I can’t recall exactly when and where it happened but it
must have been inspired by my delightful family holiday spent in and around
Minehead in the summer of '71. As it happened, that was one of Somerset’s best
cricket seasons for a while but it had long been considered one of the sport’s
sleepy backwaters. There were no international stars, just a few ageing
ex-England players in Brian Close and Tom Cartwright plus a motley collection
of journeymen and young recruits from that longstanding cricket academy in
Millfield School. It was probably the random combo of attractive scenery and
sympathy that brought me and SCCC together.
Somerset’s Taunton HQ must be one of the county circuit’s
most recognisable grounds. Like The Oval’s gasholders, the trio of sandstone church
towers provided a familiar backdrop to the arena for TV cameras set high on the
River End pavilion. From the opposite side, the Quantock Hills fill the space
between what is now the Sir Ian Botham Stand and the sky. Whilst living and
working nearby, I attended several matches there, in addition to a few sneaky
peaks through the Garner Gates in lunch breaks, but my introduction to live
cricket was Somerset’s trip to Essex at Chelmsford on a cool May afternoon in
1975. It was to be a winning start thanks largely to a then little-known West
Indian called IVA Richards. More of him later…..
The following season we came agonisingly close to clinching
a first ever trophy. While it wasn’t the featured live game, Dad and I were
following the fortunes of Somerset at Glamorgan, watching BBC2’s cricket
coverage of the final round of Sunday League fixtures. We lost a thrilling
encounter by just one run and the title on away games won, and this teenager
was in despair. In ’78 we were again runners-up, not only in the Sunday League
but also the premier knockout competition, the Gillette Cup. This has been a
recurring theme for the past four decades.
Luckily, the lengthy search for silverware ended the
following year. Neither Essex nor Somerset had ever won anything. Then, in one
glorious season, the two clubs shared all four titles on offer. For us it was
the John Player (Sunday) and Gillette Cup. Under Brian Rose’s captaincy, with
Ian Botham an established international all-rounder Viv Richards’ extraordinary batting and Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner
leading the attack, Somerset’s golden era had begun.
The forty-over league proved to be our speciality and yet we
could finish only second in three of the subsequent four years. It was in June
1981, following my end-of year exams at Exeter University, that I enjoyed my
only live experience of watching our three legends playing together.
It was at the Bath Festival clash with neighbours
Gloucestershire but, instead of the current bristling rivalry, the atmosphere
was light and friendly and before the game we could stand on the outfield while
the players warmed up amongst us. Standing alongside Joel Garner I could
appreciate just how tall he was (barely fitting into my lens, below), and he
played his part in our 20-run triumph, taking 4-21 as Gloucestershire suffered
a catastrophic collapse.
That memorable summer we clinched the Benson & Hedges Cup (55 overs a side), repeated the feat in ’82
and took Kent apart in the Nat West Trophy final (successor to the Gillette
Cup) in ’83. After that, it all went horribly quiet. In 1985 the county tore
itself in two, not over Brexit but on the thornier issue of whether to replace
Richards with the younger and frankly more conscientious Kiwi, Martyn Crowe.
Somerset hadn’t experienced such division since the Monmouth Rebellion three
centuries earlier, and that hadn’t ended well! Despite my hero-worship of King
Viv, I actually sided with the more forward-thinking members at SCCC. Richards
departed, followed by his friends Garner and Botham and suddenly captain Peter
Roebuck and Vic Marks were left with some mighty boots to fill.
The victory champagne dried up. For years, we couldn’t even
finish second. It wasn’t until 2001 when Jamie Cox’s side ended the barren run
with success over Leicestershire in the new 50-over C&G Trophy. It has
since gone down in folklore because of Leicester seamer Scott Boswell’s
nightmare second over, in which he bowled eight wides. Eight!
It wasn't as if we had no decent players. Quite the reverse.
Talented locals like Vic Marks, Colin Dredge, Richard Harden and Marcus
Trescothick were supplemented by imports such as Andy Caddick, Mushtaq Ahmed,
Steve Waugh, Graeme Smith and Jimmy Cook. The latter spent only three years at
Somerset, yet racked up 28 centuries and almost 7,000 first-class runs. And
still we struggled.
Then in 2007, following the arrival of Justin Langer, a new
golden age beckoned. We returned to Division One, tightened up on discipline
and discovered that the exciting new Twenty20 format played towards our
strengths. Somerset were great to watch, competing in every competition. And
yet, for some reason, the fates conspired against us. Apart from the solitary
T20 success in 2005, we crumbled under the weight of destiny and expectation.
Between 2009 and 2012, we were beaten finalists five times in the Blast and
40-over CB40 trophy, and runners-up twice in the Championship. Surely we would
win something? No.
For years, the Taunton pitch was notoriously
batting-friendly, ideal for high scores but useless for taking the twenty
wickets needed to win matches. But it did make for some incredible run chases.
In 2009, I was invited to join some old BBC friends to watch day one of
Somerset’s home fixture against Yorkshire. Jacques Rudolph piled on the runs
and the draw seemed inevitable right until the final day. As I followed
proceedings online, Arul Suppiah and Peter Trego crashed centuries in the last
two sessions to pull off a remarkable victory. Heartwarming stuff. After that, no chase was impossible and opposing captains would henceforth be extremely wary of offering declarations.
Marcus Trescothick’s age and fitness have restricted his
appearances but he resolutely refuses to retire until the elusive Championship
pennant flutters proudly above Taunton. I fear he’ll have to be batting in a
wheelchair. For all the talents of the much-loved Trego, James Hildreth, Lewis
Gregory, Tom Abell, Jack Leach and the Overton twins, another county always
seems to do just that little bit better. In 2018 it was Surrey, while an
excellent T20 season ended in the semis.
Could 2019 see us get over the line at last? Old hands like
me fear the worst but if the planets of batting and bowling align, anything’s
possible. Please let it happen, even if it’s just to see the smile on Marcus
Trescothick’s face.
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