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County Championship Preview: Warwickshire v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset travel to Edgbaston to face Warwickshire in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Sunday June 22nd).
Tickets for this match are still available:
Somerset are currently fifth in the Division One table with 92 points from seven matches whilst Durham sit in fourth position with 93 points from the same number of fixtures.
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 11am 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 Warwickshire 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
WARWICKSHIRE
Captain: Alex Davies
Head Coach: Ian Westwood
2024 finish: Seventh
2024 highest run-scorer: Alex Davies (1,115)
2024 highest wicket-taker: Olly Hannon-Dalby (50)
Key winter moves: The era of transition continues at Edgbaston with a new head coach, Ian Westwood replacing Mark Robinson, and performance director, James Thomas replacing Gavin Larsen. Two key players have departed (Will Rhodes to Durham and Michael Burgess to retirement). In has come Ethan Bamber from Middlesex while the squad will be patched up with four overseas players: Tom Latham (all season), Vishwa Fernando (April), Beau Webster (May-July) and Hasan Ali (May-September).
What we’re looking forward to seeing: New Zealand batter Tom Latham arrives for his first sustained crack at county cricket, having previously paid fleeting visits to Durham, Kent and Surrey. Two of their linchpin runscorers having chosen to leave during the winter, Warwickshire will look to the 32-year-old for match-shaping runs. Latham will be aiming to harvest more happy memories of Edgbaston where he scored the winning runs in New Zealand’s eight-wicket Test victory in 2021.
Player to watch: Ed Barnard’s first two seasons at Edgbaston have not been successful ones for the team but the former Worcestershire player has quietly, impressively enhanced his own reputation as an all-rounder potentially capable of pushing himself into England contention. Productive and, at times, imperious with the bat, he was also a key member of the seam attack in 2024, finishing second top wicket-taker behind the excellent Olly Hannon-Dalby.
Final thought: Warwickshire’s supporters are becoming impatient after several seasons of drift, particularly in red-ball cricket. Ian Westwood, having completed the path from Under 10s player to head coach, must get some stability and consistency into the team. Warwickshire’s 1972 County Championship triumph was followed by a miserable decade. A strong season is needed to assure their supporters that their 2021 triumph will not be followed by a similarly thin era.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset have named the following squad for this match:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
On the eve of the fixture, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “The schedule isn’t ideal and our red-ball preparation for this game has been pretty limited in terms of what we’ve been able to do. We’ll be able to get a couple of hours on Saturday but that’s the reality of the situation and we have to adapt, overcome and be ready to go at 11am on Sunday. Some squads have more depth than others and therefore there will be some fresh bowlers and some bowlers who are not so fresh.
“Confidence in the group is incredibly high at the moment. We’re in this sport to win cricket matches and that’s what we’ve been doing for the last few weeks. We’re looking forward to going to Edgbaston and looking forward to the challenge that it poses. We’ll be using the Kookaburra ball, which we need to take into account, and everyone is excited by the prospect of playing County Championship cricket again. As always, we’ll be looking to go there and get the right result at the end of the four days.”
CLASSIC MATCH
We go back to June 2010 for the classic First Class match between the two sides at Edgbaston.
It was a match which saw Somerset claim a comprehensive victory by 181 runs thanks to 11 wickets from Murali Kartik.
Somerset skipper, Marcus Trescothick won the toss, elected to bat and made a half century as the visitors posted a first innings total of 268 all out. James Hildreth also made a half century whilst Chris Woakes, Rikki Clarke and Ant Botha all claimed three wickets for the hosts.
Kartik claimed five for 30 from 20 overs as Warwickshire were dismissed for just 140.
Batting for a second time, Somerset slipped to 90 for seven before 55 from Ben Phillips helped to ensure that his side reached 183 all out. Imran Tahir claimed six for 58 to keep Warwickshire in the game.
However, Kartik picked up from where he left off to claim six for 42 to finish with figures of 11 for 72 as Warwickshire were all out for 130.
WPA PREDICTIONS LEAGUE
So, you think you know your cricket do you? Here’s your chance to prove it!
Powered by WPA Health Insurance, the new game allows you to score points on every Somerset matchday.
Collect points throughout the year for correct predictions and make your way up the leaderboard to prove that you are the font of all cricketing knowledge!
The top Scorers for each competition will receive a prize.
Watch. Predict. Win!
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Warwickshire CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
he next match at the Cooper Associates County Ground will see Somerset take on Nottinghamshire in the Rothesay County Championship First Division.
This match will begin on Sunday June 29th and will see us hosting our first ever Festival of Red Ball Cricket.
Here are the details of the event:
Join us for this fixture and enjoy our Festival of Red Ball Cricket!
The event also coincides with County Cricket Day which is a fan-led campaign to celebrate County Championship cricket, and this year is encouraging as many people as possible to attend a men’s game on Sunday June 29th and a women’s match on Sunday July 6th.
Conceived by cricket fans, County Cricket Day promotes the importance of affordable and accessible cricket while giving fans a chance to support their counties.
