Jeff Richardson could have gone down as one of the best batsmen never to play Cup Match, then he made a switch he wished he had made years earlier.

The now Somerset coach had St George’s as his first choice and was even reserve in the 1983 team captained by Clevie Wade that won back the cup.

However, getting into St George’s proved too tough for Richardson who was competing against the likes of Allen Richardson, Wendell Smith, Noel Gibbons, Arnold Manders and Charlie Marshall, so he reluctantly made the switch to Somerset and was selected at the first attempt.

The rest, as they say, is history, with Richardson playing his last Cup Match in 1996 when Somerset dethroned the champions. He was also coach of the holders when they won by eight wickets last year, thus beating St George’s as both a player and coach.

“I had been playing with Bermuda almost ten years and someone made a comment to me that I could be one of the best players never to play Cup Match,” said Richardson who was 33 when he made his debut in 1992 after a decade of trying to get in at St George’s.

“That sort of hit home because as the years went by it was becoming more and more a reality. To avoid that I made the switch. If anybody looks at my careers in either football or cricket, I’ve been a very loyal individual and really believe in trying out for the team that you support.

“However, I honestly felt that St George’s didn’t want me, and I had to sever ties if I wanted to accomplish my goals. I don’t regret it at all, in hindsight I wish I had made the move earlier. I only played five Cup Matches and as life goes on you have responsibilities and I couldn’t put the time in anymore.”

Richardson had a highest score of 85 in 1994, followed by a 54 the following year as he finished with 298 runs from nine innings at an average of 37.25.

“I can recall someone from St George’s, when they didn’t select me the last time, saying that I was going to come back to haunt St George’s,” Richardson said.

Given his background, the coach knows how some players who are trying to break into the team must be feeling, but, as a coach, having a strong young team is a nice problem to have.

Somerset have made just one change to their team in the last couple of years, making it difficult for players to break through in the West End. It is a luxury the cup holders have, though they do have some promising young players trying to break through, such as Justin Donawa, Justin Corday and Joshua Gilbert, who is seeking a recall.

“In reality there is no race to get them in and the fact that we do have such a young team is a credit to the programme and to the youngsters,” said the coach.

“But that can work in a negative way as well because it is difficult to attract players, because from the outside looking in they will say ‘that’s a young team and it’s going to be difficult to get in’.

“That puts me back to when I was trying to make Cup Match. I was playing for Bermuda and couldn’t make the St George’s Cup Match team. What it does is if you have any confidence in yourself as a player then you put in the hard work because you now have to be better than the guys who are in the team. The team benefits from that because there’s competition, and that’s how it used to be.”

Added Richardson: “Unfortunately now we’re in an area of entitlement where certain people feel that ‘I paid my dues, I come to training, I should play’.

That’s one of the reasons why we don’t invite players anymore. I put it out there that if you want to play Cup Match [for Somerset] these are the days we are training and it is up to the individuals to come training or not.

“We’re a young team and if we’re going to dominate then we need to keep the base of the team intact for as long as possible. We won in 2012 and in 2013 we went with the same team.”

Last year Somerset’s only change saw Deunte Darrell reclaiming his spot at the expense of Stephen Outerbridge. Both players were among the large number of players who trained last night. Corey Hill is assisting Richardson as the bowling coach while Mark Trott is also helping with the team.