Wherever You Go, Trego

On a sunny July afternoon in Southgate, Peter Trego suddenly arrived at Middlesex for the unforgettable but unforgiving one-day-slogathon against Gloucestershire.��� Unexpectedly, though, he then played in seven County Championship matches during the second half of the season.� Peter Trego made a major contribution in those matches; Middlesex would almost certainly have been relegated without that contribution.� And then, just as suddenly, he was gone; back to his Somerset roots.� In part one of a two� part story, Barmy Kev and Ged Ladd explore the short but sweet Middlesex career of Peter Trego.

Introduction - Well what do you know?

Cricket can make mugs of all us pundits who love and follow the game.� Of course, we know the usual pattern for the development of a swing-bowling all-rounder.� Hesitant early steps in late teens, blossoming early to mid twenties, peaking late twenties and early thirties, long but gentle decline in the mid thirties.� And if that blossoming bit doesn�t happen in the early to mid twenties?� Move on.� Simple.� Except it doesn�t always happen that way, and Peter Trego is a great example of the unexpected development pattern; a career revived in his mid twenties.

Peter Trego burst onto the first class scene for Somerset while still a teenager; he played 6 first-class matches in 2000.� Didn�t do too badly, either, for a kid.� But then his career stuttered.� Perhaps Somerset expected (or needed) too much too young from him.� Perhaps he couldn�t maintain sufficient enthusiasm for cricket (he is also a fine footballer by all accounts, keeping wicket goal for Margate).� His career floundered for a couple more seasons at Somerset and then he made an ill-fated switch to Kent.� The idea was to get more first class cricket but the result was the opposite.� He played one first class game for Kent in 2003 and then he was off the barometer for quite some time.� Think Herefordshire.

Trego�s potential resurrection was first muted in Middlesex circles when �Seaxed Man� watched Middlesex 2^nds play against Minor Counties. Trego slaughtered our bowling attack, including Paul Hutchison and Chris Wright (their performances earned them both a call up for the maligned Twenty20 against Hants at Richmond). Trego then took five wickets.�� Presumably Jason Pooley took note; good on him.

Given our bowling injury crises, performances of our emerging and submerging bowlers and Styris�s call up for the �meaningful� New Zealand series against Zimbabwe, Trego was announced as our latest signing on the last day of the Southgate Festival. Was this to be a Richo-type coup or another loose Gannon?

Barmy Kev�s view from the boundary � �What I Saw�

Our early impressions were not helped by his debut against Gloucestershire; on a flat unhelpful track Trego went for 50 off 5 overs, which helped Glaws chase down our 324 total. Some unfair criticism ensued on our message board; to be fair most bowlers went for plenty that day; Jon Lewis went for 86 off 9 overs.�

The next game was another one-dayer, this time a day/nighter against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens.� Trego was required for drink carrying duties and was due to use those waiting talents again for the four day game against the same opposition.� But Alan Richardson broke down before start of play and Trego was in the team. I happened to meet him outside ground at lunch and he approached me as soon as he saw my Middx top. He introduced himself and we had a good chat.� I mentioned our message board, before I realised some of the comments made there.�� I warned him that some individuals referred to him as a has-been (imagine, at 24?).� Fortunately, he seemed to be thick skinned. On day two, in need of quick runs for declaration, he managed 74 hard hitting runs off 52 balls.� Indeed at one stage he looked to be on for the fastest century of season.�� He followed up with 3 quick wickets and a diving catch. He shouted to me �not bad for a has-been�.

His next notable feat was 6 for 59 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. I had the perfect view from Upper Radcliffe where he destroyed their top order. He had Younis Kahn bowled from the most perfect in swinging Yorker, then next over had David Hussey dropped behind. Had that been caught, I�m convinced he would have got all 10. This was just before the Trent Bridge test and I had visions of Hoggie doing similar for England. (They weren�t too far off the mark).

And who could forget the major contribution in the Kent game at Canterbury?.� 1st Innings, he scored 51 runs off 33 balls which gave us crucial 4^th bonus point. 2nd innings, 3 runs off 94 balls in rearguard action, required to save the game when our defences seemed to be falling apart.��

There were a few negatives. Like a lot of late order hard hitting batsmen, his shot selection is sometimes questionable.� Bowling-wise, for someone just over medium pace, he took an incredibly long run up.� I noticed our over rate dropping during his long spells and that cost us dearly against Warks.� In the same game, he took two wickets with successive balls, but then after a few bad overs, his head dropped.� Similar body language was exhibited in Kent games at Lord�s and Canterbury when we were struggling to achieve wickets. Some of his bowling was short, wide and reckless; someone at the forum commented that his (albeit meaningless) spell against Sorry at the Hoval suggested �a rush of blood to his brain�.

But there is no doubt that Peter Trego made a major contribution in those first class matches; Middlesex would almost certainly have been relegated without that contribution.

To be continued��.