Somerset captain Justin Langer insisted he was still proud of his team despite their 63-run defeat to Sussex in the Twenty20 Cup final.

The Sabres' task of chasing 173 under floodlights at Edgbaston was always going to be arduous and their old failing against spin in one-day cricket meant they were a distant second best.

Langer said: "We've done really well in all the competitions this year, we've improved on last season, so I'm proud of that.

"We've gone better than last year and that's all you can ask of the club. Sussex have also gone close in other competitions and they probably deserved to win here, so hats off to them."

Somerset's seven-wicket win over Kent in the semi-final raised hopes of a repeat of the Sabres' 2005 final win over Lancashire.

But the dream became a nightmare, worse than the one Marcus Trescothick experienced this week when considering an England comeback as their final six wickets fell for five runs.

Director of cricker Brian Rose acknowledged that Somerset must address how they play the turning ball.

"We were outplayed. We got to 43-1 and that wasn't a bad position but as soon as their spinners came on we struggled and that is where they played exceptionally well. We couldn't maintain the momentum. We needed someone to get 70 or 80 or everybody to chip in with 30.

"Playing spin is a big issue in one-day cricket. If you look at some of the results in Indian Premier League it is starting to become dominated by what you do in the middle of the innings against spin bowlers.

"We have got to address that situation for the future. But we still have a nucleus of players who can play over the next three or four years."

Langer won the toss for the second time during the day and gave Sussex first use of a pitch that was offering increasing grip.

Somerset's slow men, Arul Suppiah and the highly promising Max Waller, claimed three wickets between them in the five overs they were given, but no one could stop Dwayne Smith's match-winning 59 from 26 balls.

The former West Indies all-rounder's reputation as a huge hitter was enhanced and Langer was not keen to get into a debate over whether or not Smith had used one of the new, more powerful Mongoose bats and whether or not it was illegal.

Smith eventually missed a reverse sweep at Waller and was well stumped by Craig Kieswetter. The Somerset wicketkeeper missed one, tough leg-side catch but his glovework is clearly improving by the game.

Pete Trego was the pick of the Somerset bowlers on the day. The medium pacer has been taking advice from former Gloucestershire and Australia all-rounder Ian Harvey on slower-balls and used them to great effect, never better than when an off-break bowled Ed Joyce around his legs.

Somerset needed Trescothick to repeat his 32-ball 56 from the semi-final and then go on to get close to 100.

The second of consecutive fours off Yasir Arafat brought up his 1,000 career runs in Twenty20. Luke Wright was next to suffer when Trescothick belted a six over mid-wicket, then nearly killed the umpire with a straight four before another huge clout sailed clean over slog-corner.

James Kirtley was pummelled for six over cover but a slower ball from the seamer meant Trescothick could only sky an attempted repeat to the off-side sweeper for 33 from 15 balls.

Langer brought up the 50 with a cover-driven four but then heaved at Arafat next ball and saw his stumps scattered.

The arrival of leg-spinner Will Beer then removed James Hildreth and Kieswetter - both for one.

Beer was having an influence on and off the pitch although Somerset's hopes were raised by Trego, who hit their first boundary in five overs before taking 19 off the wrist spinner's final over.

Zander de Bruyn was then caught at cover before, with more than ten runs per over needed, Trego (27 off 14) failed to strike the off-spin of former Millfield pupil Rory Hamilton-Brown over long-on.

From then on it was a procession with the only positive being that the tail-enders kept trying to win the game rather than dig in to lessen the margin of defeat.

Meanwhile, Langer admits that, as an Australian, he is glad Trescothick will not be playing in the final Ashes Test at the Oval, which starts on Thursday.

He said: "You have seen it all year. He is simply magnificent. He is in incredible form and he is as good a player as you will see. I am relieved he is not playing at the Oval. I would have picked him for the last three years but it is his choice not to and having read his book I can understand why he doesn't want to play."