Trescothick 'devasted' by thrashing

Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset captain, has said he was "embarrassed" by his team's performance against Sussex where they crumbled to an innings defeat in little more than four sessions at Horsham.

They were bowled out before lunch on the first day for 76 and only crept into double figures second time around with 108. It was their third Championship defeat in six matches and they are seventh in table without a victory just three points clear of the relegation spots.

"It's not an easy performance to take, and I'm quite embarrassed by what we've done," Trescothick told BBC Somerset. "We've got to try and turn it around. That's all we can do.

"I'm devastated. It's a hard situation to be involved in and I'm not understanding why we're playing like we are. We've got to find a solution. It's been going on for a couple of games and we've not been near what we expect.

"But there's no easy answer. If I knew that we could put our finger on it and go from there."

Following the two-day defeat the squad had an extra training session at Taunton on Friday and their coach, Andy Hurry, echoed Trescothick's sentiments about the performance. "Our professional pride is hurt and we are fully aware that we have underachieved and haven't performed at all with the bat," he told the club website.

"We know its only a matter of time before we put in a performance and dominate a side, but when it does turn around we are going to hit somebody very hard, so we are in the process at the moment of trying to turn things around."

Somerset have been without Nick Compton in recent weeks due to England duty and Craig Kieswetter who broke a thumb against Warwickshire in April. Alviro Petersen, their overseas player, will soon join the South Africa squad for the Champions Trophy as a replacement for Graeme Smith. His countryman Dean Elgar has been signed as cover.

Jos Buttler will be on one-day duty with England from next week and Somerset will hope that will coincide with Kieswetter's return.

Their next Championship match is against Yorkshire, at Taunton, starting on May 28.