Gareth Batty, Surrey’s head coach, has left the county after a poor championship campaign.

After finishing runners-up in the 2025 County Championship, Surrey were seventh last season, well below expectations for the best-resourced side in the domestic game.

Surrey also lost in the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast and failed to reach the knockout stages of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

Batty, 49, is joining Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as an assistant coach.

Batty, who was previously club captain of Surrey, enjoyed a highly successful stint as head coach, winning three consecutive County Championships from 2022 to 2024.

“League tables don’t lie,” Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of men’s cricket, said earlier this month. “We weren’t good enough for the ability we have in that dressing room and what we’ve achieved in the past.”

Batty’s departure will leave Surrey looking to fill the role of head coach, which is among the most-coveted roles in English cricket.

As well as existing county head coaches, the role could also be attractive to those involved in the English coaching set-up, such as assistant coach Marcus Trescothick.

“Thank you hardly seems enough for all that Surrey has meant to me,” Batty said following the end of his 21-year association with the club. “It has been a privilege to serve this great club, to share in its success and challenges.

“The new journey is a very exciting one for my family and I with CSK in the IPL and I’m looking forward to getting going.

“I would like to make a special thank you for Stewie, he has been there throughout – thank you for the memories and your belief in me, boss.

“Clubs are built on more than results and trophies, they are built on people, loyalty and a shared sense of purpose and I look forward to my third chapter as a fan. Thank you.”

Batty became Surrey’s head coach immediately after retiring in 2021.

At CSK, Batty will work under new head coach Zaheer Khan – the replacement for new England Test coach Stephen Fleming. Batty and Khan have an association dating back to 2006, when the pair played together for Worcestershire.