A BOOK has just been published that all followers of the fortunes of Somerset County Cricket Club will want to have on their shelf.

It was launched last week at the Cricket Museum in Taunton which was attended by a number of the players who appeared for the county during the most recent trophy winning years.

‘Somerset CCC The Return to Glory’ contains over 300 colour photographs by Alain Lockyer and an affectionately written text by Richard Walsh and gives all fans of the Cidermen the chance to re-live their memories of the 2001 and 2005 trophy winning seasons along with 2007 when they won promotion back top the top flight.

The cub was founded way back in 1875 but it was not until 1979 that Somerset won any silverware and others followed in quick succession as the west country favourites lifted five one day titles in as many seasons.

Having enjoyed the sweet taste of success the Somerset faithful wanted more, but they had to wait a further 18 years, until their dreams were realised by their Aussie skipper Jamie Cox who led them to the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy final at Lord’s where they beat Leicestershire in 2001.

Four years later there was more success, this time under the guidance of South African captain Graeme Smith, who helped them to win the Twenty20 Cup for the first time ever.

Then in 2007, under the leadership of another inspirational captain, Australian Justin Langer, the county won promotion back to the top division of both the County Championship and the 40 over competition.

Since then Somerset have been in close contention for all three of the domestic competitions, but as yet have not quite managed to cross that elusive winning line.

Alain Lockyer is a professional photographer who has run the Taunton-based Somerset Photo News Agency for more than four decades covering National news and pictures and who has captured the activity of Somerset County Cricket Club assiduously in that time. He takes pictures regularly for the WWN.

Richard Walsh lives in Taunton and is a freelance journalist who has been following the fortunes of Somerset CCC for over forty years. He writes regularly for this newspaper, in addition to which he has been the editor of the official Somerset CCC website since it was first established in 2001 and the editor of the Somerset CCC Yearbook since 2004.

This is the second collaboration between Lockyer and Walsh and follows on from their hugely successful ‘Somerset Cricket - The Glory Years’ that was published in 2012.

County Ground favourite Keith Parsons, who played a key role in both the 2001 and 2005 winning teams, said: “Return to Glory is a book that anyone who follows Somerset will enjoy. It has helped me to relive many of those special days that only come round once in a life time.

He added: “I played in both of the 2001 and 2005 cup winning teams and this book will be a lasting memory of those very special years when Somerset returned to Glory.”

Somerset County Cricket Club - The Return to Glory by Alain Lockyer and Richard Walsh is published by Wellington based Halsgrove, priced £19.99 and is available from all booksellers or on-line direct from the publishers post free by logging onto [email protected].