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Vitality Blast Preview: Somerset v Gloucestershire
THE MATCH
Somerset welcome Gloucestershire to the Cooper Associates County Ground in the Vitality Blast tomorrow (Sunday July 7th).
Gates open at 12:30pm with play due to start at 2:30pm.
A limited number of tickets for this match are still available.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Bag searches will be in operation and spectators are reminded that no glass or sharp implements will be permitted within the Cooper Associates County Ground.
For full Ground Regulations please visit the link below:
Members and supporters are not permitted to bring alcohol into Vitality Blast fixtures.
Ticket buyers can 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 reopen at 10am on Monday July 8th.
Information on everything that you will need for a matchday at SCCC, including how to download your e-tickets and how to use the SCCC Ticket App can all be found in our Visiting Guide.
Scorecards will be available from Reception in the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion. Completed scorecards can now be downloaded after the match via the Membership section of this website.
FAN VILLAGE & CATERING
We will once again be hosting our fan village in the St James Street side of the Cooper Associates County Ground.
The fan village will once again feature a wide range of food and drink plus live music before the match and during the interval.
Matchday food and drink will be available from the SCCC concessions and bars around the ground.
There will be £1 off drinks and hot food from Somerset CCC-owned concessions between 12:30pm and 1:30pm.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
This match is live on Sky Sports Cricket and therefore a live stream will not be available.
You can also keep up to date using our dedicated matchday blog via this website’s Match Centre and on our X feed.
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Captain: Jack Taylor
Overseas players: Beau Webster (Australia), Cameron Bancroft (Australia), Zafar Gohar (Pakistan)
Finals Day appearances: Three (2003, 2007, 2020)
Titles: None
2023 finish: Seventh (South Group)
2023 leading run-scorer: Ben Charlesworth (299)
2023 leading wicket-taker: Tom Smith (17)
Key winter moves: Aussie seamer Beau Webster has been recruited to boost the bowling attack and will hope to use his 6ft 7ins frame to make scoring difficult against him, while fellow countryman Cameron Bancroft is back for a second spell in the batting ranks and has been playing regularly in the Championship.
The big question: Can Gloucestershire translate their improvement in red ball cricket under new head coach Mark Alleyne this season, winning a first Championship game since 2022 and running up their highest ever first-class score, to the shortest format of the game?
Wildcard watch: David Payne claimed 15 Blast wickets last summer, having not played any red ball cricket leading up to the tournament because of injury. The experienced left-arm seamer has again missed the first half of the Championship season to be fit and fresh for T20 and will be keen to make an impact.
Final thought: Mark Alleyne proved himself a shrewd leader in one-day cricket as captain during Gloucestershire’s glory years of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Now he has the opportunity to influence the side tactically from within the dressing room as a head coach with a shrewd cricketing brain for the shorter formats of the game.
TEAM NEWS
Craig Overton returns for this local derby.
Somerset have named the following squad for the fixture: Lewis Gregory, Will Smeed, Tom Banton, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Abell, Sean Dickson, Ben Green, Craig Overton, Roelof van der Merwe, Josh Davey, Riley Meredith, Jake Ball and Jack Leach.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “Everyone loves a local derby and we’re expecting a good crowd again and hopefully we can put on a good show for the Members and supporters.
“We will be looking to right a couple of wrongs from when we played at Bristol. It’s always a really good game when we play them and they’re an excellent white-ball side.
“The hunger for us to win every game is always there, but obviously it feels good to be able to get one over on your local rivals. They will know all about that following the game a couple of weeks ago. You can’t carry any baggage from previous games. It was a game that we looked like winning until Price took it away from us. That can happen in T20 cricket. We just need to concentrate on what we can control, and if we can do that we’ll be in a good place.”
TRADE NATION STATS
CLASSIC MATCH
We go back to last summer for the classic encounter between the two sides.
It was a thriller at Taunton, which saw Somerset come out on top.
MATCH SPONSOR – GREEN THUMB
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Not content with being the first Lawn Treatment Service in the UK, they continue to pioneer the very best there is in every aspect of Lawn Care, leading the way in the industry.
Their treatment programmes are expertly calculated and applied in person to provide your lawn with the exact nutrients it needs at that time. Over the course of the year, they provide continuous guidance to their customers so that your lawn can reach its true potential as the centrepiece of your garden. Their flexible approach to lawn treatment also results in a bespoke service for every lawn, every time.
COOPER ASSOCIATES KEY PLAYER MATCHUP
THE VERTU MOTORS CROWD CATCH!
In partnership with Vertu Motors, we have launched a new competition for the 2024 Vitality Blast season.
As well as enjoying the spectacular action of this season’s Blast, you can be a part of it with the Vertu Motors Crowd Catch!
If you take a clean catch in the crowd during any of our Home Vitality Blast matches, you will win hospitality for two to our Metro Bank One Day Cup match against Kent Spitfires at the Cooper Associates County Ground on Friday July 26th.
In order to qualify for the prize, the official in-play match ball must be caught by the winner straight from the air without having touched any object or person before being caught by the winner. Evidence of identity, ticket and age may be required.
RAINBOW LACES
Rainbow Laces is an annual event that invites players, officials, fans, employees and volunteers to celebrate inclusion with the UK’s LGBTQ+ community.
Started by the charity Stonewall in 2013, it began with asking players to lace their boots with rainbow-coloured laces to heighten LGBTQ+ awareness, and has since grown into an annual national event across many sports.
We are proud to support Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign. Our game is for everyone, and we want cricket to be a game in which the LGBTQ+ community feel both welcome and able to be themselves. For more information, head to the Raising The Game section of the ECB website.
NEXT MATCH
Our next match is on Friday July 12th when we take on Surrey at the Cooper Associates County Ground in the Vitality Blast.
Tickets for this match are available now:
