Somerset and Gloucestershire have major decisions to make this winter
THE 2021 county cricket season draws to a close next week with both West Country clubs facing huge decisions, certain to have a major impact on prospects for the future.
In Gloucestershire’s case, those decisions are more obvious, with the imminent appointment of a new performance director, head coach and captain.
But Somerset, too, have to come up with a winter strategy which will solve the top-order batting problem, which wrecked this season’s County Championship title bid and also scuppered hopes of lifting the Vitality Blast trophy at Edgbaston last Saturday.
James Hildreth, Tom Banton and George Bartlett were left out of the final Championship fixture against Warwickshire this week, averaging 22.8, 18.84 and 24.86, respectively, in red-ball cricket this summer.
Of the top five batsmen selected at Edgbaston, only skipper Tom Abell went into the game averaging more than 30. Opener Tom Lammonby’s average was 17.88 in 20 innings, while Lewis Goldsworthy’s figures were 21.08 in 13 innings.
No county can hope to win the Championship with those statistics. While Somerset did incredibly well to reach Division One for the final phase of the competition – after starting the season with an eight-point penalty - it was often their lower order, who dug them out of holes in the early games.
It has to be a worry for director of cricket Andy Hurry and head coach Jason Kerr that their team went into the Warwickshire match, having failed to win any of their last eight Championship games, five successive draws being followed by three heavy defeats.
The fact is that players like Lammonby, Banton, Goldsworthy and Ben Green, all fantastic prospects in white-ball cricket, have not yet been able to deliver the longer and more disciplined innings necessary to be successful in the four-day game.
Will Smeed, another brilliant T20 strokemaker is yet to be tested in the Championship. With Hildreth, a true Somerset great, scoring only 456 runs in the competition this summer and now aged 37, efforts surely must be made to bolster the batting with a quality overseas signing.
Easier said than done. I would love to see Devon Conway back in a Somerset shirt next season and the New Zealand Test player indicated he would like to come back after playing in two Championship games this season. But the Kiwis visit England next summer, so the best Somerset could probably hope for is to sign him for matches either side of the tour.
That may still be the best option. With so many international fixtures and tournaments throughout the year, it is almost impossible to recruit a top quality overseas player for our entire domestic season.
I would also like to see Somerset sign another seam bowler, maybe from within county cricket, to cover for the eventuality of Craig Overton spending much of time with England.
It wasn’t just the batting that caused the team difficulties in the later part of this season. Losing Overton to international cricket and Lewis Gregory to the latest in a series of back problems, hugely weakened their bowling attack.
Gregory has shown immense fortitude to bounce back from previous major injury setbacks. But there is no guarantee that he will be the same force with the ball, even if the current one is sorted.
Josh Davey has made himself into a very effective seamer. But Marchant de Lange was left out of the Warwickshire game, having taken 20 wickets in ten matches at an average of 34.25, while Jack Brooks’ three first-innings wickets at Edgbaston took his tally for the season to 11 at 38.09.
Again, Somerset have talented youngsters champing at the bit for a chance with the red ball.
But it would be asking a lot of Green, Sonny Baker, Kasey Aldridge or Ned Leonard to take Championship wickets regularly next summer, for all their impressive efforts in the Royal London Cup.
So, plenty to ponder for Hurry and Kerr as they look to build from yet another runners-up finish, this time in the Blast, and continue their excellent work of recent seasons.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE also have to find a way of improving on a summer, which promised much under interim coach Ian Harvey before a disappointing sequence of results in mid-July ended hopes of success in the Championship and Vitality Blast.
Chris Dent’s decision last week to stand down as red-ball captain has added to the air of transition at the club and means the three top positions on the playing side for next season have to be filled.
Together with Harvey and coach Mark Alleyne, Dent had ensured a continuation of the progress achieved under Richard Dawson, who left to join the ECB’s elite pathway coaching staff in March.
James Bracey led Gloucestershire in their final Championship match against Durham this week and would appear a strong candidate to replace Dent if the club decide to appoint a new skipper from within.
Whether Harvey and Alleyne will be part of the new coaching structure remains to be seen. Both clearly have a lot to offer in terms of experience and having Gloucestershire cricket at heart.
In a recent column, I referred to Alleyne telling me that to be genuine challengers for a first ever Championship title, the club would have to enlist a wicket-taking spinner.
It may be that they have found the man in Zafar Gohar, the 26-year-old Pakistan left-armer, who following a short settling-in period at the Bristol County Ground, has shown his pedigree with 6-43 against Glamorgan and 5-50 against Durham.
Whatever happens, Dent can reflect with immense satisfaction on his period as captain, which has helped give the next regime a great starting point.
The highlight was leading Gloucestershire to promotion in the Championship in 2019 when Chris also led the way with the bat, scoring 1,087 runs.
Since then his own form has dipped, which may be one reason for stepping down. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if his old sparkle returned when freed of captaincy responsibilities.
As this is my last column of the season, I would like to wish Somerset and Gloucestershire fans a happy and healthy winter. Here’s to success for both clubs in 2022.