Why women’s golf is better than men’s

In the exhilarating event of Somerset managing to sneak past Surrey and being on their way to claim their first county cricket championship since the Norman Conquest – or since Vic Marks was playing – they would owe one of their captains from long ago, an eccentric gentleman by the name of Jack Meyer, a big debt of gratitude. Without Meyer it is unlikely that Somerset would have snared Archie Vaughan, the 18-year-old son of Michael and the hero of Somerset’s nerve-racking win over Surrey, the defending champions, last week.

The list of Millfield’s exceptional players, past and present, is eye- watering

Meyer, a firm believer in the power of sport to make lives better, founded Millfield School in 1935 after a spell planting tea in India, and since then it has churned out some of the finest sports people in the country. Cricket is its big calling card, fielding 17 teams across all abilities, with the Meyer all-star XI playing counties and university sides. Archie himself was captain of the Millfield first XI, which puts him easily at county standard.

The school’s facilities are all top class and my sources tell me that Millfield is pulling all the best 14- to 15-year-olds out of the state system as well as club cricket. The list of its exceptional players, past and present, is eye-watering but here are just a few: Will Smeed, Rory Hamilton-Brown, Simon Jones, Tony Lewis, Lewis Goldsworthy, David Graveney and Craig Kieswetter, whom I was lucky enough to share a cricket pitch with the other day and who can still whack the ball with the velocity of a space rocket. You could also field a pretty good rugby team from Millfield Old Boys, including J.P.R. Williams, Chris Robshaw, Mako Vunipola and Gareth Edwards.