)}})
County Championship Preview: Somerset v Lancashire
THE MATCH
Somerset welcome Lancashire to the Cooper Associates County Ground this week in Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Thursday April 20th).
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 11am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 1:40pm to 3:40pm
Evening session: 4pm to 6pm
Tickets for this match are still available.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Gates will open at 10am.
Ticket buyers can print and download their online tickets via their SCCC account.
All ticket or Membership collections will be from the Jack White Gates (St James Street).
The Club Enquiries Desk will be based in the Reception of the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion and not in the Andrew Caddick Pavilion on matchdays.
Due to the busy nature of a matchday, our telephone lines will closed for the duration of the game and will reopen at 10am on Monday April 24th.
Information on everything that you will need for a matchday at SCCC, including how to redeem your guest passes, how to download your e-tickets and how to use the SCCC Ticket App can all be found in our FAQ section at the foot of our Membership page:
Scorecards will be available from Stragglers Coffee House and the SCS Shop.
CATERING
Matchday food and drink will be available from Stragglers Coffee House, The Bolting Horse concession in the St James Street car park and the Lord Botham Stand.
Matchday dining is also available in the County Room. We offer breakfast, a carvery lunch and afternoon tea.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
Our live stream will once again be available for fans to watch via this website and at our YouTube channel.
You can also keep up to date using our dedicated matchday blog via this website’s Match Centre and on our Twitter feed.
In association with Vertu Motors, Somerset County Cricket Club will be providing radio ear pieces to enable Members and supporters to enjoy our live ball-by-ball match commentary. These will be available to purchase from Reception in the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion at a cost of £12.
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
LANCASHIRE
Captain: Keaton Jennings
Head Coach: Glen Chapple
2022 finish: Second (Division One)
2022 highest run-scorer: Keaton Jennings (1,233)
2022 highest wicket-taker: Tom Bailey (52)
Key winter moves: Lancashire have raided New Zealand for two overseas signings, bringing in former and current international all-rounders Colin de Grandhomme and Daryl Mitchell. Retired Black Cap de Grandhomme starts the season before current Kiwi star Mitchell’s first of four games is on May 11. At that time, the county will have three overseas players available, including former captain Dane Vilas and de Grandhomme as cover. The trio will also be available for the Vitality Blast.
Player to watch: Tom Hartley, the 23-year-old son of 1974 European Championship 4x400m gold medalist Bill, is a rapidly developing left-arm spinner who is not too shabby with the bat – as a pre-season T20 century in Dubai showed. He took eight wickets in that aforementioned win over Surrey and toured Sri Lanka with the England Lions in January and February. Seriously challenging Matthew Parkinson for role of senior spinner.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset have named an unchanged squad for this fixture.
The starting XI will be chosen from the following squad: Tom Abell, Kasey Aldridge, Cameron Bancroft, George Bartlett, Jack Brooks, Josh Davey, Sean Dickson, Lewis Gregory, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Lammonby, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, James Rew and Peter Siddle.
Lancashire have named the following 13-man squad: Keaton Jennings, James Anderson, Tom Bailey, George Balderson, George Bell, Josh Bohannon, Steven Croft, Colin De Grandhomme, Tom Hartley, Saqib Mahmood, Dane Vilas, Luke Wells, Will Williams
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “It’s important that we bounce back because it was disappointing at Trent Bridge. Having said that, it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the things that we did well there. We just didn’t do them well enough for long enough. Moving forward we need to make sure that when we build partnerships they last for longer. I thought the way that we bowled at Trent Bridge was outstanding after the first morning. If we can build on those things, there’s every possibility that we can bounce back and get the right result.
“The season is in its infancy and we need to gives the guys opportunities. It’s certainly not time for knee jerk reactions or panic. We’ve got some outstanding cricketers in the dressing room and we will be giving them every opportunity to go out there and perform.
“The dressing room is disappointed and hurt after the defeat, but the guys will dust themselves off. The way that we’ve prepared this week has been outstanding and that bodes well for the rest of the summer.”
CLASSIC MATCH
For this week’s classic match, we are heading back to the summer of 1993 and a match that saw one Somerset legend claim career-best figures whilst another made his First Class debut.
Somerset’s County Championship clash with Lancashire at Taunton in May 1993 was memorable for several reasons. The four-day match was completed in half that time, Andy Caddick was at his brilliant best and a young man by the name of Marcus Trescothick played in a First Class match for Somerset for the very first time.
Somerset Captain, Chris Tavare won the toss and elected to bat.
The young Trescothick fell early but Mark Lathwell showed his class on his way to 71 as the hosts were dismissed for 195 in the 56th over.
Philip DeFreitas was the pick of the Red Rose attack, claiming seven for 76 from 17.3 overs.
The Lancashire batters fared only slightly better as Caddick (three for 88), Graham Rose (three for 60) and Mushtaq Ahmed (four for 40) limited the visitors to a first innings lead of just 27.
The bowlers were once again on top in the second innings as Somerset slipped to 72 for nine. However, Andre van Troost made a rapid and explosive 35 as Somerset were dismissed for 114 to set Lancashire a modest total of 88.
Surely there could only be one result. Unfortunately for Lancashire, no one had told Caddick.
The Somerset bowler tore through the visitors who were reduced to 39 for eight. Mike Watkinson gave his shell shocked side hope with 39, but it was in vain as Caddick claimed the final two wickets to ensure that Lancashire had been blown away for just 72. The Somerset man finished with career-best figures of nine for 32 from 11.1 overs and Somerset had won by just 15 runs.
MATCH SPONSOR – Clarke Willmott
Today’s Match Sponsor are Clarke Willmott Solicitors.
Clarke Willmott have provided the Club with legal advice for over 30 years, and they will remain as Somerset CCC’s Preferred Legal Partner in 2023.
Clarke Willmott LLP is a national firm of solicitors providing a full range of legal services for businesses and individuals. Working closely with their clients, they provide legal advice and tailored solutions whilst also investing time and energy into developing strong client relationships.
You can make your business grow by aligning yourself with Somerset County Cricket Club!
We are the UK’s best followed county and the South West’s most followed professional sports club on social media!
There are a wide range of opportunities available which are designed to meet any business need or budget, so harness the power of sport sponsorship now!
MEMBER FORUM
In order to keep Somerset Members up to date with everything that is happening at the Cooper Associates County Ground, we will once again be holding a number of Member Forums throughout the season.
The next of these will take place 20 minutes after the close of play on day two of this fixture (Friday April 21st).
SCCC President, Sir Peter Wanless and SCCC Chair, Sir Michael Barber will be the speakers at this event.
PUBLIC SERVICES DAY
Somerset CCC have given free tickets to all local emergency services workers.
As a thank you to all those who work hard to keep us safe throughout the year, we have given free tickets and the use of the Thatchers Terrace to all emergency service workers on Saturday April 22nd. They will also receive discounts at our concession units.
Over 1200 people have claimed their free tickets.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset’s next match in the LV= Insurance County Championship is against Northamptonshire and begins on Thursday May 4th.
Tickets for this match are still available.
