FORMER Somerset all rounder Ken Palmer, who is still a very familiar face at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton, celebrates his 80th birthday today (April 22), writes Richard Walsh.

He may not have been born in Taunton, but Palmer has certainly made it home since he first travelled west from his then home at Devizes, although he was born at Winchester in Hampshire where he initially went for a trial.

However it wasn’t to be and instead the highly talented youngster, who was then more of a batsman, was signed on after he impressed Harry Parks – the Somerset coach back in 1954.

Palmer played his early cricket for the Somerset Dragons and the Second XI at the same time as which he spent time working round the ground sweeping up the stands and picking up grass mowings.

“That’s how it was back then. We had sandwiches and a bottle of milk for lunch,” he said.

Palmer made his first team debut against Middlesex at Bath in 1955 and gradually became established in the line-up.

“After you had got the taste of first team cricket you didn’t want to go back to the Seconds anymore.”

However, it was Maurice Tremlett, who went onto become Somerset’s first ever professional captain, that taught Palmer the art of swing bowling and made him into the successful all rounder he became.

“Maurice Tremlett took me under his wing and helped me a great deal with my bowling. He taught me how to swing the ball out, which I couldn’t do at that time.”

Once KP had mastered that art there was no holding him back and he went onto become a genuine all rounder, which he underlined in 1961, when at the age of 24 he became Somerset first player since the Second World War to achieve the double of 1,000 first class runs and 100 wickets in a season.

That summer Palmer played in 32 three-day championship matches in which he scored 1,036 runs and took 114 wickets, which included seven five-wicket hauls.

Between 1955 and 1969 Palmer appeared in 302 first class games for Somerset, scoring more than 7,500 runs at an average of 20.73 and taking 837 wickets at a cost of 21.11 each.

His career best innings for Somerset was an unbeaten 125 against Northants at Wantage Road in 1961, while his best bowling figures were 9-57 at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire in 1963 – although Palmer reckons the best he bowled was against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1963 when he took 7-37, all of which were bowled!