This year’s Cup Match promises to be an emotional one for Jacobi Robinson.

The Somerset all-rounder has revealed that it will be his final appearance in the classic and hopes to bow out on a winning note as the champions bid for a third successive victory.

“A win in my last Cup Match would mean everything,” said Robinson, the nephew of Somerset coach and former batsman Jeff Richardson. “It would cap off all of the hard work and time I’ve put into Cup Match.”

Robinson was a 15-year-old reserve in 2000 and broke into Somerset’s team four years later.

He was appointed captain in 2008 and served in the role for three years before being replaced by Jekon Edness.

“Being Somerset’s captain was a huge honour,” Robinson, whose father Wayne “Spike” Richardson is also a former Somerset Cup Match player. “Growing up all you wanted to do is play Cup Match and to captain in the biggest cricket event in Bermuda was definitely an honour.

“It wasn’t easy being Somerset’s captain at 23 years of age and I had to grow up really fast. But with the group of guys around me like Janeiro Tucker and Hasan Durham it made it a lot easier.

“Being the captain is a lot of responsibility and sleepless nights because you have a whole community in your hands and there’s lots of pressure.

“The captaincy in Cup Match is something you have to grow into.”

Robinson declared his intentions to retire less than a week after Tucker, another former Somerset captain, announced that he, too, is bowing out after this year’s match at Somerset.

Reflecting upon his Cup Match career, Robinson listed the 99-run eighth-wicket partnership he featured in along with Tucker at Wellington Oval in 2009 among his most memorable moments in the classic.

Robinson struck an 18-ball half-century en route to his highest innings of 63 while Tucker thumped an unbeaten 126.

“That partnership with Janeiro getting a hundred and me a half-century was very special,” Robinson said. “I was there when Janeiro got his third century.

“We both got ducks the first innings. He was my roommate so we went back to the room with no runs after the first day. But then after the second day we came out with almost two hundred runs.”

The 2005 classic also stands out in Robinson’s memory even though Somerset lost the cup that year.

“2005 was a very touchy Cup Match for me because we lost but it was one of my best bowling performances as far as taking ten wickets in a match. Obviously winning the cup back in 2012 was huge as well.”

Another low for Robinson occurred in his first year as captain when he conceded a draw with St George’s 59 for four and 13 overs left in the second day’s play at Somerset.

“The players and myself understood the reason why we did it,” Robinson said. “It was a collective decision and I don’t regret it.”

Robinson admits walking away from Cup Match was a difficult decision to make but feels that the time is right to do so.

“It was a hard decision to make because one of the pinnacles of playing cricket in Bermuda is playing Cup Match,” he said.

“But there comes a time when your body and mind tell you it’s time and I’m in that space right now.

“I feel I have had a good Cup Match career and it’s time to move on.”