Ground: The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
Captain: Lewis Gregory (CC/T20), TBC (ODC)
2023 results: CC1: 7/10; ODC: 7/9 Group B; T20: Winners
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Somerset delivered on their white-ball pedigree last summer by winning the Blast for the first time in nearly two decades – and in some style too, winning 15 of 17 games. A measure of Taunton’s T20 talents was losing a whole XI to The Hundred (no wonder there were back-to-back double-centuries made against them in the One-Day Cup). Will Smeed, Tom Banton, captain Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton… the list goes on. And what of Matt Henry and Ben Green, 31 and 30 wickets respectively, behind only Alfonso Thomas’s 33 in 2010? With Tom Abell stepping down following seven years as skipper, Gregory will now lead the red-ball side as well, where the picture looks somewhat different after finishing seventh in Division One two years running. The batting is still taking shape following some key departures, although Tom Kohler-Cadmore and 20-year-old batter/keeper James Rew have been a revelation. Of more concern is the brittle bowling attack – no bowler managed 10 red-ball games last season. Curious, then, that Somerset have brought in two injury-prone quicks in Jake Ball – six first-class matches since 2020 – and Aussie allrounder Will Sutherland, signed until mid-July.
THE VIEW FROM THE COMMENTARY BOX DOUG GIBSON
For Somerset not only to win the Blast for the first time since 2005, but to win 15 out of 17 games – a record - was a great achievement. Conversely, the performance in the County Championship was disappointingly inconsistent, especially from the batting unit. Given the depredations of the Hundred, three wins in the One Day Cup was a creditable return. I would expect Somerset to contend strongly again in the Blast in 2024. For the County Championship, the squad doesn’t look quite so well equipped as some in recent
