With the Cup Match trophy staying with champions Somerset for the fourth consecutive year, a resigned St. George?s skipper Gregg Foggo pointed afterwards to the abject failure of his batsmen on the first day?s play as the defining moment of the match.

Having won a crucial toss on a flat wicket, St. George?s were anxious to score runs quickly from the outset in order to give themselves enough time to take 20 Somerset wickets ? a strategy which horribly backfired.

?The plan did not come off which was a real disappointment on that wicket,? he said.

?After deciding to bat, we all sat down in the changing room and talked about approaching the innings with controlled aggression. But as soon as a few wickets began to fall we were not adaptable enough to realise we needed to consolidate and alter our original approach. Once our middle order had all got themselves out and we could only post a score just over a hundred runs, we were always going to be fighting an uphill battle.?

Despite his obvious disappointment, Foggo paid tribute to the ?great resilience? of his team on the second day, in the process lauding the exploits on the ?incredible? Clay Smith.

?I have to give credit to the way we fought back on the second day, having been down and out of things the night before,? he said.

?I am just very lucky to have a guy like Clay Smith in my side. The one thing that stands out about him is his mental toughness. A lot of Bermudian batsmen have talent, but Clay is way ahead of everybody in terms of application and focus. I?ve learnt a hell of a lot from watching him play and I hope other young players coming up look at Clay as an example of how to go about batting when the pressure is really on.?

Asked what improvements he felt St.George?s needed to make if they were to wrest the cup back to Wellington Oval in the near future, Foggo talked of ?getting the simple things right.?

?I do not believe there is a great deal talent-wise between the two teams,? he argued.

?But Somerset played the better cricket this time round and we made far too many basic errors. Our batsmen too often gave their wickets away and our bowling was not as disciplined as I would have liked. But I feel we are still a side in transition and there is much more to come from this team.?

Meanwhile, a visibly drained Smith said that he felt ?honoured? to have become the only batsman in Cup Match history to score three centuries.

?Somebody needed to take responsibility, to get the job done,? he said.

?On the day, that responsibility fell to me and I?m glad to have made a significant contribution to the team. We all like achieving something which is personally notable, but the team is what counts and I?m happy that we demonstrated a lot more fight and character on the second day?s play to give the St.George?s supporters something to be proud of.?

Saleem Mukuddem, Somerset?s star performer for the second consecutive year with another undefeated century and a contender once again for the game?s MVP award, was similarly modest about his prodigious achievements.

He applauded the timing of Janeiro Tucker?s overnight declaration ? even though it left the South African stranded on 160 not out, agonisingly close to his captain?s Cup Match record of 186.

?I don?t play cricket for individual, selfish reasons,? he said.

?I knew on the field last night that we were going to declare overnight to give ourselves a full day to try and take ten St.George?s wickets. So although reaching the record was in the back of my mind, it was not my top priority. Who knows, I might get another opportunity in the future to have a go at it.?

Mukuddem revealed also that he had tried hard to ?recreate? the concentration levels he attained whilst compiling the highest debut Cup Match score at Wellington Oval last year.

?All along I was trying to persuade myself to think and play like last year, to stay absolutely focused and get my feet moving,? he said.

?I never really felt under any great pressure ? even at 50 for three when I came in, when the St.George?s players certainly weren?t short of a word or two! I knew if I just kept persevering and kept it simple by keeping the ball on the ground and putting away the bad one, I?d be fine. I started slowly because the situation demanded we consolidate but after I reached a hundred I was seeing it really well and I found it much easier to be aggressive.?

The South African was also fulsome in his praise of the team.

?We were totally dominant on the first day and our bowling and fielding was incredibly sharp,? he said.

?Credit to St.George?s for fighting back well on day two, but we were always reasonably in control of proceedings. I thought from the start the wicket played very well and many of the St.George?s batsmen gave their wickets away in the face of sustained pressure. So overall we deserved to retain the trophy and I?m ecstatic that I managed to play a part.?