Match Preview: Somerset v Gloucestershire
14 April 2021
Following an opening week eight-wicket victory over Surrey, Ian Harvey’s Gloucestershire now turn their attention to another old foe in West Country rivals, Somerset.
Two of just three counties coming into the week with a win on their record, Gloucestershire and Somerset meet in the County Championship at Taunton for the first time since 2007; a ground where the former hasn’t won a first-class match since 1993.
All four days of Somerset v Gloucestershire will be broadcast live on the Gloscricket Match Centre here
Invigorated by a final-day run-chase that saw The Shire canter to a target of 228 in only 38 overs, and a first win over Surrey for a decade, supporters will be desperate for Gloucestershire to put an end to another longstanding winless run.
Last year’s Bob Willis Trophy match between the sides showed a gulf in class at the time with Somerset winning by 314 runs. However, captain Chris Dent believes the work his team have put in since then will serve them well this time round.
“The game against Somerset last year was tough and while at the time it wasn’t nice to think about, it helped us understand that we had to put a lot of hard work in over the winter if we wanted to compete with teams like theirs,” Chris said.
“We’ve all trained very hard this offseason and have been mentally preparing for the year. We’ve addressed issues that we thought we needed to work on and so far, it’s gone well. Even though we are coming off the back of a great win, it won’t matter on Thursday when it’s naught for naught so we need to go out there and perform again.”
West Indies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite will be in the squad for the first time this season as will 20-year-old Dom Goodman who provides another seam bowling option in the absence of the injured Josh Shaw.
Ian Harvey has named a 13-man squad for tomorrow’s match:
For Somerset, last year’s Bob Willis Trophy runners-up, the opening match of the season saw them come away from Lord’s on the right side of the result with a four-wicket victory over Middlesex.
Middlesex put up 313 in their opening innings and Somerset’s chances of a positive result looked ominous at 89/9 in reply. However, a familiar tail wag from the Somerset bowlers enabled them to avoid the follow-on and a strong day three and four handed the West Country side the victory.
Josh Davey and Craig Overton combined for ten wickets in the match while Jack Leach was unsurprisingly more effective in the second innings taking 3/18 from 11.4 overs.
Man of the Match Lewis Gregory was effective with both bat and ball in his return to red-ball cricket. He accounted for five wickets in Middlesex’s first innings and carried his team home on the final day with an unbeaten 62 off 72 balls.
Gloucestershire will have to be wary of a top order that will be out to make amends for a poor start to the campaign. Banton, Lammonby and Hildreth contributed just 79 runs between them in their season opener and a home bout against local rivals provides plenty motivation to avoid a repeat.
Somerset’s 13-man squad for tomorrow’s match:
Tom Abell (c), George Bartlett, Tom Banton, Eddie Byrom, Josh Davey, Steve Davies, Marchant de Lange, Lewis Gregory, James Hildreth, Tom Lammonby, Jack Leach, Craig Overton and Roelof van der Merwe.
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