Wes Durston relishes his second chance

For a 29-year-old who had spent the last eight years of his life playing professional cricket, being dumped by the county that nurtured him since boyhood was a frightening situation. At the end of last season Somerset decided Wes Durston had no future at the club and he was left contemplating a career outside the game.

One remarkable innings later his fortunes flipped. He cracked 117 off 68 balls in a chase of 325 in the Clydesdale Bank 40, the highest score by any side batting second in the history of 40-over cricket, to help the Unicorns, an ECB team made up of players outside the professional game, stun defending champions Sussex.

He was then promptly snapped up by Derbyshire for the Friends Provident t20 and celebrated by hitting the first century of the tournament - 111 off 59 balls - against Nottinghamshire in his fourth game.

"It has been a huge turnaround, I completely didn't expect it. It was an incredible hour, where I just hit everything cleanly and that one innings against Sussex changed my life effectively," he told Cricinfo. "Just a few months ago, I was out the game and trying to become a teacher. Suddenly now it's all non-stop and I'm completely loving it."

Between the 2009 and 2010 seasons a host of players were quietly released by their counties, some finding new opportunities within the county game and others left scrambling outside the profession for new avenues to earn a living.

"Losing your contract is a very painful experience," said Durston. "You imagine yourself playing the game for as long as you can, and then suddenly I was 29 and out the game. It was very, very difficult to take.

"In my mid-season appraisal last year there was no indication I'd be out of a contract. The communication from Somerset was really poor."

Durston was lucky enough to have a sports fitness degree to fall back on and had spent the previous four winters teaching hockey and cricket at Millfield school. Yet, despite his qualifications there was no job for him to walk into and it was left to the PCA to help him find his feet.

"The PCA were very helpful. Within two weeks of explaining my situation to them they had found me two job interviews," he said. "They play a crucial role making players seek out courses and work experience while they're in the game so that when that day comes - an injury or retirement or something - people aren't lost."

However, there is always that lingering hope for a second chance. Back in the professional game and scoring heavily, Durston's story is a boon for the ECB, whose Unicorns idea was ridiculed in some quarters when it first emerged.

They were little more than a hasty arrangement, invented as a 21st team for the new 40-over competition when Ireland pulled out of English domestic cricket to focus on international commitments. Yet their success, and Durston's promotion, proves the side can be both competitive and act as a shop-window for prospective players.

"I'm obviously the person that has profited most but people can see from my experience that there is a link back to county cricket through the Unicorns," he said. "We were a fully-fledged team that trained throughout the winter, which meant that by time the game's came round we had got to know each other quite well, had built up an understanding and had good camaraderie.

"We beat Glamorgan and Sussex and proved there is definitely a space for having us in the tournament, that's two professional clubs with egg on their faces and a feather in the cap for us."

For now though, he has set his sights higher. He wants to play all forms of the game and has been promised that good performances could lead to a full contract for the remainder of this season. If he keeps pummelling runs in Twenty20 cricket, however, even bigger riches may not be far away.