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Andy Umeed: “It’s a great place to play and I’ll miss it”
Andy Umeed took a last look out over the Cooper Associates County Ground this week.
With the 2025 season now at a close, the top order batter is set to leave Somerset.
We caught up with him before Friday’s End of Season Dinner to look back on his time with the Club.
“I’ve got some good memories of time spent out in the middle,” he said. “But my abiding memories will be of time spent with the lads. It’s a really tightknit group and I’ve made some close friendships. I’ll always remember scoring my first hundred for the Club and playing in front of this great home crowd.
“Somerset will always be the club that gave me another chance at cricket. I’ll always be very appreciative of that. As well as good friendships with the players and coaches, everyone has really helped with my game, and the Club will always mean a lot to me. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on how all the lads are getting on.”
Andy made his mark for the Club in List A cricket. In his 23 matches in the format he scored over 1200 runs at an average of 57.57 with a best of 172 not out against Derbyshire.
“I really enjoyed being a core part of a First Team,” he said reflecting on his List A stats. “To have the support of the fans, staff and everyone at the Club getting behind me was a great experience. I’m very grateful for that opportunity.
“Losing out in last year’s final on the reserve day was obviously tough to take. You always want to win and it’s only you and your supporters who remember finishing second. Despite the disappointment, there were a huge number of personal positives that people took from that experience.
“We’ve seen guys growing in confidence in the 50-over comp year on year. That’s given them the belief that they can do it in the T20 squad or the Championship squad. Given the journey that we’d had over the previous couple of years, it was disappointing not to go on and win it. We’d struggled previously in the comp but built on those experiences and came so close.”
Andy was part of the Somerset side that won the Second XI T20 competition last summer and he enjoyed watching the young players in the team develop over time.
“In the Second XI you come up against First Team players, and a lot of those play a lot of white ball cricket. To watch our young guys take down First Team players in that comp was impressive and it gave them a lot of confidence. We’ve seen some of those players develop further this year and it will be exciting to see how those guys develop in the years to come.”
Regarding his time with Somerset, Andy said: “It’s unique down here. It’s different to anything I’ve experienced elsewhere in the UK. Cricket is the focus for the town and the surrounding area and that creates a really wholesome vibe. At a time when the world seems very busy and people are flocking to cities, it’s nice to see the tradition of cricket in the centre of a town and everyone getting behind their players.
“People come up to you and say ‘hi’ when they see you in the street and you get to know the supporters really well. Whilst there are always a few critics online, the majority of people get behind you and are very supportive when they see you in person.
“It’s a great place to play cricket and I’ll definitely miss it. I’ve had a lot of support from people who have followed my content journey on social media, and I’m really grateful for all the love because it’s genuine.”
