We can rest assured that although Cup Match 2012 is gone, it will never be forgotten.That’s not just because Somerset, the media-made underdogs, after a decade of defeats and draws by the seemingly invincible St Georgians, whooped them by a sensational ten-wicket margin. That was something many thought would or could not happen. But happen it did. And thanks go to the ‘Cup Match gods,’ smiling so dramatically on Somerset for the second time in the 110-year of the classic.This time the smiles were on Somerset’s captain Jekon Edness and his team, seen above, smilingly reciprocating with the symbol of cricket supremacy in Bermuda which they so skilfully wrested from St George’s.The first time was back in 1924. Generations of Somerset and St George’s fans alike grew up feeling that game was the most sensational of all Cup Matches.Here I have no hesitation in crediting the followng facts to Percival St George Ratteray, a long-serving exective member of Somerset CC who owned and operated the Somerset News Agency. Percy and G. Fielding Swan, a former St George’s Cup Match captain, were the most approachable, authoritative and best known Cup Match chronologists. They are both deceased, but to their credit, Percy Ratteray Jr and the Swan brothers have kept their records intact for posterity’s sake.Mr Ratteray had no hesitation in terming the 1924 game as the most sensational. Somerset had chosen its team to defend the Cup. Just days before the game two players, Amon Hunt and Clifford (Anna) Burrows, refused to play when their demands to be paid one pound a day instead of ten shillings were not met.“We were relying heavily on Hunt and Burrows, along with Warren Simmons,” stated Percy. “They were all-rounders, and we needed them, especially for their batting. To compound a bad situation, Dick Baxter, our star bowler, broke his finger on the eve of the match. So we had to bring in three mediocre substitutes.”St George’s had a formidable team with Warbaby Fox, Joe Swainson, Fred (Bulla) Darrell, Cyril Packwood and Kitchener Johnson, all of whom had made centuries in pre-Cup Match games. Cocky Steede was still feared for his 13-wicket performance just two years earlier.Somerset, batting first, were down for 94. St George’s replied with 134. In their second time at bat, Somerset made 87, which left St George’s a mere 44 runs to win.St George’s went wild. They were so confident of winning, their President telephoned the Mayor of St George’s at 3pm, telling him to get the town ready for a big reception, as he estimated they would be leaving Somerset about 4 pm with the Cup.But the fortunes of St George’s changed dramatically when Blackie Simons, with his opening ball, clean bowled Warbaby Fox for a duck. The scoreboard read like this: 4 for 1, 5 for 2; 10 for 3; 10 for 4; 11 for 5; 16 for 6; 16 for 7; 23 for 8 and finally, 33 all out.“It was sensational to say the least,” Percy recalled year after year, with great delight. “It was hard to be lieve that a team like that could be put down for 33 runs.“With all our woes we were lucky to get 90 runs in the first innings. Blackie Simons and Warren Simmons did the bowling. The fielding was tight. Eddie Durrant and Jada Philpott in slips and Blackie in the long field. Oh what a sight.”Well, leap-frogging 88 years later to the onset of the 2012 Cup Match. Somerset had a whole heap of woes including the possible unavailability of potentially good players, for one reason or another, including suspensions for reasons that were not “sporty” on the playing field.Despite the brilliant psychological media exposure and high hopes under the great veteran Lionel Cann and his Cup Holders by the Lawrence Trott(s) and the Clay Smith(s) on how to hold on to the Cup, it was, as I stated earlier, the ‘cup match gods’ that found greater favour with Somerset, their captain Jekon Edness and his young bloods!Clay told Somerset categorically their key to victory was simple. They had to bat first, etc., etc., get a 220 run lead; and what St George’s needed to do was get Janeiro Tucker and Stephen Outerbridge out early.As we all know Somerset won the toss, sent St George’s to bat, and got them all out for 219. When stumps were drawn to end the first day’s play, Somerset had scored 100 runs for the loss of two wickets from 28 overs. Resuming the next day, Somerset were all out for 273. The celebrated Janeiro Tucker had been run out for only four runs and captain Edness retired hurt with a brilliant 67 runs.Somerset had a 52 run lead when St George’s began their second innings after lunch on Friday. With what might have been a 1924 mindset, they saw victory or at least a draw within their grasp. But thanks to the Greg Maybury-Kamau Leverock bowling duo, they began to wreak early damage, Here’s how the scoreboard read: 1 for 20; 2 for 20; 3 for 37. In came the celebrated St George’s captain Lionel Cann. Out he went with a measly four runs, bowled by Leverock, caught Maybury.It looked like history, 80 years later, was repeating itself, much to the wild delight of red and blue Somerset and the dismay of St.George’s with their blue and blue.Clay Smith tuned in to the game in far-off England, where he has taken up residence with his family, must have been having a fit as St George’s struggled! Facing a two-to-one defeat, they managed first to pull down Somerset’s first innings lead of 52, and timidly attempted to get some respectability on the sccoreboard. But Glenn Blakeney was run out for 24; Fiqre Crockwell 12, . The highest any of the remaining five bats got was Justin Pitcher’s 6, before he was bowled by Jones. And St George’s were all out, for 79, giving Somerset a margin of only 27 runs to “dethrone” the veteran Cup Holders.Somerset sent in Chris Douglas and Terryn Fray to take care of business, and they did, without loss, Douglas 23 not out and Fray 8 not out.Somerset retained supremacy, and in the process gave both Cup Match and Bermuda cricket in general, the fillip it needed, especially with Somerset’s a bright new star, their colt, Greg Maybury who took 5 big wickets for 18 runs.