I said yesterday that I didn’t expect any miracles from Somerset today, but equally I didn’t expect a disaster. Their match against NSW was one of the most one-sided in the tournament. Somerset batted first and managed only 111, with Stuart Clark taking 3-15. It took the Australians only 12 of their 20 overs to win the game.

I caught a little bit of the TV coverage and the Australian commentators were laughing themselves silly. Both Australian teams are in the semi-finals, and the two English teams between them managed only one win. Doubtless most English supporters will say this was inevitable given the poor quality of the teams we sent. Their counties would of course have done better. Yet Somerset were second in the Twenty20, second in the Pro40, and third in the County Championship. Sussex won the Twenty20 and Pro40, and were second in the 50 over cup. In England they had been pretty dominant. Asked to step out onto the world stage, both sides were outclassed. Questions ought to be asked of the ECB, I think.

In stark contrast the Trinidad & Tobago team were anything but outclassed. On the same wicket were Somerset had managed only 11, they smashed their way to 213, the highest score of the tournament so far. To get into the semi finals the Eagles needed not only to surpass that, but to do so by a significant margin in order to improve their net run rate. It was never going to happen, though they made a brave attempt.

The semi-final line-ups are now almost complete. The matches will probably be Cape Cobras v NSW and Trinidad & Tobago v Victoria, though that does assume that the Cobras beat Delhi in the final second round match tomorrow. The Cobras and T&T are both undefeated, and I’m expecting a titanic final if they stay that way through the semis.