Three Surrey youngsters led an upsurge in Surrey’s Metro Bank Cup fortunes with record-breaking performances.

Deprived of 23 players by a mixture of the high-profile Hundred competition and a wave of injuries, the county were already all but certain to miss out on qualifying for the knockout stages in the 50-over competition.

They had lost all but one of their first five Group A matches, a heaviest-ever 244-run defeat by Essex at Chelmsford being followed by last Monday’s nine-wicket thrashing against Hampshire at the Kia Oval.

But at Derby on Friday, 19-year-old Adam Thomas (160) and 20-year-old Ollie Sykes (115) hit maiden List A centuries in leading the visitors to 388 for four, their third-wicket stand of 265 knocking Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe – who put on 200 in 1989 – out of Surrey’s record book.

Despite Matthew Montgomery’s 114, Derbyshire could only respond with 345 all out to lose by 43 runs, on-loan seamer Ari Karvelas and left-arm spinner Yousef Majid claiming three wickets apiece.

Surrey stayed in the midlands to take on Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Sunday, an exciting ten-run victory owing much to 17-year-old Ralphie Albert. He joined Josh Blake (72) at 100 for five and went on to make 96 – the highest maiden innings for Surrey in List A games – as the pair added 146, surpassing the 132 added by Stewart and Mark Butcher in 1996.

That took the visitors to 289 for six, half-centuries by Sam King, Dane Schadenorf and Robert Lord threatening to win the match but acting captain Sykes (three for 44), left-arm spinner Albert (two for 50) and Karvelas (two for 27) containing the hosts to 279 for nine. Wicketkeeper Blake took three catches and two stumpings.

One player who was expected to be part of Surrey’s Metro Bank Cup campaign, fast bowler Matt Dunn, has been forced to retire from the game following medical advice.

The 33-year-old suffered a labral tear of the right shoulder in May last year but despite surgery and rehabilitation work, he could make only a brief comeback earlier this season.

Dunn first played for the county at under-13 level, making his first-class debut in 2010 – having already appeared for England under-19s – and emerging fully as a force at first-class level with 47 wickets in 2014.

Injuries have meant he was seen at his best only rarely, not least his 13 wickets in two matches against Somerset and Yorkshire at the Guildford Festival in 2019.

Dunn and his wife Jessica faced a more daunting challenge in 2021 when their daughter Florence was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy and when she died, in 2023, they raised more than £40,000 in her memory for the Dravet Syndrome UK charity.

“For me, Surrey have been a massive part of my life for a long time and will be for a long time,” said Dunn. “I don’t think you ever really properly leave this place.

“Unfortunately, we’ve reached a point where we’re out of options medically.”

Surrey supremo Stewart added: “It’s always sad to see people leave, especially someone who was at Surrey as a young lad and you know how much the club means to him.

“What’s even more gutting and heartbreaking is that an injury has compelled him to call it a day.”

By Richard Spiller