more disciplined, particularly with the ball, because if we can tighten up then the skills are there. Notts were chasing 169 to win the game and they only just got there. That shows how good we can be as a bowling unit.

But we need to be a bit smarter. If we haven’t quite hit our straps, as we didn’t in Notts’ first innings, then fine. Just make sure it does not put too much of a dent in the scoreboard. Notts did that very well when we were batting and it’s all about striving for that consistency to make sure we stay in the game even when things aren’t happening for us.

We showed what we can do with the bat in that game, too, with Arun Harinath leading the way with a brilliant century in the second innings.

Kumar Sangakkara also played very well second time around to make sure we could set a target that Notts would find difficult to chase. In the end, we nearly managed it, as Notts won with only three wickets in hand.

With the toss not compulsory in county cricket this summer, I had the option, as visiting captain, of choosing to bowl first, which I did.

I’ve heard people say that this initiative from the ECB will persuade counties to produce better pitches, which will bring more spinners into the game.

It’s a great fairytale and I’d love to believe it will happen. But until you change the mindset of spinners, by educating them that they’re there to win matches for their teams, I don’t see a great deal changing.