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Jason and Sophie look ahead to Blast Off
Both Somerset Men and Women get the Vitality Blast underway tomorrow.
The Cooper Associates County Ground will play host to a T20 double header which will see both teams taking on their Surrey counterparts.
Ahead of Blast off, we caught up with Somerset Women Captain, Sophie Luff and Somerset Men Head Coach, Jason Kerr to discuss their feelings ahead of the campaign.
How do you feel ahead of tomorrow’s double header?
Sophie Luff: “We couldn’t really wish for a better start to the competition than a double header against Surrey at the Cooper Associates County Ground. We’re really excited to get going. Hopefully, we can hit the ground running and entertain people along the way. We’ve had a little bit of time off and that’s been nice because it’s enabled us to reset and come back in fresh ahead of a different competition. Surrey are a very good team and we will need to be at our best to beat them. We came out on top in the first game of the season at Beckenham in the Metro Bank One Day Cup and hopefully we can do the same again tomorrow. It would be great if we could win and then the men could do the same.”
Jason Kerr: “T20 cricket on a Friday night at home is what it’s all about for me, so to be doing that tomorrow is really exciting. We pride ourselves on the way that we play white-ball cricket, and we’ve had relative success over the last few years. However, this is a new start and a new campaign, and we will once again look to be as successful as we possibly can this year. We’ve done well in the competition in the last few years, but the past is history. Now it’s all about how we start this year’s campaign and how we build confidence in the group. Every team gets better year on year so it’s important that we keep evolving as well.”
How important is it that we play a good number of double headers?
JK: “It’s exciting for the Club and we’re all excited by the opportunity. Tomorrow is a sell out and I hope that there’s a big crowd for the women’s game. Somerset Women have played some great cricket in the 50-over competition already and I’m sure they will bring more of the same tomorrow.”
SL: “These double headers are a genuine opportunity for us to use the game as a platform and help to bring in a bigger audience. It’s a sell out so hopefully lots of people will turn up early and watch our game too.”
Can Somerset win the Blast this year?
JK: “We obviously want to get to Finals Day again this year because it’s one of the season’s showpieces. The biggest challenge is that you have players playing across three formats. You have to make sure that people have the physical and mental energy required to sustain high levels of performance across a whole season. One of the learnings we’ve taken from missing out at the end of last year was that the strain took its toll on a lot of people, so that will be something that we look at. Ultimately, you need to play better than the opposition on the day, so we need to keep taking our skills forward and deliver those as many times as we can.”
SL: “The massive carrot at the end of the campaign for us is Finals Day at The Oval, so we definitely want to be in contention towards the back end of the competition. We want to be at Finals Day, so it’s important that we hit the ground running and get some momentum going so that we can make sure that we’re in the mix. There’s definitely been an increase in our skill level, which is credit to all the work that everyone’s put in over the winter. Some of these players are learning professional cricket on the job and for them to have played so well stands us in good stead for the rest of the summer and for next season as well.”
JK: “There’s no better feeling than winning as a group of people when you work hard and achieve something as a collective. It’s an incredible feeling. To add a trophy to that is a huge motivation. We’ve got some world class players and we’ve been able to add Matt Henry and Riley Meredith to an already outstanding attack. That depth is really exciting. Similarly with the batters, we’re welcoming Tom Kohler-Cadmore back into an already strong line up.”
SL: “It’s been a really enjoyable season so far and we’ve done well in the Metro Bank One Day Cup. I feel like we’ve played some really good cricket at times, but I feel like we also missed out on a couple of wins too. I feel like we could have won a couple more games and that would have put us in an even stronger position. Having said that, the group is full of confidence, and we’ve had contributions from everyone who has played this summer. That’s a really good sign. We haven’t had to rely on Heather Knight and Charlie Dean. The fact that so many players have stepped up is really exciting. A number of players who have been professionals for a couple of years like Alex Griffiths and Chloe Skelton have really found their feet this summer. Some of the new players have impressed as well. Bex Odgers has come in and the way that she’s set the tone at the top of the order when she’s played has been brilliant and I’m excited to see what all of the team can do in this year’s Blast.”
What’s it like playing T20 cricket at the Cooper Associates County Ground?
JK: “It’s incredible. I’m already getting excited and we’re 24 hours away from the game. The atmosphere created here is phenomenal and I know that everyone involved with the Club is excited for tomorrow night.”
SL: “We love playing in front of a home crowd. We’re really well supported by everyone at the Club, and we’ve got a really strong fan base in the South West and we want to keep growing that. We want to make this place a home ground where it’s really hard for the opposition to win. I see the men do that really well and we want to emulate that and make Taunton a fortress. We really feel at home here and it’s been that way since day one back in November. Hopefully, the double headers will help to broaden our audience so that when we play stand-alone games and return to Metro Bank One Day Cup action people are coming along to support us.”
