Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

Who says the camera never lies, well if you got your hands on the Mercury this week, there was definitely something wrong with that picture in the sports section, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, anyone would like to hazard a guess?

I happened to meet Gary Thomas on Friday, and he mentioned to me that his phone was non-stop on Tuesday morning, people saying that they saw his picture in the paper and they thought he had given up cricket! As I said, the camera never lies, just that the picture was that of the 1^st XI of 2010. A bit of a faux pas by someone, but my conscience is clear, but still have a lot of explaining to do.

Somerset are dragging themselves back into the County Championship race, with back to back victories against Durham and most recently an unlikely innings victory over Worcestershire. I say unlikely, as after the first day Worcester had only lost three wickets and a big score looked likely. However the Set managed to bowl them out for just under 500, and then went on a mission, especially the skipper, Marcus. Somerset blasted nearly 600 runs and after they declared just before the close on day three, a draw was still always the favourite.

Some days I do like overcast mornings, as it helped the Somerset seam attack no end, as they skittled out Worcester for 95.

This victory leaves the Set fourth in the table, with five games left, four of which are at Taunton, with the last game of the season against Lancashire – a title decider?

A minimum of three victories will see them go close, but again a lot is out of their hands, especially with Warwickshire having played a game less. Another exciting end to the season and with a quarter-final in the T20 approaching, plus still leading the way in the CB40 a trip to the doctors may be on the cards, to help keep my blood pressure down!

So a CB40 away to Essex today (Sunday), followed by a home four day game against Sussex starting on Tuesday, lets hope the Set are celebrating a few more victories over the next week.

Celebrating victories is always something to look forward to. I know Somerset celebrate with a chorus of the Blackbird song, by The Wurzels; and The Sprinkler dance used down under by England when they won the Ashes has been well documented; and the players Stowey seem to do things a bit differently and it usually means, drinking loads of cider from jugs, going to a house party or Bridgwater and getting home the next morning at about ten in the morning.

However with Stowey, they will do the same if they had lost, in fact I would hazard a guess that more alcohol is consumed.

For me the journey home is the trickiest, which usually involves a mile and a half walk from the Social Club in the dark. I prefer a clear night with a full moon so I can see where I’m going, but we are in England, so it’s usually overcast and the odd hedge is found on the way back and I swear that owl is not hooting but laughing at me!

On a day when Stuart Broad got a hat-trick for England in the second Test, Over Stowey’s Jack Rich emulated that feet some 30 minutes later, as he took the first three Minehead wickets. Stowey 1^st XI went on to win by 40 runs, a much needed victory for the 1^st XI. It does pain me to say it, but Mark Sortwell hit a half century earlier in the game – I believe he was told to hit out or get out, seems that he played a lot of fresh air shots! At one stage, after Mark was playing and missing every ball, he seemed to be getting a bit hot and flustered. He turned to the wicket-keeper and said “what couldn’t I do with a bottle of beer.” Which the keeper replied “Hit it with the bat!”

The less said about the 2^nd’s the better, I do believe the game was over by 4pm and had tea early! However I do understand Rabbit owes a jug, taking five wickets in a game against a touring side on Wednesday.

The previous week I mentioned that the 2^nd XI lost, with less than two overs to go, but have since found out that they gave away nearly 40 extras, which when you’ve only got 131 to defend can best be described as quite frustrating!

In my first season as 2^nd XI captain, we added up the number of wides we bowled that season, and it turned out that we bowled the equivalent another game, yes 40 overs of wides, that’s and extra two and half hours in the field!

10.57, it’s time for a pint, well a hangover cure as went to a pretty good party last night, with loads of cider!