Head coach Jason Kerr marvelled at Somerset’s resilience as they ended a string of near misses in the Vitality Blast to claim the title for a second time.
Since their maiden triumph 18 years ago, Somerset had endured seven fruitless trips to Finals Day – including 2021 and 2022 – but at the eighth attempt on Saturday night, they finally landed silverware.
Kerr, who has been at Somerset since 2005 and took up his current post nearly six years ago, insisted he was always convinced they would end the drought if they kept giving themselves an opportunity.
They have been the best side in the competition this year, losing just twice in 17 matches and successfully defending sub-150 scores at Edgbaston to defeat Surrey then Essex to get over the line.
“We’ve been building as a side,” Kerr said. “We’ve been to Finals Day for the last three years, and last year we didn’t turn up at all.
“We didn’t do ourselves justice, so I was adamant that we were going to do that this year.
“After last year’s final, (opening batter) Tom Banton spoke brilliantly in the dressing room and said that if we keep putting ourselves in this position, then we’ll get over the line.
“We pride ourselves on keeping putting ourselves in this position, so eventually you have to get over the line. When you win 15 out of 17 games, you deserve to lift the trophy at the end of the campaign.”
Somerset have now landed both domestic limited-overs competitions under Kerr – having won the One-Day Cup in 2019 – but their ‘nearly men’ tag is still there in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
They have been runners-up on six occasions this century – and were second in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 – while they are now fifth in Division One, 41 points behind leaders Surrey with six games left.
But Kerr will keep pushing to deliver for their fanbase and is confident they can continue on an upward trajectory with the players they have.
“To get over the line is just reward for a lot of people,” Kerr added. “We are incredibly passionate as a club – we’re followed immensely.
“They’re incredibly passionate and want us to win every single game that we play, which isn’t realistic, but they’re the expectations that we’ve set ourselves.
“We’ve ticked off two of the three now, so just one to go. If we can keep this team together, we’ll only get better.”
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
Salt confirmed as England wicketkeeper despite Buttler return for West Indies T20Is
Phil Salt will be wicketkeeper in England’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies as white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks to improve his captaincy.
Buttler has been ruled out with a calf strain but will return to England's squad for the five-match T20I series that begins on Saturday.
Until now, Salt has kept in just 13 of his 59 England appearances across all formats but has taken up the mantle for the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Buttler, on the other hand, has donned the gloves in 106 of his 108 T20Is.
Salt, though, is enjoying his new role.
"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side," Salt said, as reported by ESPN.
"We've not had a chat about anything going forward. I'm just glad to be doing it at the moment."
While Salt is not guaranteed the gloves after this series, he will find comfort in Buttler's intent to optimise his captaincy by experimenting with a role in the field.
"I was going to give up the gloves and commit to being at mid-off and see how that felt. If it will help me with my captaincy it is something I am open to," Buttler told Sky Sports in September after being ruled out of the T20 series against Australia.
England are tied 1-1 in their ODI series against the West Indies with the decider to be played on Wednesday.
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