Shine, Anderson react to Benson and Hedges exit
Richard Walsh - 26 May 2001

The Benson and Hedges quarter final defeat at the hands of Yorkshire was a "massive disappointment to all of the players" Somerset coach Kevin Shine said. "With no cricket for the next few days the players have got time off to go away and relax." He went on: "over the next few weeks Somerset have a huge schedule of matches, all of which are away from Taunton."

During June Somerset play four vitally important County Championship matches and four National League matches. If the Cidermen are to retain their high-flying position at the top of the CricInfo Championship they will be hoping to gain substantial points from the match at Leicester starting on May 30th, whilst they will be looking to kick start their Norwich Union challenge by gaining revenge for the defeat they suffered at the hands of Kent when the travel to Tunbridge Wells on June 3rd.

"It's most important that the players put their disappointment aside and focus on the next series of matches. It's crucial that we get back to our winning ways" said Kevin. "The return to fitness of Matt Bulbeck and Richard Johnson are huge plusses for the team, and will enable us to choose from almost our full strength squad. We will be looking to put out our best side for each game. Richard Johnson is likely to have final tests before the Leicester game on Wednesday and if he comes through then he will play. If not he will wait another game, he's too valuable to risk."

Regarding Matt Bulbeck he said: "Matt is a first class bowler and we should be getting him playing first class cricket. He's performed well for the Seconds and in the Academy games but he's a first team player. He's fit for selection and has the quality that we would like to add to the attack. Now it's up to Jamie."

Two other players who are also back in contention for the team on Wednesday are teenager Peter Trego and Mark Lathwell who both performed well in the 4 day Championship match against Kent. "Both Trego and Lathwell will be in the "shake up" for the Leicester game," the coach added.

Meanwhile after a few days of reflection, during which time he had spoken to Captain Jamie Cox, Coach Kevin Shine and Chairman of Cricket Vic Marks, Chief Executive Peter Anderson said: "Once again in front of a full house at Taunton we gave an uninspired performance. Did we play poorly or did Yorkshire play brilliantly? The truth lies somewhere between the two."

He went on: "For Yorkshire Michael Vaughan and Darren Lehmann were brilliant, whilst collectively and individually nobody from Somerset stood up to be counted when it mattered. All we can do now is to continue to prepare in the way that we have done, which is professional."

Were there going to be any changes? "Both the captain and the coach are reassessing their selection policy and the way we line up the batting side,"he said.

He pointed out however: "All is not lost. It must be remembered that we finished top of our Bensons group, and this year qualified for the quarter final stages whereas last year we didn't even qualify, and we are currently top of the County Championship table."

Mr Anderson concluded: "Unfortunately we haven't performed well at home, which is disappointing. I have every sympathy with our loyal home supporters who have not seen Somerset at their best this season."

Meanwhile, after reading and reflecting upon the recently-published Condon Report into corruption in cricket, Peter Anderson made the following comments.

"As Lord Condon says in his report he hasn't got any powers to investigate offences that have taken place in any other country. All he can do is liaise with them and try to assess how widespread the process is in that particular country. His report shows that in each and every country allegations have been made about the influence of bookmakers trying to fix cricket matches. The conclusions in the Condon report contain common sense interim measures aimed at helping cricket todeal with the situation.

"There is no escaping the responsibility of those who play international cricket. They only have one question to ask themselves , "Am I bent or not?" It's that simple. What people have to do is to stop thinking of being "Jack the Lad" and that I'm only committing a disciplinary offence. What they are involved in is a crime, a conspiracy to cheat, with cheat being the operative word.

I've been at Somerset since 1989 and as far as domestic English cricket is concerned I haven't seen any sign of this either on or off the field, or any disproportionate wealth to suggest that bookmakers are having an undue influence on the game."

© CricInfo Ltd.


Teams England.
First Class Teams Somerset.
Grounds County Ground, Taunton