The golden era of Somerset cricket is up for grabs to the highest bidder when a collection of 10,000 negatives goes under the hammer next week.

Somerset club photog-Alain Lockyer has covered the county for 37 years and remains a close friend of Sir Ian Botham and Sir Viv Richards.

The two cricketing knights were the stars of the golden era at Taunton from 1979 to 1983, when Brian Rose's side won five trophies in five seasons.

Lockyer was able to chronicle the travails of the legendary pair on and off the field and his collection makes fascinating viewing.

The Taunton-born snapper's favourite exclusive came when he got the call to be the only man to photograph Botham, Richards and Joel Garner together when the three Test stars controversially left the club in 1986.

More positively, Lockyer was also there to capture Botham aboard an elephant before his famous Hannibal-style charity trek across the Alps in 1988.

A reserve price of £10,000 has been set for the auction at Bonhams in Chester on February 24.

Lockyer said: "I started to work as the club photographer about the time that Ian started at the club and the collection is a history of his time here.

"There are so many stories I can't tell but Ian and Viv were such great friends. They lived together but they also argued too.

"I lost count of the number of times I had to super-impose one of their faces on the team photo because they had rowed and refused to be photographed together!"

Lockyer's father was a war photographer and he knew that taking pictures would be his hobby and vocation from an early age.

After starting with the Ministry Of Defence, Lockyer joined the County Gazette and was taught the art by Les Charrett, formerly of the Evening World.

Lockyer went freelance, helping to set up the Somerset News Service and has been a regular feature at the County Ground for as long as almost anyone can remember, taking pictures for a host of papers including the Evening Post and Western Daily Press. Most of Somerset's modern stars are featured in his collection.

"Vic Marks used to be known as the teacher so we got a picture of him wearing a wig, gown and mortar board," said Lockyer.

"Martin Crowe was moving on so borrowed a Somerset road sign and pictured him dressed as a back-packer.

"The negatives take up a lot of room and I thought now was the time to for this particular collection."

A selection of the photographs can be viewed at www.bonhams.com.