County Championship Preview: Nottinghamshire v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset travel to Trent Bridge to take on Nottinghamshire in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Friday June 12th).
Tickets for this match are still available:
Somerset are currently seventh in the Division One table with 79 points from six matches, whilst Nottinghamshire are top with 91 points from the same number of fixtures.
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 11:00am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 1:40pm to 3:40pm
Evening session: 4pm to 6pm
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date using the dedicated Match Centre on this website which will feature a live stream of the action courtesy of Nottinghamshire CCC.
In-play updates will also appear on our X feed (formerly Twitter).
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Captain: Haseeb Hameed
Head coach: Peter Moores
2025 finish: 1st
2025 leading run-scorer: Haseeb Hameed (1,258)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Brett Hutton (38)
Key winter moves: The loss of Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas to Derbyshire was an unexpected blow. ln his place, Mohammad Ali, another experienced Pakistan quick, is set to play in the last six Rothesay County Championship rounds; Australian seamer Fergus O’Neill, who took 21 wickets in four appearances at the start of 2025, could play in the first eight. The impressive South African wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne returns and the early availability of England’s Ben Duckett after cancelling his IPL deal is a real boost.
What can we expect?: The battle to be the county’s No 1 spinner. After his sensational end to the 2024 season, teenage off-spinner Farhan Ahmed was in pole position last April before Liam Patterson-White, the left-armer whose career had lost direction a little, was handed a recall and subsequently made himself impossible to leave out. Leg-spinner Calvin Harrison has moved to Northamptonshire but another left-armer, Joe Pocklington, who impressed in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, adds to the competition.
Aiming to catch the Test selectors’ eye: Haseeb Hameed has had a fragmented international career so far but after 2,349 first-class runs at 58.72 over the last two seasons, including seven centuries, three of them doubles, two carrying his bat, he’s surely worth another look. A pretty good player when last selected, he remains technically sound but scores at a markedly quicker tempo.
Final thought: After two seasons nearer the bottom of the Division One table than the top, Nottinghamshire’s dethroning of Surrey still seemed a slightly fanciful notion until it happened, thanks to Josh Tongue spearheading a brilliant win at the Kia Oval in the penultimate round. Tongue may not be around often this year and it would be a good moment for Dillon Pennington to realise his full potential. Defending their title will not be easy, but confidence is high.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset are still without Tom Kohler-Cadmore (thumb), Will Smeed (finger), Tom Abell (hand) and Tom Lammonby (elbow).
The starting XI will be selected from the following squad:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “I think the change of format comes at a good time for us. We lost a little bit of momentum in the Blast, so confidence took a hit in that format. To change direction and focus on red ball cricket will be good for us and we’re looking forward to getting to Trent Bridge.
“Notts have been playing some good cricket, and we had a competitive game against them at the start of the season. Obviously, we know they’re a strong side, so we’re going to need to show a lot of character this week.
“We’ve got a lot of guys out through injury, but that creates a lot of exciting opportunities for some of the young lads. We also need the senior players to really stand up and demonstrate a lot of character for us this week.
“Hopefully, it won’t be long before some of the guys are returning from injury, but hopefully that creates a lot of selection headaches for us because the guys who have stepped up are performing well.”
CLASSIC MATCH
We head back to 2004 for the classic First Class match between the two sides at Trent Bridge.
It was a match which saw Somerset secure a comprehensive victory courtesy of fine bowling performances from Ian Blackwell and Richard Johnson, plus a superb double hundred from Jamie Cox.
Jason Gallian won the toss, elected to bat first and by the end of the first day the hosts had reached 306 for seven.
On day two, Mark Ealham completed his century as Notts were dismissed for 337. Johnson was the pick of the bowlers, claiming five for 69 from 25 overs.
The Somerset reply got off to the worst possible start when Peter Bowler was dismissed with just two runs on the board. However, Matt Wood (113) and Cox got the Somerset innings back on track and then some.
By the close of the second day, the visitors were 349 for two with Cox unbeaten on 130.
Day three saw James Hildreth reach three figures but it was Cox who stole the headlines, making a career best 250 as Somerset declared on 654 for eight.
Gallian (55) and Darren Bicknell (142) did their best to keep their side in the game, sharing an opening stand of 121 but Blackwell claimed seven for 90 to limit the hosts to 317 in their second innings.
It took Bowler just four deliveries to score the one run that Somerset required as the visitors won by 10 wickets.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Nottinghamshire CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset’s next match is in the Rothesay County Championship Division One when we take on Warwickshire at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Day one of this four-day match is Friday June 19th.
