I need to bang this out quickly, as there is an early start this morning in Hobart because of the rain yesterday, and I have dishes to do.
Okay, Somerset Cricket Club, surely they have won a bunch of County Championships, right? I mean, their Wikipedia entry is seriously extensive and dense.
What? Not a single one?
Yep, that’s right, the club formed in 1875, made its first class debut in 1882, was admitted the Championship in 1891, but has never won the county title.
Somerset did win a one-day double in 1979 (their first pieces of top division silverware) and they have won a handful of other one-title competitions, as well. Most recently in 2005 when they won the t20 tournament.
120 years in the Championship and not a single title, I cannot even begin to calculate the odds. And there are FOUR counties that have also not reached England’s cricketing pinnacle…almost unbelievable.
To gain some perspective, there are 15 NFL franchises that have never won a Super Bowl, but that competition has only existed in its current format since 1966.
In Major League Baseball there are of course several squads that have never won a World Series, but this is mostly due to expansion. All 16 original Major League teams have each won at least two world titles.
Premiere League Football gets difficult, of course. The Premiership as we know it has only existed since Sky Sports invented football in 1992. And since then only four clubs have won titles.
Sky Sports aside, 23 different English clubs have won a first division trophy, and a great deal more teams than that have played at the top level in England.
I am unable to draw any conclusions from these comparisons, it is just really odd to me to think that four of the 18 counties in England that play in a tournament that has existed since 1890 have never won a title.
The Ground
Somerset has hosted cricket matches at 18 different grounds, but their headquarters is the County Ground in Taunton, Somerset, and it has been their home since 1882:
The ground holds 8,500 and hosted one day internationals in the 1999 world cup.
Somerset CCC has owned the ground outright since 1896.
Oh, and just like every other cricket ground in England (or so it seems) the County Ground has hosted an Elton John concert.
Notable Players
(Yes, I know, using titles like above is cheating, but I have completely run out of segues.)
When it comes to Somerset’s notable players, one player sticks out amongst the crowd: Sir Ian Botham, the England all rounder who even has a stand named after him at the county’s home ground.
Botham played alongside Viv Richards at Somerset. The West Indian was called by Wisden as the greatest one day cricketer of all time, and he scored almost 7,500 one day runs for the club, the most in its history.
The most first class runs? Harold Gimblett, 21,142.
The most first class wickets? Jack White, 2,165.
These days, the club features internationals such as Marcus Trescothick (their captain), Craig Kieswetter, and Kieron Pollard.
The last name on that list takes us into:
Back on the pitch: India beat the West Indies in the 5th and final ODI, despite Mr. Pollard’s ingaugural ODI century.
Also, Pakistan are in the middle of crushing Bangladesh, and Australia look to finish off New Zealand starting in about 10 minutes, as long as the rains hold off, that is.
Until next time.
Limited Overs 