County Championship 2021 – Somerset start on the back foot in bid for elusive glory

When Somerset’s two captains and their brightest young talent flew to Pakistan in February, their ambitions for the PSL season were clear: to rub shoulders with some of the world’s top players, to experience high-pressure situations in a major competition, and to earn a few rupees while they were at it.

Things did not go to plan. Lewis Gregory won the match award in his first game but then suffered a minor injury; Tom Banton was unceremoniously dropped by Quetta Gladiators after two single-digit scores; and Tom Abell couldn’t force his way into a strong Lahore Qalandars’ line-up. And then, as the tournament’s biosecure bubble burst, all three tested positive for Covid-19.

“I guess we are all pretty fortunate,” Abell, the club’s red-ball captain, reflected at Somerset’s pre-season media day. “Lewis had a bit of a fever, but very mild, and I didn’t suffer any symptoms. We were all aware of the risks of going abroad and playing in these competitions but it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“We had 10 days [of self-isolation] in the hotel in Pakistan – which wasn’t ideal – then tested negative, and then had another 10 days back at home. It’s obviously a big relief to get back into pre-season here. There will certainly be no excuses – it’s just a question of getting the miles in our legs, but we’ll all have had plenty of preparation leading up to that first game.”

It is just as well that they have recovered: if any side in the country can afford to start slowly in the County Championship, it is not Somerset. The pitch prepared for their title decider against Essex in 2019 earned them a points deduction, which has rolled over to the start of this season and been adjusted to fit the rejigged structure – heading into their game against Middlesex at Lord’s next week, their points tally stands at minus eight.

Not that the deduction has dampened the enthusiasm around the club ahead of the new season. “We’re a very driven group of players,” Abell said. “We want to achieve, and we want to win. We feel like we’ve been very competitive over the last couple of years but we’re certainly not content with that. The energy around the club is as good as I’ve experienced and the competition within the squad is extreme.”

In fact, that competition for places has been sufficiently fierce that three players have left the club in the last 12 months in search of more first-team opportunities: Dom Bess moved to Yorkshire, Jamie Overton to Surrey, and Nathan Gilchrist, a highly-rated young seamer, joined Kent. Marchant de Lange, signed as an overseas player for the full season, is a like-for-like Overton replacement, but the club will promote youngsters to plug any other gaps.

“We want to ensure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to retain our players and keep them at the club,” Andy Hurry, the director of cricket, said. “I think we do become victims of our own success: it is a challenge for us because we’ve got significant competition for places. We’re competing for silverware and it’s important that we’re selecting sides that give us the best possible chance of winning games. As a consequence, we can’t always keep everybody happy.”

As for other recruits, Babar Azam looks unlikely to return given the overlap between the T20 Blast and the window for the rescheduled PSL, but Hurry said that the club will “continue to explore” the possibility of bringing someone in for the competition.