Disappointing finish could spur side on for Finals Day
CRAIG Overton believes the dramatic collapse of Somerset’s County Championship challenge can spur them to Vitality Blast glory at Edgbaston on Saturday.
The team have come under fire for a shock end to their bid for a first ever Championship title, three heavy defeats in succession at the end of a previously promising campaign.
But Overton, expected to return to spearhead the bowling attack after England duty and a rib injury, insists that will only double determination to end the summer with a trophy.
Somerset face Hampshire in the first match of T20 Finals Day, knowing that victory would mean a shoot-out with either Sussex or Kent in the attempt to win the competition for the first time since 2005.
Overton told me: “It has been a tricky period for the players and our fans, but I honestly believe it can be the making of us on Saturday and we will emerge bigger and stronger for it.
“There will be fresh faces in the side and those who have been playing in the recent Championship games will have learned more from the defeats than if everything had gone our way.
“The collective determination to end the season on a high is greater than ever after the disappointments in red ball cricket and I really fancy our chances.”
Craig also bases his optimism around the fact that Somerset’s team at Edgbaston will show major changes from the one which suffered a ten-wicket hammering by Lancashire in the Championship this week.
Apart from his own return, Lewis Gregory will be back as T20 captain, even though a back condition will prevent him bowling, while Tom Banton is expected to keep wicket and exciting teenager Will Smeed will boost the batting lineup.
Jack Leach is also in the squad and Overton foresees the right blend of youth and experience to continue some impressive T20 results this summer.
Somerset won eight of their last ten Blast group matches before beating Lancashire at Taunton in the quarter-finals, a statistic that bodes well for Saturday.
“We improved as a team over the course of those games and, although there has been a break before Finals Day, we go to Edgbaston with momentum in T20 cricket,” said Overton.
“That is more important than in any other competition and gives us confidence that we have what it takes to go all the way this year.”
Craig has been sorely missed during his spell away with England, a stint that included taking six wickets in the Headingley Test against India.
He has the best economy rate of any Somerset bowler in this season’s Blast, along with 12 wickets, and puts it down to some hard graft in the nets.
“I worked a lot on my T20 bowling last winter, trying to ensure that I do what I am good at, which is attack the top of the stumps and make it hard to be hit back over my head,” he said.
“In past seasons, I was guilty of bowling a bit too short and allowed batters to sit back and swing. This summer I have been bringing them forward more and, with my height, still preventing them striking the ball down the ground.
“I have also worked on a few slower balls, with the seam still upright, so they are more difficult to detect. That variation has helped me a lot.
“As a team, we have been taking wickets regularly in the six-over powerplay at the start of games and Marchant de Lange has bowled very well at the death.
“If it is a spinning wicket at Edgbaston, which you sometimes get, we have Roelof van der Merwe, Max Waller, Lewis Goldsworthy and Jack Leach in our squad to exploit it. I would back them against the spinners at any other county.”
One of few positives from the Lancashire defeat was the return to form of Tom Lammonby, whose brilliant second innings century on Monday delayed the inevitable and provided a timely boost.
Like Smeed, Somerset’s leading T20 run-maker this summer, and England T20 international Banton, Lammonby is capable of taking apart any bowling attack in the shortest format of the game.
With the more experienced James Hildreth and Tom Abell also proven quick scorers, Overton does not foresee the batting problems in red ball cricket being a problem.
“I think we will be a completely different side,” he said.
“It will be tough because Sussex, in particular, have two great death bowlers in Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan, while Kent are a side we have struggled to beat over the years until recently.
“Hampshire are more of an unknown quantity.
“They sneaked through the group and pretty much did the same with a narrow quarter-final win, so they may feel destined to win the competition.
“We beat them in a close group game at Taunton and then lost heavily with a depleted team at Southampton.
“It’s nice that all four finalists are from the South Group. The teams are closely matched, I believe we have the qualities to come out on top.
“It will be similar to an international stage in terms of crowd and atmosphere, which will be new to some of our lads, but I am sure they will embrace it.”
For Craig himself, there is the chance to shine on a big occasion and boost his next international ambition, to be in England’s squad for this winter’s Ashes Series in Australia.
“It was nice to play in a couple of Tests against India,” he said. “After doing well at Headingley, I didn’t quite have my rhythm at The Oval, but overall I was happy with how things went.
“Sometimes you can try too hard. I am still getting used to the England environment and feel I have a lot to prove.
“I made my Test debut in Australia and then got injured when I was bowling really well, so hopefully I can get to go there again.”