'Somerset will not tolerate mediocre performances' Giles Clarke tells Friends of Bath A.G.M.

Somerset County Cricket Club will not tolerate mediocre performances, the club's recently elected chairman Giles Clarke told the annual general meeting of The Friends of Bath County Cricket Festival held at Bath Cricket Club earlier this week.

He said: "Clearly we need to perform on the field this summer. We are not a second division team. It's time we won the county championship."

Outlining a strategy which would achieve this, Giles Clarke singled out two priorities: improving Somerset¹s performance on the field, and securing the club's financial position.

He said: "We must have outstanding county players, not just journeymen. Foreign players are an important part of this, and we have to see what overseas players we can attract, but we also need outstanding English players. For that we have to have outstanding coaching and outstanding facilities. These all require financial support."

He told members there is increased interest in sponsorships despite the difficult economic climate. Somerset was not a rich county -- 80 per cent of companies have fewer than 10 employees -- but the county manages to maintain and support a top class cricket team. In this context, the annual week-long Bath Cricket Festival provided vital and unswerving support for the county cricket club.

"I would like to say there is no doubt that Bath Cricket Festival is a vital part of the Somerset CC year. When I was a boy, the county team played in Frome, Street and other places, but that is just not possible today, and we now have only the two county venues, Bath and Taunton."

He said he was optimistic that a lot more firms would be coming from Bristol to support the Bath Festival and he had made it his personal mission to "wake up" large Bristol companies and regional companies and get them to support the event.

"As you may have heard, Ian Botham has been enlisted to help with our membership drive. Our membership levels remain at what they were last year at this time."

Among the players Somerset would be using this next year was Nixon McLean, the West Indian bowler who has played at Test level for the West Indies, Tasmanian Jamie Cox who captained the team last season, James Bryant, a no. 3 batsman who plays for Eastern Province who was said to be the finest fielder in South Africa, possibly even better than Jonty Rhodes and Neil Edwards, the best batsman on the U19 tour of Australia.

In addition, Somerset had the services of county coach Kevin Shine -- "one of our greatest assets, without doubt the best bowling coach in the country."

Giles said: "The club is not just about success on the field, it's about financial success. With this in mind, we have begun a process to get closer to the business community and we are confident our sponsorships will exceed a six figure sum, which will go some way towards ensuring the future of our club."

Of particular concern was the fact that for 319 days a year the County Ground at Taunton was not fully used. Giles described this as "a wasted opportunity" and said several ideas were being explored for using the ground when it was not needed for cricket.

Bob Holder, chairman of the Friends, told the meeting: "It is a tribute to the Bath and Wiltshire area committee that the Bath Festival is currently firmly embedded in the playing plans of Somerset. It is only three years ago that doubt was seriously felt about the financial viability of the club coming to Bath, even though there is over 100 years of history.

"The result of an excellent fund raising year is, as you have heard, that the Friends donation to area funds is £2,500. I referred last year to the financial turnaround in the profits earned here in 2001 -- £17,000. In 2002 the figure is over £20,000."

This year's Bath Cricket Festival begins on Wednesday, June 4 with a four-day championship match between Somerset and Worcestershire, followed by a one-day match on Sunday, June 8 between Somerset and Northamptonshire.