Jamie Cox speaks ahead of Somerset cricket CEO stewardship

Speaking exclusively to the County Gazette, the incoming Somerset CEO said: “I know the club and I know the place and love it.

“There is no other county that could have had me leave a really good job at Lord’s and take on a position like this, so there is an emotional tie that got me interested. But more importantly I was sold by the stability of the business, it's been well run and it been in good hands and I’m taking the place on in good shape.

“I have always loved the culture - and I mean that we always try to grow our own players. The Pathway system around Somerset and the South West is really strong and I think that’s fantastic.

“We have got competitive teams which is important, and when I was researching to take the job on I realised that Somerset has played more division one cricket than any other team - of course we still have to win it, but we have been a competitive team and there are no signs of that stopping.

“More importantly I was sold the ambition around the clubs future and that was the greatest importance to me. I didn’t want to come and just keep on spinning the wheels, I wanted to come and take charge of a club that had aspirations and really did want to be competitive forever more and continually improve."

Jamie Cox (Image: Somerset CCC)

Speaking on that vision, Cox touched on the importance of the County Championship and how that competition will shape his strategy.

He said: “This is a tough time for county cricket and therefore you need the ambition to drive your way through towards whatever that future may look like.

“Through Sir Michael Barber and the board I was sold the vision that we are a club that aspires to win more, that aspires to play in great facilities, and aspires as Gordon Hollins (current CEO) says to be ‘at the top table in county cricket’ which is really important to me.

“The Club captures such a wide group of people from Somerset through the south west and with that comes great responsibility to engage our local community. This is more than the County Ground in Taunton, this is a region that aspires to be a great cricket region.

“I don’t come with a particular vision other than for us to be agile and navigate our way through the next few years. We have clear aspirations to be at the top table which  means being in the conversations and being smart enough to work out what’s best for us and what’s best for the county."

And he added: “My mantra will be let's win in a cricket sense, knowing that we can’t always win but we should always expect to because we have been a good team and over our 150 years we have shown a great capacity to compete and pop up occasionally.

“I really and truly aspire and I know that there is an executive team and a staff group and playing group who just see themselves as being able to compete with anyone and everyone at anytime and ensure that we are always trying to move forward, we are always trying to get the best outcome for Somerset and for the game in the region.

Jamie Cox playing in the County Championship for Somerset.

What about the future?

“I want the best for Somerset moving forward, although I don’t totally know what that looks like. 

“We have just pitched for the Western Storm franchise, which would be a fantastic step forward for the club and we are really hopeful that we will be chosen as the owner of a team that represents the south west.

“We have got the opportunity to win three trophies again next year and we will do our very best to do so. The championship remains the Holy Grail and its the tournament we are yet to win and while I don’t want to put an anchor around anyone we need to compete and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t give that a good shake.”

The new CEO summed up by saying: “I want it to be a place our members are proud of and love to come. I know our team is really full of good young people who play the right way and that's really important to making members truly proud of the the team and how they represent them on the field. There are few things more important to me than our members feeling like the teams represents them in the right way.”