Somerset skipper Jamie Cox has had a season to remember back home in Tasmania this winter.

Jamie has broken the number of appearences for the state of Tasmania, beating the previous record of 139 which was held by David Boon.

He has also enjoyed considerable success with the bat to become one of the highest run scorers for a single state, and this winter he has also become the fourth-highest run scorer in Australian Domestic First Class Cricket.

Off the field the highlight for Jamie and his fiance Helen has been the birth of their first baby, Lachlan who was born before Christmas.

When I contacted Jamie he told me: "Lachlan is wonderful - Helen and I think that we have gotten lucky as he eats and sleeps well and only grizzles when there is obviously something wrong.

"Helen was certainly born for motherhood - she has coped superbly. So far so good!"

What about Somerset in 2002, I asked. "The new season is obviously full of expectation on the back of last season's great results. Kevin Shine has told me that all are training hard and are excited about the new challenges ahead. We should be well placed to have another crack at winning trophies, but of course so much depends on the unknown variables such as injuries, English selection and weather etc," Jamie said.

Jamie and Helen get married in early April and then they return to England on April 18th with baby Lachlan, six days ahead of the Cidermen's first County Championship match against Sussex at Hove.

With less than two months to go to the start of the new season, Somerset fans will already be looking forward to welcoming back the captain who led the county to their most successful season ever in 2001. They will be hoping that they will go one stage further in 2002 and win the blue riband of cricketing trophies, the County Championship.

© SOMERSET