Somerset's new mascot `Stumpy' was the hero of the day at the County Ground on Sunday when he stepped into repair a damaged water pipe.

Ground safety officer Peter Robinson told me: "During the afternoon we discovered that we had a serious leak in one of the pipes in the Ondaatje Pavilion and it was in danger of causing major damage to the hospitality boxes. `Stumpy' was circulating and meeting the crowd nearby at the time, and after hearing about the problem came to our rescue by repairing the leak."

`Robbo' continued: "Lucky for us 'Stumpy' had his dragon toolkit with him and after he had sorted out our problem he put his pads back on and went out to meet his fans again. It's really quite amazing what a dragon can do. `Stumpy' might not have brought good luck to the players on the field on Sunday, but it was certainly lucky for us that he was around when he was!"

`Stumpy' will be at the ground this coming Sunday, July 7th, when during the tea interval his many fans will have the chance to bowl at him!

© SOMERSET