Bascome & Edness: What your captain thinks

Bascome: 20 wickets is our focus

For Oronde Bascome, his return as St George’s Cup Match captain will be an emotional one.

The 25-year-old missed last year’s showdown under dramatic and worrying circumstances after suffering a burst appendix while in England.

The pain, physical and mental, of missing out on the biggest game of the year meant he couldn’t even bring himself to watch updates on the Internet as St George’s went down by 10 wickets.

Instead, he started the long road back to fitness, culminating in his reinstatement as skipper for tomorrow’s game.

“I wasn’t really surprised,” he told the Bermuda Sun. 

“Last year the club told me they expected me to come back and be captain again after Lionel (Cann) filled in for me.

“It’s always a pleasure to be captain for Cup Match – I’m just thrilled to be back playing cricket. 

“I understand what a prestigious event Cup Match is for the whole island and I’m just looking forward to it.

“I know what it means to the people of the country and the people of St George’s, in particular.”

The make-up of the east-enders’ team has been a key talking point in the build-up, with six changes, four colts and just one
spinner named in the
team.

Pace and seam are likely to play a big role with both Bascome and Cann confirming the wicket is likely to be hard to score on. Bascome said: “Obviously we have to get 20 wickets, so we had to pick our team around that.

“That’s the main focus.

“That’s all we’re concentrating on.”

He added in The Royal Gazette: “I believe we have a lot of variety in the bowling, with myself, Treaddy (Gibbons), Rodney Trott, Allan Douglas and Onias Bascome who is a really good bowler aside from the three pacers that we picked.

“There’s a big variety that the selectors have given me, I’m very pleased.

“It was pretty much what I wanted. It’s always a case of not everyone can play, but I think this is the most balanced team that we could have picked from what we have seen in training.”

The return of batsman OJ Pitcher has also strengthened the batting line-up and Bascome is confident he can nurture a winning team environment.

He told the Sun: “I’m just looking to bring harmony to the team. 

“To get the Cup back we have to have good personnel and a good vibe, so I’m going to focus on bringing some togetherness to the team.”

Edness: We deserve more respect

Jekon Edness believes Somerset didn’t get the respect they deserved for last year’s victory —and said his team will prove the 10-wicket win was no fluke.

Edness still bristles at the suggestion the west-enders reclaimed the trophy only because of the failings of St George’s.

The skipper is tired of such chatter and says Somerset — who have named an unchanged team from 2012 — are ready to go again.

He told the Bermuda Sun: “Everyone talks about St George’s having a weak team – I don’t read into that. Cricket isn’t played on  paper — whichever team executes their plans the best will win on the day.

“We still feel we haven’t been given the respect we deserve for last year’s win. We all have a chip on our shoulder to prove the naysayers wrong.”

He added: “I just feel because of the make-up of St George’s team — they had a different captain — people say their team didn’t play to the best of their  ability.

“They say we won because of that rather then the fact we won because we played better cricket.”

Rather than worry over the fact Somerset have not won in St George’s since 1981, Edness says that gives them “30 years of motivation”.

Team ethos, he says, is crucial and was a primary consideration when naming an unchanged squad.

He said: “We deliberated for a few hours — and felt this is the team we wanted to stick with.

“Obviously, it’s tough for a player not selected who’s had a decent season. It’s a case of trying to be consistent.”

He added: “We expect them to come at us hard. They have four colts so they’ll be young guys trying to make an impression.”

This week’s game will be Edness’ third year in charge —and for him it’s clear Cup Match remains a magical experience.

“The camaraderie, atmosphere the instensity of the game,” he said.

“It’s easy to say you play against these players week in, week out but it’s Cup Match, it brings out something in different players.

“The history of it as well  — all that ties in.

“I remember my first one, I was nervous, excited, restless, I couldn’t sleep the night before. 

“I’m a bit more calm now. That’s because I have the experience — but I still get excited every year. You never lose that when Cup Match comes around.”

For this year’s match to have a happy ending for Edness, it again comes down to unity.

He said: “I’m looking for the whole team to perform, not just one or two. We are a team and we play as a team.”