Earlier this morning I asked Chief Executive Peter Anderson for an update on Somerset Coach Kevin Shine who has been missing from the scene since the middle of last week.

Mr Anderson told me, "The tough guy image which Kevin Shine likes to project took a battering last week when he disclosed that he had to go into hospital for a hernia operation which the club reliably understands was caused by coughing."

He continued, "With the operation successfully completed at the Nuffield Hospital the professional players are wondering when the coach will be fit enough to throw them 100 m.p.h. balls off 18 yards."

Mr Anderson added, "When Kevin Shine was bowling we used to watch him off 18 yards, but it was nowhere near 100 m.p.h."

A mystery surrounds the sender of a bouquet of yellow pansies to Kevin Shine, which was suitably wrapped in a long pink ribbon.

The Somerset Chief Executive is calling upon all of his police experience to try to solve this mystery, but it has been said that on Thursday last week Ian Blackwell was spotted returning from a local garden centre, leaving a trail of pansy petals!

Everyone at the club wishes Kevin Shine all the best and hopes that he makes a speedy recovery and is soon well enough to return to work!

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