Jekon Edness has extra incentive to go for a victory at Wellington Oval over the next two days, because this will be his last year as Somerset captain.

Edness confirmed this week that he will be stepping down after five years at the helm and would dearly love to go out with a win, something Somerset have not achieved in the East End since Joe Bailey’s 1981 side scored a comfortable victory.

Edness started his captaincy there in 2011 with a loss, before winning in Somerset in 2012 and 2014 after the intervening match ended in a draw.

“It’s my fifth and final, I have personal and professional commitments and I think the captain of Somerset needs to be at every [training] session and committed to the cause,” said Edness, now married and expecting his second child later this year.

“I’m not sure I can do that next year so I don’t want to be cheating the club, plus five years is a long time and I think it is the right time for a new captain to come in and take on a settled team. This will be the ideal time to shift someone younger in.”

Edness, still only 31, intends to continue playing in Cup Match, but admits there are other things to look forward to. His decision comes less than a year after opposing captain Oronde Bascome stood down. Edness informed Alfred Maybury, the Somerset president, of his decision last week before making the announcement to the membership on team selection night.

“It is something I’ve been thinking about since last year, trying to figure the right time to let someone else take over,” he said. “I felt the best time was this year so if a new captain comes in then he would come in, in Somerset where you have a lot more control.

“Five years is long enough for me, I have professional goals such as another certification professionally and with a second child coming in December.”

Edness got his start in senior cricket playing as a 14-year-old with his father, Anthony Manders, at Western Stars. He was happy earlier this season to give youngster Jahnoi Bean a chance to keep wicket for the Somerset senior team.

“In this situation where I had control of the team, and him [Bean] being the under-19 national squad wicketkeeper, and with a tournament coming up, he needed to get as much match practice as possible in his first year playing in the Premier Division,” Edness said.

“That’s how my daddy brought me along, letting me ‘keep’ in certain games. If the game was a formality he would say ‘come on, put the gloves on’ and I’d go and keep wicket for the last four or five overs as a 14- or 15-year-old.”

Edness replaced Jacobi Robinson as Somerset captain, following his uncle Andre Manders as captain of the West End side.

“The captaincy was never part of my plans. It fell in my lap pretty much, and at the time I needed the challenge and motivation to take me forward,” Edness said. “But, right now, I think I want a little less responsibility on the cricket field, to play and enjoy it right now.”

He admits that there is a lot of extra stress that comes with being a Cup Match captain.

“Everyone’s got their opinion and has their say, who you should pick, who you shouldn’t pick and what you should do,” Edness said.

“You deal with it. This year has been a little more hectic than any of my previous four years as far as all the talking is concerned, so it will make my last year interesting. Whoever the next captain is comes into a settled environment. Jeff Richardson [the Somerset coach] deserves a ton of credit.

“It wasn’t an easy situation when I came into the captaincy. I stepped into a lot of turmoil and I wouldn’t want that for whoever comes in after me.”

Somerset have been transformed into a strong unit during Edness’ time in charge, and will again be tough to beat. “We are geared up pretty good. Of course we can’t control the weather so we’re not too concerned about that at all,” Edness said.

“It wasn’t ideal that we didn’t have a trial match on Saturday either, but our team is pretty settled anyway. It’s been 34 years and the fans are expecting a victory. We’re going to do our best to put St George’s under pressure and get that long-awaited victory in St George’s.

“We are confident without being cocky or complacent, but to focus on whatever team they put out and try to beat that team. They haven’t picked a spinner so all their attack is medium pace. Obviously we’ll have to see how the wicket plays and watch their bowlers.

“Bermuda wickets tend to turn no matter how much grass is on the wicket and hopefully when it does start to turn our spinners will come to the fore. If not we have enough in the pace and seam department to cause trouble as well.”