After experiencing the UK’s wettest April in recorded history, I was certain that the weather for May had to be an improvement. Even when some of my more pessimistic team mates suggested “not to put your house on it”, I refused to have my spirits ‘dampened’! Well right now I have been proven to be both foolish and ‘wet around the ears’ when predicting the weather and I have even been quoted as calling Mother Nature a right witch at times. For if April was wet then May could only be described as totally saturating!

After the fantastic northern summer that we experienced last year, I have spent considerable time trying to convince the folks at home that these Pommie summers are actually nothing like the wet misery that they are reputed to be. Well to all those people I apologise because from what I’ve seen so far all the rumours and then some can be true. If I sound like a frustrated cricketer/captain then I am creating a true depiction of my current mood.

I have spent considerable time trying to convince the folks at home that these Pommie summers are actually nothing like the wet misery that they are reputed to be.

May was to be a quiet month anyway, by English county cricket standards, as we only had fourteen playing days scheduled. So to lose no fewer than four of these completely and bits and pieces of others to the weather has been terribly frustrating to say the least. The lack of continuity has really made it difficult to find any sort of rhythm and fortunately we have scrambled some reasonable results. As I write we remain undefeated in one-day cricket, after another excellent win against Matthew Hayden’s dangerous Northamptonshire, and the only hiccup in the longer version of the game was a loss to Leicestershire away from home.

The result at Leicester was particularly disappointing. After fighting hard for three days, a disappointing day four batting display saw us miss the opportunity to salvage the four points for a draw, which was the best and most likely option heading into the day. They are a decent side, having won the championship twice in the past four years and have a particularly proud tradition at home.

As their overseas player this year, they have Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who had previously had a 100+ wicket season with Northamptonshire a few years back. Having never played him before, I was looking forward to the battle on what was reported to be a slow seaming wicket at Grace Road. I remember a couple of the Australians telling me that, on fresh, true wickets, you could play him like a medium pace inswing bowler and that he rarely turns it like a more traditional leg spinner but that, on uneven, wearing, sub-continent type pitches, he could be a handful.

Leicester are only doing what every other county is doing - preparing wickets to suit their own strengths.

Well surprise, surprise! The wicket was again a previously used, dry, barren thing that did not bounce above waist height, unless of course the ball broke the surface, which it did with alarming regularity as the game progressed. I said it in my last article after the game at Hampshire, and I will say it again, that this contrived preparation of pitches is another example of the insular thinking of some of the counties, which can not be good for the development of the game and its players to take the next step. Having said that, Leicester are only doing what every other county is doing - preparing wickets to suit their own strengths. It will be interesting to see what type of pitch is prepared when Shane Warne and Saqlain Mushtaq play up there!

Unfortunately we did not have Andy Caddick, unavailable due to a blistered toe. Nothing too serious but with a Test match only a matter of days away, it was decided not to risk further damage.

Three players impressed greatly during the game.

My opening partner Marcus Trescothick made an excellent, patient, first-innings hundred in difficult conditions and with wickets constantly falling around him. He has worked hard on his fitness during the off-season and now looks to be a ready made England player.

Aftab Habib had a couple of Test matches last year and looked all at sea but I have now seen him score two terrific hundreds, the latest being the difference between the two sides in this match. He timed the ball beautifully on a wicket where hardly anybody else could get it off the square and his first-class average in the mid-forties (better than many of the current Test incumbents), from batting mostly at Leicester, should see him get another chance at some stage. Disappointingly, he was born and raised in the south-west but slipped through the net of Somerset.

John Dakin is somehow not a regular Leicester first team player and only seems to play when Chris Lewis is injured. Maybe he just saves his best for Somerset, as from what I’ve seen over the past year and a half this guy is the equal of Andy Flintoff, who is centrally contracted to the ECB and seemingly an England regular this year. His excellent century in partnership with Habib and threatening seam bowling surely opened other eyes than mine. A quality player who is unlikely to be underestimated in the future!

Leicestershire v Somerset - Scorecard

One definite positive to come out of the quiet scheduling for the month of May would be that it gave my girlfriend Helen and me time to explore the Lakes District of northern England for three days. We had nowhere near enough time to do it properly but it certainly provided a little taste of a truly beautiful part of the country.

Many actually compare it to Tasmania but I struggled to see the resemblance. The Lakes is far greener and more mountainous but I suppose the people are just as friendly and the hospitality almost as good as Tassie!

From what I’ve seen so far, it is the only place that pushes the beautiful south-west counties of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, as a UK holiday destination and I have no doubt that I will spend more time relaxing in all of them before my tour-of-duty is over!

But for now it’s back to the cricket!

Jamie Cox from the south-west