All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardWarwickshire came back almost from the dead to tie their match with Gloucestershire at Bristol, courtesy of a four off the final ball of the match by captain Ian Westwood. Gloucestershire had reason to feel deflated, as they had looked likely winners for most of the game, and also in that their ground was less than half-full.Winning the toss, Warwickshire put in Gloucestershire, who opened with their two New Zealanders, Craig Spearman and Hamish Marshall. Spearman began the onslaught, then Marshall shot ahead, with such success that the 50 was raised in the sixth over. The stand was broken at 60 in the following over, Spearman (20) lofting a catch near the midwicket boundary, and two overs later Marshall was stumped for 46.The bowler was Ant Botha, with his cunning off-breaks, and he also had Chris Taylor caught for 13. His superb bowling earned him figures of 3 for 22 off four overs, while Ian Salisbury at the other end also did a fine job with 1 for 25. The contrast with the seamers was stark: they were all hammered for at least nine an over. New Zealander Chris Martin, bowling for Warwickshire for the first time after rain on Wednesday denied him an over on his debut, only bowled three overs for 27 runs.Thanks to the noble work of the spinners, Gloucestershire reached only 158 – with six wickets in hand, they would have expected more. Yet it looked likely to prove sufficient. Jon Lewis trapped Navdeep Pooniah lbw off the first ball of the innings, and Warwickshire’s top order were unable to put together a partnership, falling steadily behind the clock. After ten overs they had a third of the required runs and needed more than ten an over.Tony Frost batted superbly as he sought desperately to bring his team back into the match, and at last he found support in Tim Groenewald. Despite the urgency of the situation they hit wisely and well, and when they took 15 off the 18th over, bowled by Carl Greenidge, the task looked possible with 22 needed off two. But Marcus North bowled a tight penultimate over at the pinch to concede only eight, and it was top bowler Lewis to bowl the last.Off the first ball Frost, having just reached an admirable 50 off 30 balls, holed out on the cover boundary after a stand of 66 in 31 balls. Groenewald responded with a magnificent straight six next ball, but Lewis kept it tight thereafter until the final delivery, when Westwood was facing his first ball with five to win. He sliced a four to the third-man boundary and the match was tied, leaving Groenewald unbeaten on 39.

Michael Clarke will use the lessons learned from his previous captains when he leads Australia against Bangladesh in his first full series in the top job. Clarke’s major duties start in Darwin on Saturday, when he steps in for the injured Ricky Ponting, and while he has thought of his predecessors, he also intends to follow his own instincts in the three matches.”I’ve always played my cricket my own way and that’s certainly the way I want to lead the team,” Clarke, who guided the side during two one-day games in the West Indies, told the Sun-Herald. “I think I can do that, along with the help and advice of those who’ve come before me.”I plan to be a captain who leads in the same style that I play. I feel that I’m an attacking and positive sort of player. I love the challenge of a hard-fought game of cricket. I like being the one who is responsible for making the right or wrong decision.”Clarke, who is now 27, has played under some of Australia’s most successful leaders and he has thought of them when working out his own outlook. “There are strengths in each of the captains I’ve played under,” he said. “I’ve had Waugh, Ponting, Warne – a lot of good captains, even at grade level. But the key thing I’ve learnt from a number of them has been to always be your own person.”You need to back yourself 100% and always believe in yourself. You need to back your instinct. If you feel like you want to make a change or something, you have to back your own judgment and ability. That’s certainly one of Punter’s strengths and it’s a strength of pretty much all the captains I’ve played under.”However, Clarke said he was prepared to go his own way. “The last thing I want to do is be like someone else,” he said. Clarke’s leadership record is currently unblemished after victories in two Twenty20 encounters and success in both the one-day games in the West Indies in July.

By the late sixties and early seventies, the great West Indian side ofthe decade had broken up, but by 1974, the rebuilding process had beencompleted, and it was a strong and confident side that came to Indiaduring the winter. Clive Lloyd took over the captaincy and the sidebristled with brilliant young stroke players in Gordon Greenidge, RoyFredericks, Lawrence Rowe, Vivian Richards and Alvin Kallicharran. Inaddition, they had fine all-rounders in Bernard Julien and Keith Boyceand a fearsome pace bowler in Andy Roberts while veteran Lance Gibbs,at 40 was still around to shoulder the spin burden.

Even as the West Indies had completed their rebuilding process, Indiawere going through a turbulent period. In England in 1974, India hadbeen routed in all three Tests and a few seamy happenings off thefield added to the already clouded atmosphere. As the team approachedthe series against the West Indies, they could not have been in aconfident frame of mind, particularly since Ajit Wadekar suddenlyannounced his retirement and the Indian Cricket Board slapped a oneTest ban on Bishen Bedi for airing controversial views during anunauthorised TV interview in England.The selectors had to find a new captain and they fell back on MansurAli Khan Pataudi. But while leading India in the first Test atBangalore, which was lost by 267 runs, Pataudi was injured. Atemporary replacement had to be found for the second Test at New Delhiand the selectors’ choice was Sunil Gavaskar. But the opening batsmanwas injured in a Ranji Trophy game and this led to utter confusion asto who would lead India since the captain had not been appointed evenon the night before the commencement of the Test.Ultimately, S Venkatraghavan was chosen to lead the team on themorning of the match. But the change of captaincy did not result in achange of fortunes and India lost by an innings and 17 runs theirfifth successive defeat in the space of six months – to go two down inthe series.At this stage, interest in the series declined and a 5-0 rout waspredicted. The West Indian batsmen had made hay with Greenidge,Richards, Lloyd and Kallicharran making hundreds while Roberts withhis pace, Vanburn Holder with his cut and swing and Gibbs with his offspin had mowed down the Indian batting. There seemed a lack offighting spirit in the home team.Astonishingly, however, India won the next two Tests to draw level inthe series. And they did so without the services of Gavaskar, who wasstill on the injured list. The architect of this turn about wasGundappa Viswanath.With scores of 52 and 139 at Calcutta and 97 not out and 46 at Madras,he more than anyone else helped shaped victories by 85 runs and 100runs. The spin trio of Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar weavedpatterns around the West Indian batsmen and suddenly the visitorslooked very vulnerable. They were also timely contributions from newplayers like Madan Lal, Anshuman Gaekwad and Karsan Ghavri and thisoffset the poor form of Pataudi. But if Pataudi’s reflexes hadconsiderably slowed down – this was his last series – he displayedshrewdness and skill in his captaincy, a notable factor in India’sfightback.Predictably enough, there was tremendous interest in the decider to beplayed at the brand new Wankhede stadium in Bombay. Could Indiaemulate the feat of Australia in 1936-37 as the only side to come from0-2 down to win a five-Test series? The answer was emphaticallyanswered in the negative by the West Indies who ran up a total of 604for six declared on the third morning after a minor riot interruptedplay on the second evening. Lloyd hammered an unbeaten 242 whileFredericks got his second hundred of the series.Despite some fine batting by Gavaskar, Viswanath, Gaekwad and EknathSolkar, who posted his only Test century, India just about managed toavoid the follow on and the West Indies had plenty of time to coast tovictory by 201 runs in the decisive Test, played over six days.While the batting certainly played its part in the West Indies’triumph, the most vital role was the pace bowling of Roberts who with32 wickets, set a record for IndiaWest Indies matches. Gibbs showedthat he had lost none of his old magic in taking 21 wickets.But India too came out with flying colours, thanks principally to thebatting of Viswanath who finished with 568 runs in the series. Hestrode like a colossus, emphasised by the fact that the next highestaggregate was Farokh Engineer’s 222. The spinners, handled in adroitfashion by Pataudi, too had a major hand in India’s gallant showing.Also, the fact that all five Tests produced results in India, wherepitches were reputedly slow and heavily loaded in favour of thebatsmen, did not go unnoticed. Indeed, it was a series in which theaccent was on attack even as negative tactics were generally shunned.

Roger Miller struck his first league century for ten years as Andover beat Burridge by four wickets to maintain their lead at the top of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League.He hit an undefeated 118 as Andover overhauled a Burridge total of 214-5 with eight balls of their 50-over match remaining.Miller couldn’t even recall his last Southern League century, except confirming "it was a long time ago." It was indeed – June 13 1992 : exactly 100 for Old Tauntonians against Longparish at the old Richard Taunton College ground in Southampton !Miller’s 118 not out at Burridge – an innings which contained 14 boundaries – carried Andover to their fourth win in five limited-over matches."We needed 40 off the last four overs and, with a few lusty cracks from Richard Taylor and Dean Woodhouse at the other end, got there with a bit of time to spare," Miller explained.The Andover captain spent all but three balls of the match on the field after coming to the crease with Andoverrocking after two early blows by Nick Creal and Paul Belverstone.But, supported by Ian Langdown (23) and several minor middle-order contributions, he turned the match, being particularly severe on Moeen Cheema, whose 4.4 overs cost 41 runs.Cheema made his mark for Burridge, hitting 73 in a promising start with Ian Williamson (38), which South African off-spinner Gareth Tate (3-30) interrupted.Paul Ancell (44 not out) and Chris Mepham (24 not out) took Burridge on to 214-5 – but it was not enough to spare the Whiteley club from a third defeat in four games.Luke Sears, who led Hampshire YCs to the ECB Under-19 County Championship several years ago, was the hero of Havant’s four-wicket win over Calmore Sports.Havant bowled Calmore out for 100, but crashed to 37-5 against James Hibberd (2-14) and Christof Bothma (2-37) before Sears launched his rescue mission.Almost single-handedly Sears, with an unbeaten 48, turned the tide for Havant, who had lost four wickets for only 11 runs on a difficult surface.South African Mackie Hobson celebrated his Hampshire Board call up for the forthcoming ECB 38-County Championship match against Surrey with a splendid 4-15 spell for Havant.The former Northerns and Natal medium-paceman ripped out three of Calmore’s top five, including top scorer Clive Surry (20), and then removed Stuart Bailey (19), who was trying to initiate a recovery.Bevis Moynhan (2-22) did his bit as Havant maintained the pressure on leaders Andover.Champions BAT Sports, who had lost two of their previous three games, bounced back with a 114-run mauling of lowly Portsmouth at St Helen’s, Southsea.BAT dictated the game from the off, with Richard Kenway (65) and Damian Shirazi (27) providing a 75-run platform for the middle-order.Warren Swan (3-31) created inroads, but Adam Hayes (25), Michael Watson (20) and Dave Banks added useful runs to lift BAT to 196-7.Openers James Moon and Lee Savident were the only Portsmouth players to make double figures as Raj Maru’s side, minus the influential Matt Keech, fell apart.They were bundled out for 82, with Kirk Stewart (4-18), more accurate with an older ball, ripping through after Shirazi (2-35) had dismissed both openers.Liphook & Ripsley continue to prop up the table after Russell Rowe’s powerful 90 set up a storming nine-wicket win for South Wilts at Ripsley Park.Liphook’s fragile batting crumbled again, with only South African Alistair Gray (20) making a fist of it against dual left-arm pacemen James Tomlinson (3-21) and Shaun Adam (2-12).They tumbled from 76-4 to 127 all out, with Rob Wade taking 3-13 with his military medium seamers.Rowe, last season’s leading Premier League run getters, wasted no time in launching South Wilts’ victory bid.He ruthlessly laid into the Liphook bowling, cracking a blistering 90 out of the first 114, leaving opening partner Paul Draper (27 not out) to complete the formalities.

With the season now at an end, and thoughts of the cold winter ahead, the Annual Statistical Survey publication is now available., is a mine of information on the season, and is available from the editor by return of post.Included within is:Full First XI Averages in First-Class, County Championship, Norwich Union League, Benson & Hedges and All One Day matches. These Averages are supported alongside, with updated Career figures.Full Second XI Championship and ECB Second XI Trophy Averages.Summary scores of all 1st & 2nd XI matches played in the 2002 Season.Statistical Highlights of First-Class and Limited Overs year.A single page of every player who played for Hampshire Cricket Listing each match he played in, his scores, fielding and bowling performances throughout the year.A few photos from the Editors digital camera as well.This computer generated booklet is a snip at £6.50 (which includes postage and packing) and can be obtained either by ordering from the Hampshire Shop during match days or direct to the editor:Please enclose a cheque/postal (payable to VH Isaacs) order to the value of £6.50 per copy required, and your full name and address to:Victor Isaacs,40 Downscroft Gardens,Hedge End,SOUTHAMPTON,Hampshire, SO30 4RSFor further details you can contact him by e-mail [email protected]

Saturday’s play was almost a carbon copy of the first, with Hampshire finishing on 245-7 at the close of play in their Frizzell Championship match against Warwickshire at The Rose Bowl. Warwickshire had resumed from their overnight score of 241-7.In Hampshire’s two previous matches, dismissing tail-enders had been a problem. This was not the case this time, as the final three Warwickshire wickets fell quickly when play resumed, giving Alan Mullally his best bowling figures of the season with 6-56.Despite the hot sunshine in front of a sizable bank holiday crowd, Hampshire made slow progress on a wicket not suitable to stroke play. Just 15 fours were scored in the innings to date, three from John Crawley who top scored with 60 in 183 balls.Dougie Brown’s three wickets were hard fought for, and Hampshire will be hoping to build a lead albeit small as they will have to bat last on a wicket showing signs of turn.

• It was the 1543rd Test match in cricket history.
• It was Zimbabwe’s 49th and Bangladesh’s second Test match.
• It was the first ever Test between these two sides. Zimbabwebecame second country after India to play against all other Testplaying countries.
• Seven players were making their Test debut in this match- AndyBlignaut, Dion Ebrahim and Brighton Watambwa for Zimbabwe and JavedOmar, Manjural Islam, Mohammed Sharif and Mushfiqur Rahman forBangladesh.
• At 15 years 128 days Mohammed Sharif became the third youngestplayer to play in Test cricket after Pakistan’s Hasan Raza (14 years227 days) and Mushtaq Mohammad (15 years 124 days). The accompanyingtable lists the youngest Test debutants. Incidentally Bikash Das at 18years 119 days (v India at Dhaka in Bangladesh’s inaugural Test) wasthe previous record holder for being the youngest debutant forBangladesh.

• Rudi Koertzen was officiating in his 25th Test. He became firstumpire from South Africa and 30th in the world to stand in 25 or morematches. The other umpire Kevin Barbour was officiating in his secondmatch.
• Andy Flower (73) has now made atleast a fifty in last consecutiveseven innings. With this he equalled West Indian Everton Weekes’ worldrecord of most consecutive fifties which was set in 1947-48. Flower’sscores in his last seven innings have been : 65 (v NZ at Harare), 183*and 70 (v India at Delhi), 55 and 232* (v India at Nagpur), 79 (v NewZealand at Wellington)……and now 73. The following table gives detailsof players with most consecutive half-centuries :

• Andy Blignaut, by returning the figures of 5 for 73 in firstinnings, now holds the record of best figures by a Zimbabwean in aninnings on debut. The previous record was on the name of Brian Murphywho took 3 for 32 against West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1999-00(Though John Traicos finished with 5 for 86 against India inZimbabwe’s first ever Test, this was not his debut Test as he hadpreviously played in three Tests for South Africa in 1969-70)
• Blignaut’s match figures of 8 for 110 was the best by a debutantfor Zimbabwe bettering Bryan Strang’s 5 for 50 against Pakistan atBulawayo QC in 1994-95.
• The ninth wicket partnership of 56 runs between Murphy and Nkalawas the highest for Zimbabwe for this wicket at home soil. Thisobliterated the previous highest of 49 between Grant Flower and AndyWhittall against Pakistan at Bulawayo in 1997-98.
• The partnership was also the second best for Zimbabwe in allTestshome or awayafter the 87 run-partnership between Strangbrothers against Pakistan at Sheikhupura in 1996-97.
• Manjural Islam’s analysis of 6 for 81 is the best by a bowler inan innings for Bangldesh. He bettered Naimur Rahman’s six for 132against India at Dhaka. Interestingly both Rahman and Islam wereplaying their first Test.
• Javed Omar (85*) became first Bangladesh batsman to carry his batthrough the completed innings. He also became the 35th batsman in Testchronicles to perform this feat on 41st occasion.
• Omar also became only the second batsman to carry his bat in debutTest after Australia’s Jack Barrett who made 67* out of team’s totalof 176 against England at Lord’s in 1890.
• Omar’s contibution of 50.60 % in Bangladesh’s second innings wasthe second highest by any batsman against Zimbabwe. The record is heldby Pakistan’s Mohammad Wasim who contributed 54.24 % (192/354) infirst innings of Harare Test in 1997-98.
• Omar became first Bangladeshi and only the 18th batsman in Testannals to score a fifty in each innings on debut. The list includesfive West Indians -Bryan Davis, Frank de Caires, Jackie Grant, CliveLloyd and Sew Shivnarine, three Australians -Wick Darling,Bruce Lairdand Peter Toohey, three Englishmen -Tony Greig, Cyril Poole and PeterRichardson, three New Zealanders -Graham Dowling,Noel Harford andMervyn Wallace, two Indians -Dilawar Hussain and Sunil Gavaskar and aSouth African- Bruce Mitchell.In addition, seven batsmen have scoredhalf-centuries in their first two innings but not in debut Test. Theyare West Indians Sherwin Campbell, Desmond Haynes and Desmond Lewis,Australia’s Darren Lehmann and Ricky Ponting , England’s David Gowerand India’s Rahul Dravid (Kepler Wessels also scored two fifties inhis debut Test for South Africa after having appeared in 24 Tests forAustralia.
• The victory was second for Zimbabwe by an innings margin. Thefirst such instance took place in 1994-95 when Zimbabwe defeatedPakistan by an innings and 64 runs at Harare in January 1995.Overallit was the 247th occasion of a side winning a Test by innings margin.

England kicked off a tough international summer with an emphatic win overPakistan, taking the first of the two-match npower Test series by theconvincing margin of an innings and nine runs with a day to spare.The visitors were overwhelmed by Andrew Caddick and Darren Gough, whosegrowing reputation as one of the strongest opening attacks in the world wasreinforced by a day-long exhibition of tight attacking bowling whichaccounted for 12 of the 16 wickets that tumbled.Four went to Dominic Cork and only newcomer Ryan Sidebottom came away fromLord’s with nothing though he will have learned much from Gough’s andCaddick’s masterclass and his economy earned him credit.Caddick had a brief spell of bad luck midway through the final session after hitting Abdur Razzaq on the helmet. Two balls later, the shaken batsman was returning to the pavilion having edged the ball to the wicket-keeper but was recalled when the celebrating Englishmen suddenly noticed umpire Peter Willey standing with his arm raised, signalling a no-ball.Azhar was later dropped at backward square leg by Michael Vaughan who wasdeceived by a late flight kink, much to Caddick’s great anguish but in thesame over, the Somerset man was rewarded for his patience when Abdur Razzaq,who had been at the crease for almost three hours, offered Mike Atherton aneasy chance at first slip.Razzaq’s demise for 53 was followed eight balls later by the departure ofAzhar whose luck finally ran out when he pushed tentatively to a fullerlength ball and sent the ball directly to Stewart.Caddick’s fourth wicket of the innings, his eighth in the match, effectivelystripped Pakistan’s cupboard bare and on 122 for seven, a heavy defeatinside three days looked unavoidable.Such a defeat had looked unlikely at the start of the day when, resuming on115 for four, they had two days remaining to make sure of a draw.But the final six wickets fell in 25 overs, the last three in four ballsfrom Gough and, following on, the tourists lost another four by tea, two ofthem to breathtaking catches by Graham Thorpe.Gough bowled superbly throughout to finish with 3-40 while Cork wrapped upthe innings with the wicket of Waqar Younis for 3-41 but the man of thematch award went to Andy Caddick for blasting away Pakistan with 4-54.

An incisive spell of bowling from Pakistan international Azhar Mahmood has brought Surrey back into contention on the second day of their top-of-the-table match with Lancashire at The Oval. Mahmood took all Lancashire’s second-innings wickets as they reached 124 for five, a lead of 228, before bad light forced an early close. Earlier Alex Tudor (61) and James Ormond (35*) put on 52 for the last wicket to take Surrey to 216 all out – rather better than they might have expected when they were 92 for seven yesterday evening.The game at Taunton between champions Yorkshire and last year’s runners-up, Somerset, is also heading for an intriguing finish. In their second innings Yorkshire closed on 280 for 9, a lead of 261, thanks mainly to Craig White (61) and Michael Lumb (62). This after Ian Blackwell was dismissed for 114 this morning as Somerset were eventually bowled out for 232.Kent will be hard pressed to avoid defeat at the Rose Bowl after Hampshire forced them to follow on, dismissing them for just 118 in reply to the home side’s 345. Dimitri Mascarenhas took four for 49 as Hampshire ran through the Kent batting, Andrew Symonds top-scoring with 39. Despite an unbeaten half-century from Ed Smith, Kent are struggling in their second innings as well, closing on 148 for four, still 171 behind.Darren Stevens (125) piled on the agony for Warwickshire’s bowlers at Grace Road as Leicestershire, 292 for four overnight, finished on 523. Michael Bevan reached 146 and in reply Warwickshire were 36 for three at the close of a truncated day, with Leicestershire’s two veterans Philip DeFreitas and Devon Malcolm taking a wicket apiece.In Division Two, Northants have a mountain to climb at Derby, after the pre-season outsiders took huge strides towards making it three wins out of three. After Derbyshire completed a total of 538, there was a spectacular collapse by the visitors. Dominic Cork (four for 29) and Kevin Dean (three for 28) were again the destroyers, as Northants were reduced at one point to 25 for seven. Six batsmen failed to trouble the scorers, who were probably more bothered by the pace of the dismissals. Graeme Swann (44) and Carl Greenidge (46) eventually took Northants to 131 all out. Although they have done rather better following on, at 100 for no wicket they are still adrift by 307 runs.An all-round contribution from Greg Smith helped Nottinghamshire consolidate their grip at Trent Bridge against Essex. Smith made an unbeaten 35 to take Notts to 213 all out, a lead of 83, and then took five wickets as Essex ended the day on 215 for seven, just 132 runs ahead. Paul Grayson was Essex’s top scorer with 89.A draw looks likely at New Road after Worcestershire failed to capitalise on an excellent start to their innings. They bowled Glamorgan out for 286 this morning, and Anurag Singh (81) and Stephen Peters (71) then put together an opening stand of 156. However once they were parted wickets fell at regular intervals. Darren Thomas took five for 77 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 298. Glamorgan closed on 38 without loss, a lead of 26.

Marcus Trescothick may have suffered a premature end to his England career but he is determined to continue giving back to Somerset, the county where he has spent almost 20 years, expressing a desire to continue playing into his forties. Should he get there, then the life-enriching properties of sausages will have to be reappraised.The county circuit lost two old-stagers into their fifth decades in 2012, with the retirements of Mark Ramprakash and Robert Croft – both 42 when age finally caught up with them. Trescothick, who played the last of his 76 Tests and 123 one-day internationals in 2006 before a stress-related illness prompted him to put club above country, will be 37 in December and missed a large chunk of last season with an ankle injury. However, successful surgery on the problem has provided encouragement that he has a few more years of brutalising county attacks left in him.The loss of their captain for three months of the season was representative of Somerset’s campaign, as 24 different players were used in the Championship – joint most with Surrey. Such disruption made their second-place finish, 24 points behind champions Warwickshire, all the more commendable and Trescothick – who passed 1,000 runs in five consecutive seasons between 2007 and 2011 – hopes to have several shots left at ending Somerset’s long wait for a first Championship pennant.”My target is to get to 40 and reassess things then,” he said. “If my ankle and the rest of my body holds up, I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t still be playing then and beyond. There’s no more swelling now and there is an opportunity through the winter to strengthen it further.”I know there will be niggles along the way and I may need the odd injection. But I am adapting my training programme to manage things and don’t foresee any serious problems. I don’t see much changing over the next three or four years and it is certainly my intention to go on playing for as long as possible.”Professional sportsmen in the modern era might be expected to go on longer than their predecessors, aided by advancements in training, dietary awareness and fitness regimes, but few cricketers contemplate playing the first-class game into their fifties, as WG Grace and Jack Hobbs once did.The likes of John Emburey, Graham Gooch and Alec Stewart have, more recently, continued playing Test cricket into their forties, however, and Graeme Hick (who retired at 42) and Paul Nixon (40) continued to give good service to their counties until an age when it was once said life truly begins. Murray Goodwin, who was this year discarded by Sussex at the end of a season when the reactions appeared to have slowed irretrievably, was signed up by Glamorgan, two months before his 40th birthday.In attempting to reach the landmark, Trescothick may have to steel himself for more heartache: in the last three years, Somerset have lost five limited-overs finals, as well as twice finishing runners-up in the Championship. Alongside the chance to end that rum run, there are personal records to contemplate. With 13,641 runs for the county, he is unlikely to overhaul Harold Gimblett (21,142) but Peter Wight’s 16,965 is possibly within his reach. If form and fitness hold, he could become the first man to score 50 first-class hundreds for Somerset.He would surely prefer to end the county’s Championship hoodoo, though the sight of him carving cut shots across the Taunton outfield in four seasons’ time would be satisfaction enough for many in that part of the world. A permanent place on the Sky Sports sofa, where Trescothick makes an engaging pundit, surely beckons but he won’t be getting comfy just yet.