Somerset Seconds have enjoyed a successful season in 2002, having won two out of their ten championship matches, to end in twelfth place in the championship table, an improvement of three places on last year. They won their opening match against Worcestershire and crushed Kent inside two days in the final game, as well as beating Gloucestershire in a three day friendly.

Mark Garaway, who joined the club in November 2001 as Director of the South West Regional Academy and assistant coach in charge of the second team told me: " This has been a very enjoyable season for everyone, which is halfway towards achieving my initial objective, and because we have got a small staff at the club we have had to recruit from the Academy and from triallists."

He continued: "One of the biggest compliments I had all season came from Scott Cunningham who played six games for us and scored some good runs. He said he felt very comfortable at the club because there was a good atmosphere in the dressing room, which he hadn't found to always be the case at other clubs."

Whilst Mark has been delighted with the results of the team, when he took over he didn't expect to win too many matches because that wasn't his main objective. "Second team cricket is a learning ground for young players and a stepping stone towards first team cricket. It's about processing and learning, and the proof that has been Arul Suppiah who went out for Somerset Sabres up at Durham in his first game and did the business, which was very pleasing."

The young players who have made up the side have given a good account of themselves. The coach continued: "Our biggest loss of the season was up at Warwickshire where both young James Hildreth and leg spinner Michael Munday played well against very experienced opposition. Faced with that situation they did let themselves down, and as a result the spin off has been the success of our Under 19's side who won the ECB two day competition recently. The youngsters have grown up during the season and it has been fantastic for me to see them doing so well."

Mark Garaway paid tribute to three of the players who have played such a major part in the teams success Graham Rose, Joe Tucker and Tom Webley. Regarding his senior player he told me: " Graham has been absolutely brilliant, and has willingly taken on the mentoring role for the younger players. It was good to see him do so well in the last game at Kent when he was returning from injury."

I asked the coach to identify some of the young players who he felt had particularly impressed him this season. He told me: "Arul Suppiah is a serious talent who is desperate to play first team cricket. Michael Munday is a wholehearted leg spinner who has worked very hard on his batting and fielding this season He will shortly be spending sometime in the winter with Terry Jenner in Australia. Neil Edwards has come a long way this summer and has just been selected for the England Under 19 party for Australia. Gareth Andrew has had a good year and Michael Parsons has done well in his first year at the Academy. James Hildreth has looked very comfortable playing at Under 17 and second team level as has sixteen year old Richard Timms who scored 69 against Gloucestershire, he is very talented."

The most pleasing aspect is that the sides that have been fielded by Somerset Seconds have been very young this season which is all looking very encouraging for the future of the club.

© SOMERSET