Family ties ensured I was firmly in Notts’ T20 camp
THE curtain came down on the cricket season with the Twenty20 Blast finals day.
We eventually managed to complete the tournament after Saturday’s play was washed out and the four teams - Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Gloucestershire and Lancashire - reconvened to deal with matters the following day.
And I was chuffed to see Nottinghamshire walk away with the silverware. I must declare an interest at this point.
My brother-in-law is Paul Franks, who is on the coaching staff at Trent Bridge, so I was rooting for Notts on the day.
They were deserved winners over Surrey in the final. Surrey went in to finals day on the back of eight successive group wins, which is remarkable, but for my money, Notts had the best side in the competition.
They have built their success on a spin attack, with Samit Patel, Imad Wasim and Matthew Carter at the forefront.
I also got the sense that Nottinghamshire’s name was on the trophy after the last seven balls of their quarter-final win against Leicestershire.
There were a couple of misfields by Leicestershire in that time - including off the last ball - and sometimes those little things point to it being your year.
To me, the best two sides - Somerset and Essex - reached the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s, while the two best did the same in the T20 Blast.
And it’s no mean feat to beat Surrey. You look through their line-up and they have a powerful squad which bodes well for the future.
In the final they didn’t have Morne Morkel, Jade Dernbach or Rikki Clarke, but still boasted an enviable attack.
Watching T20 finals day was brilliant, and now I’m getting my cricket fix by taking in the Indian Premier League.
The IPL is not just entertainment from my perspective. It also gives me the chance to take a look at players who, at Worcestershire, we might not know too much about. Or even those we haven’t really seen in action.
There’s also the tactical element. This year at Worcestershire we didn’t have the greatest of times in white-ball cricket, but in recent seasons we have, generally, done pretty well.
Seeing how other teams set-up and go about their business is also handy to watch as you look to try to make improvements to all aspects of your game.
The fact that I was able to watch the T20 Blast was reason enough to celebrate.
At one stage it looked like there might not be any cricket this summer because of the coronavirus pandemic, but thankfully we managed to get some in across all levels of the game.
That mere fact is one of the highlights of the season for me - and it was an amazing effort from everyone involved to ensure that international, first-class and recreational cricketers all had a chance to don the whites - or colours - this summer.
Certain individuals have also enhanced their standing in the game.
Kent batsman Zak Crawley made the most of the Test series against West Indies and Pakistan to cement his place in the England team.
After a long time finding suitable players for the top of the order, a leading trio of Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Crawley could be very useful in the years to come.
And I know I’m biased having worked with him, but Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes also had a great time and highlighted what an amazing cricketer he is.
Personally, it was fantastic to be able to do my job as assistant coach at Worcestershire.
As I said before, there was a chance we might not have played this season.
I’m always optimistic, but in the back of your mind you do think ‘what if we don’t?’. I can’t imagine what the summer would have been like if that had been the case. In fact, it would have been the first time in 40 years where I would not have been involved in some form of cricket.
It’s now time for a quick break for the pros before we report back for duty on November 2. I can’t wait for that. Hopefully next summer will be a bit easier for everyone.
For now, though, this is my last column of the summer. I hope you have enjoyed reading my views - and I’m delighted to announce that I’ve already ‘signed my contract’ to continue next season.
Winter well, everyone, and best wishes!