THE sheer delight and pleasure on the face of Sir Michael Barber the Chair of Somerset County Cricket Club was clear to see as he watched the team lifting the Vitality Blast T20 fat Edgbaston on Saturday evening, writes Richard Walsh.

“It was one of  the best days of my life. I must admit that I was so absorbed in the cricket that I got through all of my finger nails," he said.

"When Somerset are playing I am just completely absorbed and all through the semi finals and final and the quarter finals and a few of the group games that were close.”

“What made this team so special was that they had that little edge and found a way to win even when they were under pressure, which is a credit to them. That's what you need to win trophies."

Sir Michael went on: “I cannot praise Jason Kerr the head coach and Andy Hurry the director of cricket, highly enough for the way that they handled all of that and Lewis Gregory came in and captained the side very well.

“As chair of the club you spend a lot of time worrying about have you got the budget and where are you going to get the money from and how you are going to make sure that you can meet all of the members challenges, which is all perfectly reasonable.

"But then to have this moment on Saturday when you see the team play with such brilliance through two tough games against two top sides. It was one of  the best days of my life."

Sir Michael added: “They are not just great cricketers they are all great people."