Cricket has taken a back seat in the media in recent weeks due to England’s appearance in Euro 2000, a football (or soccer as I call it, as to me Aussie Rules is the only football) competition involving Europe’s top sixteen nations.

The passion evoked far exceeds that experienced in Melbourne in AFL Grand Final week or New South Wales and Queensland during rugby league’s State Of Origin series. For many fans the results are literally matters of life and death and unfortunately the pre and post game hooliganism is often more newsworthy than the result.

England’s only real soccer glory seems to have been a World Cup win in 1966, with its history ever since rolling from one heartbreaking tragedy to another. National expectations are enormous, with heroes turning into villains and heroes again with every match that passes. Losses are mourned for days and the euphoria of a win, especially against the Germans, is celebrated as if the war had just been won!

I have developed a real sympathy for the players who are regularly accused of not giving their all and picked to pieces by the public and the media. With the possible exception of what is being revealed in South Africa at the minute and maybe the occasional dodgy boxing match, I have not seen nor heard of many instances where an elite sportsman representing their country did not give their very best. The one issue that everyone seems to overlook is perhaps the most obvious - ‘Hey, wait a minute, maybe we are just not that good’!

The English Premier League is dominated by players from all over Europe and the rest of world and I have even managed to get a concession from many English fans that an Aussie, Harry Kewell, would be welcomed into the English team. Fancy that! To the untrained eye and maybe even the trained I don’t know, the playing style of every team other than England looks so much more creative and dangerous and they all seem stacked with individuals who can change a match with that bit of brilliance.

As an Aussie watching the tournament with many English friends and team mates, yet another heartbreaking result has given me plenty of ammunition for ‘piss-taking’ but what I haven’t admitted until now is that I was secretly barracking my bollocks off for the Ancestors, hoping that as Underdogs they might win through. Maybe this approach comes from years of supporting the Western Bulldogs but it seems like a much safer and more sensible option!

The Natwest Trophy competition got underway for the counties yesterday, with the majority taking on the Minor County or Board XI teams who had won through to the third round. It is a competition which we have targeted and on which we have placed great emphasis, particularly in view of the fact that a county team is only ever a maximum of four wins away from playing in the Final. As the reigning runners-up, nothing short of another redeeming crack at the Final will be seen as a success for us - but first things first!

The third round is a difficult mental challenge as county teams naturally enter their contest as strong favourites against sides composed of talented club cricketers who are often former first-class players. The task is made even more difficult by having to travel to club grounds and play on slow, low club pitches which tend to even up the competition somewhat. In fact, the only real victor on the day is the opposition who, if they win, are heroes and, if they lose, gave it a jolly good shot!

Somerset’s opponents for the day were Shropshire, with the game played at the lovely St Georges Cricket Club in Telford. I am pleased to report that we came away winners but were made to work very hard. All of the counties came through unscathed with seemingly only Essex and Durham receiving minor scares.

Our fourth round opponents are Middlesex at Lord’s in what will hopefully be the first of a couple of visits there for us this year. It will be a good chance for all to erase the ghosts of last year’s loss in the competition Final and to hopefully progress through to the quarter finals (particularly if Justin Langer can be dismissed cheaply) at the expense of a dangerous opponent which has been struggling for much of the year.

Jamie Cox from the South West