IT was the stuff of dreams - it was the stuff of nightmares, depending on your allegiance.

It was supposed to be Botham v Roebuck, but it turned into the Graeme Hick Show.

Somerset County Cricket Club's match against Worcestershire in Taunton on May 6 1988 was billed as a personal battle between home skipper Peter Roebuck and all-time great Ian Botham.

But the visitor's batsman Graeme Hick stole the plaudits by plundering the Somerset bowling to all corners of the County Ground as he scored a massive 405 runs in a single innings.

Botham and Roebuck had fallen out after Somerset had released West Indies stars Viv Richards and Joel Garner two season earlier.

Botham left the club in protest and headed off to Worcestershire.

As Hick, then aged 21, strode to the crease on that day 33 years ago, he had already smashed a total of 410 runs in April, a record at the time, including a double century against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

Worcestershire were 132 for five at one stage, with Botham out for seven, but Hick single-handedly saw them to victory with his 405 not out.

In a brutal 555 minutes, he hit 11 sixes and 35 fours from 469 balls as Worcestershire declared on 628 for seven.

Hick's form helped carry Worcestershire to their fourth County Championship title and they repeated the feat in 1989, before he averaged more than 90 runs in the 1990 season.

Hick went on to play for England but often struggled to repeat his domestic form on the international stage. He stayed at Worcestershire for the rest of his career.

Back in 1988, the County Championship record score still belonged to Archie MacLaren, who hit 424 runs on the same ground for Lancashire in 1895.

But prolific West Indies batsman Brian Lara struck a world record 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994.