The towering fast bowler who is currently trying to sort out the jumble of West Indies cricket might be proud he is officially now part of Somerset’s history. Or those faded size 14 boots he wore at Taunton are anyway. Obviously the great man is a legend in his own right but what greater honour? I refer of course not to his boots making some Beeb hall of fame but that the story was deemed important enough to stay on the BBC Sport homepage for about a fortnight where it still proudly sits.

I sourced this poster from the Tories’ website where ‘DC’, as he is fondly known in the ghettos, is proclaiming his undying love for all things Somerset CCC. This blog has never been, not ever will it be, a political beast, preferring instead to focus on the finer things in life such as the square at Taunton, Nick Compton’s batting average and the revolutions that Murali Kartik can get on a Duke’s cricket ball.

Nonetheless, it’s always nice to see new supporters for Somerset cricket cropping up in the unlikeliest of places….

This is an artist’’s impression of Shahid Afridi’s mouth who bit the ball in a blindingly stupid attempt to influence a recent ODI vs Australia. He got those gnashers of his to scuff the ball up, which is a new one on me, and probably on a par in subtlety with Mike Atherton wandering around the outfield, digging it up and depositing large clumps into his pocket. That Afridi is Captain of Pakistan and veteran of goodness knows how many ODIs (288), you’d think perhaps there was a wise head on those undoubtledly talented shoulders but alas not. How he thought, we’re all assuming there was any thought process, that he could get away with it is just mindboggling.

What is particularly sad is the wholly inadequate, soft two-match ban fora couple of meaningless T20 games against England - who will be relieved that the genius allrounder will not now face them. Afridi’s actions didn’t untimately make a jot of difference but it sends completely the wrong message. Players, funnily enough, are paid to play and stopping them doing that for a hefty length of time might sound draconian but should be the only way of dealing with ball tampering or ‘cheating’ as it’s also known.

I say this not with any animosity against Afridi, he’s a fantastic player and I will always fondly remember him for skying a heaven-bound shot that Rob Turner somehow pouched back in 2001 in the C&G Final at Lords when Somerset beat Leicestershire. He’s a mercurial talent but whether it’s him, an English Test player or whomever, they ought to be punished harshly. I will now descend from my upturned soap box…..

With the fevered frenzy that is transfer day in football currently sending journos scurrying to far-flung motorway service stations for info on secret deals, I wondered again, as I often do, whether cricket will ever go the same route? It seems from the outside that there is a lot more honesty and commitment in cricket to the concept of a contract but cracks are definitely appearing. Freddy Freelance has paved the way whilst County cricket has thrown up a few cases of cricketers spitting feathers with Kabir Ali joining Hants or Rory Hamilton-Brown joining Surrey. In each case, common sense prevailed namely an unhappy player is an expensive asset a club can well do without paying for. Thus player-power notches up a gear in cricket.

There is an inter-County loan agreement in place that allows switches mid-season and the emergence of the IPL has certainly put the club versus country issue into the spotlight but for now, there seems no possibility of a football-style free-for-all which is both a shame and a great relief. Surrey and Hampshire with their fat pockets will still have to wait until a Somerset player is out of contract before poaching him (actually Durham is a more likely threat) but yet I do think an end of February transfer day would make things interesting…..

A new signing for Somerset as big names continue to crop up at counties, especially for the T20 shindig. Cameron White has signed on the dotted line for Somerset and now Trinidad and Tobago allrounder Kieron Pollard comes on board. The county is allowed a total of four overseas players in the T20 squad though only two at any one time I believe so Somerset are giving themselves options with Murali Kartik also at Taunton for 2010.

As for Pollard, he bowls a bit (24 wkts at 20.33 in T20) and bats in a hurry (530 runs at 27.89) so will doubtless prove popular at Taunton. Came to light most recently in Somerset’s group at the WorldT20 tournament where he walloped 54 in 18 balls against New South Wales no less. He was biffed 83 in the Stanford Superstars but we’ll not mention that farce too much….

Pollard took a stunning catch at the T20 in India in November so see both clips below, well worth a look. Pollard is clearly a man in form having hit 55 in 22 balls for South Australia in the past fortnight and it looks a shrewd signing by Brian Rose.

Kieron Pollard on Cricinfo – http://www.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/230559.html

Kieron’s catch on YouTube:

Pollard’s pyrotechnics:

After South Africa saw an uncharacteristically aggressive Strauss set the tone for England, Smith has much to ponder. Strangely, it was the hosts’ bowling that let them down. Ntini is clearly still there on nostalgia than merit as De Wit deserves to be in the eleven. Steyn is not yet at full steam nor is Kallis with both back from injury. Morkel should open tomorrow with Steyn who batted with great aplomb.

England need to knuckle down and aim for a lead by the fourth day. A century for Cook would do no harm at all!

So, the Somerset captaincy it seems is in safe hands for the next few years after Tresco signed up for the next 3 years and is aiming for that magic 40 milestone before he hangs up his boots. At one time, the club captaincy was something of a problem with no one seeming to want it for love nor money, Mike Burns I think did it one season because there were no other takers. But SCCC has enjoyed a period of stability under langer which looks set to continue with Marcus.

It came at a time when other counties have the same thorny issue – Surrey looking to nab Hamilton-Brown from Sussex to be their captain (bit young perhaps?!!) and Gale replacing McGrath at Yorkshire.

The next bit of news is…Somerset have signed Shane Bond who’s decided to play for a month in the County Championship at Taunton as opposed to earning 679 billion ruppees a second in India. Remember, you heard it here first….

Now is the time of year where the English cricket season feels so distant. Ok, so there are distractions and reminders of our beautiful game….

England are gearing up to the Tests in SA and even Strauss is shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year but in truth, it’s dark and dark outside by 4pm and cricket seems some way off.

Which is why those of you who like a cricket game on the PC will probably be pretty happy with Cricket Coach 2009. I stumbled across it having berated Amazon for not having a cricket strategy game worth its money. Now, I don’t have shares in the game so this plug has no ulterior motive but, well, it’s pretty addictive if the stats and strategy of cricket are what make you tick.

You can download a trail version for 2 days – TRIAL  – or pay for a full game for £15 via their site at www.cricketcoachgame.com and immerse yourself in hours of escapism and what’s more, Somerset are really very good! Take my efforts over the past 48 hours…..my secret to success….

 - I recruited Ricky Ponting for a full season blowing £83k but what the hell and he averaged 75+ a game
- Played a first season quickly doing pretty well (but no trophies – sound familiar?) as the first season (2009), there isn’t much in the way of English talent to snap up in transfers.
- Recruited Charlie Shreck from Notts and Shaun Tait as a second overseas pro (can only play one a match tho and Tait was very expensive in all sense of the word (realistic this game is..)
- Realised that Arul Suppiah is absolutely brilliant as a bowler in this game - 107 wickets!
- Sat back for 2010 and watched Somerset win the Pro40 league and the County Championship title by a country mile. Ok, not the real thing but strangely satisying nonetheless….

If you think about it the availability of Pakistani fast bowlers for county cricket duty is much like London buses. One second, there’s none about when you most need one. Then, they’re queuing up one after another ready for action.

This random philosophy relates to the news that Pakistani crickters will miss the next IPL after a delay with visas. Whilst naturally a bummer of the greatest proportions financially and in a cricketing sense for them, it offers counties the chance to pick up top quality cricketers who haven’t been ground into the dust with a heavy workload for the start of the new English season. With the likes of Umar Gul or Shahid Afridi available, there are rich pickings to be had.

Somerset need a fast bowler for the first month Kartik is off in India.  Ben Hilfenhaus would be a decent pick or a SA speedster with our connections to those Test nations but Umar Gul or Mohammed Aamer certainly caught the attention at the Twenty20 last June. There’s four months to go and plenty of time for twists and turns in SOmerset’s next couple of overseas picks. If we get Smith or Cameron White for Twenty20, it really doesn’t get much better than that. But it’s the fast bowler’s slot that will be perhaps the most tantalising for Somerset fans….

The fixtures out and Somerset kick off their County cricket season with a home game at Taunton Vale against Cardiff UCCCE then head up to Yorkshire for 21st April when they play Yorkshire in the LV County Championship.

This is followed by another four-day game against Notts at Trent Bridge. I’ll aim to be at both games and report here with video and photos. No idea whether two away games off the bat is an advantage for Somerset given their home record but hopefully they’ll be result wickets and give Marcus’s men the chance to seize some early impetus. The link below takes you to the full fixture list for Somerset on the beeb…..

Full SCCC Fixtures