Surrey head coach Chris Adams says his current crop of stars are under starters orders to be the next golden generation at the Kia Oval.

The Lions beat Somerset by five-wickets in a rain-affected Clydesdale Bank 40 final at Lord’s on Saturday to claim their first silverware since 2003.

Skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown hit a match-winning 78 as his men chased a revised target of 186 from 30 overs to add the trophy to the LV= County Championship promotion they achieved earlier in the week.

Adams has kept faith with a host of home-grown youngsters in limited-overs competition and believes they can form the backbone of a successful side for years to come.

“They now know this is the reason for the hard gaft because these days are the sweetest of their careers,”

he says.

“We’ve done it the hard way. There are some people out there who didn’t want this success to happen.

“This is just the beginning. “This team is going to be together for a long time. Imagine how good they will be in five years time.”

Surrey club cricket has played its part with Hamilton-Brown turning out for Weybridge in the Surrey Championship Premier Division in his formative years.