MATTHEW Spriegel says the biggest thing he learnt from his winter in Australia was the ability to construct an innings.

The 23-year-old left hander's second first-class hundred in eight visits to the crease spared Surrey's blushes when the Oval outfit played host to Bangladesh.

But, with Usman Afzaal making an unbeaten 159 on the final day, Spriegel may have to settle, for now, for being an integral part of the Lions' one-day set-up.

He said: "I had a great time out in Australia. I got three hundreds for Perth and was the club's top scorer. It was a fantastic way to spend the winter and I made some really good friends out there.

"I really enjoyed it and it's something I'll be looking to do again. The biggest improvement it brought to my game was my ability to score hundreds."

Even though Spriegel's first-class hundreds have been made at numbers five and six, he said he doesn't mind where he bats in the order.

He said: "I don't necessarily prefer batting in the middle order. The new ball is obviously the most difficult time to bat, but if you get through that it's the best time to bat.

"Unfortunately in the first couple of championship games I got two thirties, which I really should have kicked on from and then two nothings down at Hove – that can happen on a wet wicket in April."

Although Surrey are propping up Division Two in the County Championship, they are flying high in the Clydesdale Bank 40 league.

Spriegel said: "We've played some fantastic one-day cricket. We've made some good signings in Steven Davies and Gareth Batty. They've put in some really good performances. Davo and Rory Hamilton-Brown have got us off to some really good starts at the top of the order."

In the victory over Worcestershire, Spriegel helped to see the Lions home.

"You could see the rain coming in, so Uzzi [Usman Afzaal] and me had one eye on the Duckworth-Lewis and one eye on just trying to win the game and bat the 40 overs. The longer we batted for, whether the rain was going to come or not, the better chance we had."