“It’s been outstanding” – Jason liking what he’s seen in Desert Springs
Somerset Men are currently in Desert Springs for pre-season training.
We spoke to Head Coach, Jason Kerr this morning to discuss how preparations are going in Southern Spain.
“It’s been outstanding,” he said. “Obviously, we’re incredibly fortunate to get out here first and foremost and we’ve been fortunate with the weather here although we did lose one day to rain. The facilities have been excellent and more importantly the lads have maximised the opportunities on grass.
“We’ve had the opportunity to really galvanise the work we’ve done in the winter, so to have the vast majority of the squad here has been superb. Their attitude to training has been exceptional and there’s a great energy as we build towards that first game against Notts.”
As part of the trip, Somerset will take on Yorkshire in a two-day red ball game beginning on Monday. Regarding this element of the tour, Jason said: “There’s a beautiful oval here now and we’re excited to have the opportunity to get two days of cricket under our belts next week. We’ll have a day where we bat and a day where we bowl. It will be valuable to have that competitive edge which you can’t get in training. The intensity goes up now. We’re on grass, in live nets, with guys off full run-ups and we get the opportunity to put that into practice over Monday and Tuesday against strong opposition. Yorkshire have got a full squad out here, so it’ll be really exciting to see the guys transfer the skills from indoors as we build towards that first game.
“Each day we will play three two-hour sessions and it’s about maximising that. We’ll try and get through 90 overs on one of the days and it’ll be the same for Yorkshire. It could be that one of the more experienced players bats for 10 or 20 overs because that might be enough but for one of the young players this could be their opportunity to really showcase how well they’ve developed and how well they can play, so you let them go on for longer. It’s about the needs of the individual and the needs of the team and about what we’re looking for in that first game. It’s going to be exciting to see how people have evolved over the winter.
“As a coach, you’ve got eyes on what people are doing in training and you need to take into account that there’s limited opportunities ahead of that first game because there’s less cricket played before the start of the season now. We’ve got two days against Yorkshire and a confirmed three-day game when we get back. It presents an opportunity for some of the young lads and gives the senior players the chance to get mentally and physically ready. I see the Yorkshire game particularly as an opportunity to get a blend of that and make sure that we get what we need out of those two days.”
Do results matter in pre-season?
“No, not at all. We could get bowled out by lunch against Yorkshire next week, but we’ll bat on. So, you could have a day where you lose 15 or 16 wickets and opportunities might come around twice for some batters. Similar from a bowling point of view, guys will have long spells and the opportunity to come back. It’s about time on feet and getting that sharpness from being competitive against First Class opposition. It’s not about whether there’s a result over the two days. It’s about maximising the opportunity that we can get on the grass.
“I’m sure there’s an air of optimism around every county and we’re certainly no different. This time of year is so exciting and as you move through pre-season people start to jostle for places and start to sense opportunities. They can see who’s performing well and that adds to the excitement of naming that first squad for the first game.”
