COVERED SPRING 2020

19 @TRENTBRIDGE “ONCE I’D MADE THE DECISION THAT I WASN’T HAPPY WITH NOT PLAYING, I JUST PICKED UP THE PHONE TO PETER MOORES.” Peter Trego There’s a song from the 1980s byTalking Heads that has stood the test of time better than most. The protagonist of Once in a Lifetime is a man who has earned his success, and all the trappings it has brought. But amidst the large automobile, the beautiful house, comes a question from a man who finds himself in another part of the world: how did I get here? Fittingly for a song which came out in his year of birth, it’s a track which keeps springing to mind as I talk with Peter Trego in the Trent Bridge sunshine. Beginning with that five-word inquiry. How did he get here? For almost a quarter of a century – barring a three-year stretch away – Trego was synonymous with Somerset. Over 16,000 runs and in excess of 500 wickets for the West Country county have ensured there will always be a special place for him in the hearts of the Taunton faithful. And even amongst followers of the wider county game, an entire generation will have grown up never having known of a time when Trego wasn’t making his mark for the Cidermen. So how did this dramatic change of scenery arise? Ask some cricketers such a question, and there’s a chance you’ll receive brief, perfunctory platitudes in reply. Ask Peter Trego, and he looks you in the eye and answers you fully, honestly, insightfully. “Last season was a strange one,” he says of what proved to be his Somerset swansong. “It was the first time I’d signed a white- ball only contract, I won a trophy (the Royal London One-Day Cup), and then you get told that’s going to be the end of your time there. “That didn’t sit well with me.” It’s a somewhat striking admission. When a long-serving player departs, even one who has been ushered towards the exit, there can be tendency to paint the decision as mutual. Trego, you sense, is not someone who will be told what to say. “I really didn’t feel like I was ready to stop playing the game,” he continues. “Physically I’ve always looked after myself and my conditioning. I feel I’ve got many match-winning performances left in me, so I wasn’t ready to walk away. “Once I’d made the decision that I wasn’t happy with the idea of not playing, I just picked up the phone to Peter (Moores, Nottinghamshire Head Coach). “We had a number of conversations, and what was really heartening was that he really got where I was at as a professional. He wasn’t deterred by my age in any way, shape, or form. “The easy thing for Pete, Mick (Newell, Director of Cricket) and Steve (Mullaney, Captain) to have done would have been to say ‘no, not for us’ to someone of my age. “But one of the things we discussed was that this was not a short-term fix.They said ‘we know you’ve got the qualities to perform for the next three or four years.’ PETER TREGO