Richard Dawson will urge his Gloucestershire team to “play with pride” in their final NatWest T20 Blast game against Surrey at The Oval.

A string of poor batting displays have condemned the county to three successive defeats and a place among the also-rans in the South Group.

The latest setback on Wednesday night saw Gloucestershire bowled out for 100 in 15.5 overs by Middlesex at Uxbridge and highlighted a weakness that Dawson makes no attempt to disguise.

“We haven’t had any of our batsmen making meaningful scores and that is very frustrating and disappointing,” said the head coach.

“The Middlesex game was typical. We bowled and fielded really well and at the halfway stage were in a good position.

“Then we were completely blown away, losing five wickets in the power-play. Our batting simply hasn’t been good enough.”

The top score by a Gloucestershire batsman in the consecutive defeats by Sussex, Essex and Middlesex was the 43 made by Phil Mustard in the first of those games.

Even skipper Michael Klinger, so often the inspiration for his team, has struggled with two ducks either side of a score of nine.

Gloucestershire’s bid for the trophy was hit initially by the withdrawal of Andrew Tye through injury and then the fact that overseas replacement Thisara Perera’s time with the club was shortened by an international training camp back home in Sri Lanka.

Dawson uses neither factor as an excuse. “The batting line-up is experienced and just hasn’t performed as it did last season," he said.

“We got ourselves into a decent position in the group and couldn’t make it count when it mattered most. I am very disappointed by that.”

Dawson says he will give selection careful consideration for the Surrey game, but does not anticipate major changes.

“There is sure to be a big crowd at The Oval and we need to play with pride,” he said. “Surrey have some top T20 players and we have to raise our game to compete with them.

"We may have nothing to play for as a team, but every individual certainly has as we look to the future."

One player to emerge with credit from Gloucestershire’s group campaign is left-arm seamer David Payne.

His two wickets against Middlesex took his tally in the competition to 16, a tally bettered by only a handful of bowlers throughout the two groups.

Payne also boasts an impressive economy rate of 7.14 and must rank among the most improved performers in this season’s Blast.