Blast!! Here we go again!!
By Grockle et al
May 30 2024
Phase 1 of the Championship is over and we move into the first white ball section of the season as we welcome Essex to Taunton on Friday. Our White ball players join the squad along with Riley Meredith the Hobart Hurricanes speed merchant. Will Smeed, TKC and RvdM are back. Are we ready to defend our title? Are we stronger or weaker than 2023?
The Vitality Blast 2023 Champions are in the house!! Lewis Gregory will be hoping the resources he has to choose from will be able to make a more than adequate attempt at keeping the trophy in Taunton. He will not be able to call on Matt Henry, a significant part of the 2023 push. But he will have Riley Meredith (and 'Riley's tend to do well for us) to provide a pace alternative to Craig, Josh and Migael Pretorius (who has been retained for a number of games including the CC1 games in the middle of the T20 phase).
The batting should be at least as good as last year and possibly in better form at the start of the competition than 2023. Will Smeed has had a taste of a couple of seconds games to get his eye in, he hasn't played a great deal over the winter I don't believe so we have to hope he is thirsty to keep up his record of hitting more Blast 6's than anyone else in the competition I believe. Tom Banton has been playing CC cricket for the county and seems to have his eye in already with some impressive performances already in 2024. Tom Kohler-Cadmore has been away at the IPL but has not had much cricket to speak of so may be a little rusty first up, though, the desire to get back into his work should also be there. Tom Abell has only just come back into the game after injury and has yet to show he's up to speed but Tom Lammonby has had a much better beginning to the 2024 season with probably the best set of red ball innings of the whole squad this season.
If we add to this set of 5 Andy Umeed coming off his work as the premier player in the whole Metro5 tournament last season and his solid start to the CC this spring and Sean Dickson who must have a desire to re-establish himself after a poor start to the red ball this spring . We have the batting resources to certainly make our mark again.
Lewis Goldsworthy, the skipper Gregory, Ben Green, Kasey Aldridge, Craig Overton, Josh Davey, Roelof, Pretorius and Meredith are all bowling all rounders who can add to the power with the bat while offering significant penetration with the ball. Jake Ball is also coming into his own as a Somerset bowler and must think he has a chance of appearing in the tournament at some point in time. Pretorius is a late addition, though he may be sidelined for the first game because of a concussion in the 4 day match against Durham. His hard work this year makes him a welcome plus to the squad if he is able to contribute. Shoaib and Jack Leach are also available should we want more specialist spin options.
This is not all as we have the extra resources, should we feel the need to use them, of James Rew (yet to be used as a white ball resource in the first team) andthe very solid George Thomas (and his brother Josh) with the bat plus the fully fit Sonny Baker, Ned Leonard and Alfie Ogborne with the ball.
It is probably at least a year too early for the newly signed Archie Vaughan but there it future potential in him and the younger Rew brother looking forward.
Facing Essex early may be a good or bad thing. Good to get them out of the way if we are fully ready for the tournament. Bad if we go into the first game 'rusty', they won't wiat for us to get up to speed!!
Somerset are fully capable of getting to the Final again this year. If we keep main players fit and hit our straps there is no one in this competition who will look forward to facing us. If we click we are pretty unstoppable with the bat and we have to hope that as a unit we can take more wickets as that unit to cover the gap Mr Henry may leave in the attack. We ought to remember that Ben Green was the leading wicket taker last season and Josh Davey was only semi fit for some of the time.
We can't think it will be easy but it is going to be fun so strap in people! It is probably going to be a bumpy ride.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:06:02:10:43:47 by Grockle.
The t wo sides repeat the procedure at Rockhampton tomorrow, and Somerset 2nds also travel to Newport to play their Glamorgan counterparts on Thursday. The T20 itself also starts on Thursday, but neither Somerset nor Glamorgan play until Friday (at home to Essex and Surrey respectively).
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:05:27:20:13:24 by Grockle.
No sign of this ticket reselling platform yet for sold out T20 games, interesting to see how it works.....
Yesterday evening, the floodlights were switched on until 11pm.
They were being tested, or the Somerset squad were having a practice under lights.
It was too late for me to check when I noticed them switched on.