Botham, Richards and Garner’s dramatic Somerset exit: the inside story | Vic Marks

In an exclusive extract from his new book Original Spin, Vic Marks talks about the tensions that tore his county team apart in 1986

Shockwaves were felt across Somerset at the end of the 1986 season when the club announced that their overseas players, Viv Richards and Joel Garner, would be replaced by Martin Crowe, with the inevitable consequence of Ian Botham’s departure.

Somerset had finished 16th in the championship and there was a critical loss to Lancashire in the second round of the NatWest Trophy in July. Defeat in that competition at that stage of the season condemned a county side, which was struggling in the other competitions, to another trophy-less season. That was always when the mumbling started in the committee rooms.

Related: Trevor Bayliss avows to heed wake-up call as Australia lie in wait

Whenever I found myself batting with Viv Richards he was, of course, a reassuring presence. He did not say much out in the middle but he always engaged with his partner. He did not bat in isolation. There was always the sense of “we are in this together”, which us lesser mortals obviously appreciated. But he did not like batsmen riding on his back, just hanging in there and relying upon him to do all the scoring. Provided you were alive, active and trying to contribute at the other end he was happy. He did not want any parasites. He did his best to make you feel good, a tricky task since he was usually batting sublimely at the other end. They seemed to bowl so much rubbish to him.

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