Butcher has seen his side relegated to Division Two of the Championship

Surrey coach Alan Butcher has praised the efforts of his players after suffering relegation to Division Two.

The Brown Caps were relegated on Thursday as a result of Lancashire gaining bowling bonus points in their match against Kent at Liverpool.

Butcher told BBC London 94.9: "The guys have tried hard all the way but eventually that becomes a bit too big a burden to cope with.

"We've tried all the way through. No-one's given it away."

Butcher added: "It's always hard when we've been battling for quite a long time and battling against injuries.

"There were lots of players that we couldn't choose for the last two or three games when we had to win - lots of important players and that adds to the strain."

You can get caught up in this Surrey disaster business and it sounds as if Surrey have dominated domestic cricket for the last 50 years which patently hasn't been the case Surrey coach Alan Butcher

"One thing about cricket is you do get quite a lot of time for reflection as the season unfolds but it's more a time for making decisions and putting things in place.

"You can get caught up in this Surrey disaster business and it sounds as if Surrey have dominated domestic cricket for the last 50 years which patently hasn't been the case but we have a long way to come."

"It's a chastening experience - hopefully they'll come back stronger for it. It's a lesson for some of the younger players for the standards they have to reach.

"And a lesson for some of the less-young ones of the levels of toughness and mental strength that you need to cope."