I was lucky enough to be at the Cooper Associates County Ground for the last game of the 2019 season. Memories of Tom Abell scoring 45, Roelof van der Merwe 60 and, on that pulsating final day, Jack Leach’s 5 wickets fleetingly giving Somerset an outside chance of beating both Essex and the weather and as a consequence clinching the first-ever Championship for my county.
A bittersweet day in so many ways. Not just the sight of Essex lifting the trophy on our hallowed turf but a day that belonged in so many ways to Marcus Trescothick. Yes, I was there when Marcus joined the slip cordon for the final overs with it seemed, every Somerset fielder clustered around the bat and I was there when Tom Abell realised it was to no avail and offered Essex the draw. I stood there, drained of emotion, politely clapping the 2019 champions.
As I slowly left the County Ground that evening I said to the gentleman in the ticket office ‘See you next Year’ to which he replied ‘Winter Well’. Prophetic? Such memories, such poignant moments.