Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

Date in my diary, Sunday, 19th August, Scotland away; let’s hope it is in Edinburgh. The only trouble is I think it is right in the middle of The Fringe, oh well sounds like a party to me!

Other notable dates are the 27^th August where Somerset play Surrey which sees the return of the turncoat Kartik in a CB40 game, plus the day after the start of a four day game against the same opposition. The only disappointment is there isn’t a fixture on my birthday, oh well, I am sure I will find something to do that weekend (and it’s a bank holiday!).

Somerset have been very busy off the pitch this past week. First it was announced that the Club will be hosting an evening celebration at the County Ground when the Olympic Torch Relay arrives in Taunton on 21^st May next year. The evening event will offer people from around the county to mark the Olympic Fame’s arrival and celebrate in the Olympic Spirit.

Somerset can also boast a new signing which was announced earlier in the week: Elton John!!! Elton will be performing an open air concert at The County Ground on Sunday 3^rd June. Another great coup by the County, especially as tickets are priced at £85 – would rather go to a festival!

Lastly the Club hosted its annual awards night on Friday, the same night as our skittles team Christmas party, so sorry I couldn’t attend, double booked and all that, plus the Port went down a bit too easy! Awards went to Arul Suppiah, Jamie Overton, Steve Kirby, Jos Buttler and Marcus Trescothick.

More awards were handed out this week, as England coach Andy Flower was named UK Coach of the Year at the 2011 UK coaching awards. He was also named UK High Performance Coach of the Year in recognition of his role in helping England to a first series win in Australia for years and becoming the number one Test side in the world.

Listening to his comments on the radio he seems to be a no-nonsense type of man, getting the right people in the right positions within the England set up. Well done to him, somehow I think he may get Coach of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year on 22^nd December.

With Sports Personality changing its name to Sportsman of the Year, it was great to see both Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss both being nominated. Somehow I don’t think they will win, as their performances in Australia last winter may long be forgotten by the voters. Plus the cricket vote will be split between the two off them. If I had to pick between the two I would go for Cook, purely for the amount of runs he scored in Australia, which not only helped to win matches it helped to save them.

With Australia in mind, their bowling attack is starting to look dangerous. 18 year old Pat Cummins took a match winning seven wickets on debut against South Africa recently; this was followed up by 21 year old James Pattinson also achieving a match winning performance by taking six New Zealand wickets, as the Aussies cruise to a nine wicket win. Should us English start to get worried?

They also have unearthed another young spinner by the name of Nathan Lyon. The 24 year old has already taken 19 wickets in his first six Tests, six on his debut against Sri Lanka. With 21 year old Mitchell Starc also making his Test debut against the Kiwis, their bowling attack has a very young and rugged look about it. With Mitchell Johnson now injured, these guys have already stepped up to the plate and performed well at the highest level. The Ashes in 2013 should be something to savour.

With that in mind, I think it is time for a pint, it is 10.57 you know!