January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
'One of the worst feelings I've had in cricket'
'One of the worst feelings I've had in cricket'
I was proud of the way I played and felt I deserved a hundred and to be given out on 99 when I didn't touch the ball - I've never felt like that before.
I waited for so long for a decision and then when the finger went up I couldn't believe it. The ball brushed my pad. I've seen the television replays and I just didn't hit it. To be that close to a hundred and have it taken away from you is hard to take.
But there have been times in my career when I've been out and the umpire has not given it, so I have to take the good with the bad. People make mistakes, that's life.
The scoreboard actually had me on a hundred a few overs before I was given out, but I knew I hadn't got it. I was keeping count and I knew I was still a few runs short.
I was asking the umpires and the scorers what was going on. It was a minor distraction, but it didn't make that much difference.
The strategy all morning had been for Charlie to stay and for me to go. We'd both started on 31 or something and he was on 37 when I hit 99.
At that point we were looking to build a lead and put the pressure right back on Somerset.
I felt in good form and I wasn't just looking for a hundred I was looking for the record.
But when Charlie got out, I had to try and stick around a bit more with the tail. I was looking for the single to get to the century but Chris Douglas bowled well, mixed it up well and I got a bad decision at the wrong time.
It was still a big innings for me. People have been telling me it was the best I've ever played.
As skipper you need to be playing your best when your teams in trouble and that's what Charlie and I did.
You saw both sides from me - to bat through the evening when we needed to preserve our wickets on Thursday night and then the explosive side on Friday morning as I tried to put us in a winning position.
I did target my friend Del Hollis. He understands that can happen. On the day, I won the battle, but another day he could have had my wicket. He's a good bowler, but that's the way it goes some times.
Personally I feel I'm in my prime as a batsman. I've got a lot more years left in me and a lot more opportunities to get a Cup Match hundred.
Blame Jacobi
A lot of people are blaming St. George's for the game ending in a draw, but Somerset were the challengers and they didn't do enough to win the game.
They took too long to declare on day one. They kept their best batsman too late in the order, they didn't score quickly enough in either innings, they didn't use their best bowlers enough in the fourth innings, they didn't set aggressive fields and they offered us a draw when they still had 12 overs to bowl at us.
They were the challengers, they were at home and they were not aggressive enough from ball one.
The rain put them behind the eight-ball, but at 50-something for two, we were pleased to see Sammy Robinson and Azeem Pitcher coming in to bat.
No disrespect to those two, but if they wanted to win the game they should have had Janeiro Tucker batting at three or four. I would have had the captain and Malachi Jones higher up the order too.
They needed to be scoring at six-seven runs an over and declaring early. They should have had their most explosive batsmen at the top of the order. I couldn't understand that strategy.
On Thursday night at 51 for five we had no other choice but to consolidate. There's no way I'm giving up the trophy that easily. Once we started attacking on Friday they backed off. Their heads went down and they had everyone back on the boundary.
Even at lunch they were still on top but again they sent Azeem and Sammy in ahead of Janeiro. We couldn't believe it.
In the end they left us just over 45 overs to chase 237. It was in the back of our minds to go for it. The strategy was to bat normally and if we were within 150 with more than eight wickets in hand when we reached the 20-over mark we would have gone for it.
But we lost early wickets. The top order failed again and we had no choice but to close up.
Even then they didn't set aggressive fields, they didn't use their best bowlers. Hasan Durham was totally under-used, Malachi Jones was under-used. They took the pressure off. When they offered us the draw, we accepted. I think their heads had just dropped at that point and they gave up.
At the end we had an exciting draw and people saw some good cricket. But don't blame St. George's because it was a draw. I'm not going to just go bang-bang-bang all-out for 130 and give Somerset the cup just to make it exciting.
Clay Smith and Recman
On a separate note it was nice to see Clay Smith and the controversial Recman endorsing an idea I proposed last year and suggesting we had overseas pros come and play with our club sides.
It's something I suggested in my column after the World Cup. It makes a change to see Recman agreeing with me but I think it has to be the way forward for our domestic game.
If we could have seasoned pros, playing for the top clubs and working with their youth programmes and senior teams it would raise standards across the island and help improve the game.
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