Christmas Guest Blogs: Vic Marks on the Somerset Pathway
Vic Marks is one of Somerset’s most celebrated players. In the first of our series of Christmas guest blogs, he looks at the importance of a successful and productive player pathway.
Somerset bade farewell to four cricketers in September, all of whom have made significant contributions over the last few years.
Three of them were offered fresh contracts but declined to take them up.
This feels like it should be a source of alarm though I’m not sure this is justified. Kasey Aldridge, Josh Davey and Ben Green opted to move counties not because they were disillusioned with the set-up at Taunton but because they wanted to play regular first team cricket in all formats, a perfectly admirable aspiration, and they sensed that this was more likely to happen elsewhere. We will miss them and it’s sad to see them go but their ambitions are easy to understand.
A more positive observation is that the Club has been producing more young players than they can sustain in their squad. This is a tribute to the work of the Academy, which is currently overseen by Matt Drakeley and his team. I’ve concocted a list, in alphabetical order, which may not be comprehensive, of former Somerset cricketers playing elsewhere. It forms a squad of fourteen, from which we could form a very handy side. It reads: Aldridge, Baker, Bartlett, Bess, Buttler, Byrom, Davey, Dickson, Gilchrist, Green, Hose, Leonard, Overton J, G Thomas.
Of that fourteen, all except Davey, Dickson and Hose came through the Academy. This is the lifeblood of any club and in recent times Somerset have managed to aid the development of some fine local cricketers (now we all recognise that “local” cricketers include those not only from Somerset, but also from Devon and Cornwall – and no doubt, any from Dorset would be welcome too!)
Some departures have been regretted but the increasing number of comings and goings is now part of the modern game. When I began life as a professional cricketer – all too long ago – it was rare for players to change clubs. When they did it was usually because of serious differences of opinion. But the landscape has changed. Now players and their agents are constantly assessing what suits them, which may mean moving clubs.
The fear for counties which do not have a Hundred franchise is that the best players will increasingly gravitate towards those that do possess one in the expectation of increased salaries and the enhanced possibility of a lucrative Hundred contract.
At Taunton we try to combat that by being good employers and by constantly challenging for trophies each year. To do this successfully it is imperative that we keep producing our own players. So, Matt and his team need all our support.
If players choose to seek further opportunities elsewhere, so be it. That is the way of the world. Moreover, I think it’s fair to say that those on the list above are all guaranteed the warmest of welcomes whenever they return to Taunton.
