Leach and Overton named by England
SOMERSET will look to gain ground on the teams above them when they open their County Championship clash with Hampshire at the County Ground this morning.
The Cidermen seem to have turned a corner after a run of seven successive defeats, stretching back to last season, with comprehensive back-to-back victories over Warwickshire (innings and 82 runs) and then archi-rivals Gloucestershire (innings and 246 runs.
Today, they welcome third-placed Hampshire to the County Ground looking to make it three in a row and close the gap on the early season front runners Surrey, Lancashire and Hampshire.
Ahead if the game, head coach, Jason Kerr said: “Confidence is currently incredibly high within the group off the back of two really good performances.
“We didn’t acquit ourselves as we would have liked at Hampshire at the start of the season. Our preparation was good but we went into that first game with a few challenges and setbacks and we didn’t perform to the standard that we have done over the last few years.
“Hampshire were the better side at the Ageas and we will be looking to rectify a few of the wrongs from there.
“I trust in our processes alongside the hard work and foundations that we’ve built over the last few seasons. We set high standards here and I enjoy the fact that we are expected to win every game. That’s a testament to the hard work that the guys have put in over the last few years.
“Hampshire have got a squad with world class players and a lot of international experience, but so have we. It will come down to who plays the best cricket over the four days.”
Somerset will be able to call on Jack Leach and Craig Overton after they were both named in the England squad to face New Zealand from the start of June. They are still without Sonny Baker, though, who has a back injury.
Somerset (from): Tom Abell (c), Tom Banton, Jack Brooks, Josh Davey, Steve Davies, Lewis Goldsworthy, Lewis Gregory, James Hildreth, Tom Lammonby, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, Matt Renshaw and Peter Siddle
Meanwhile, Uncapped duo Harry Brook and Matthew Potts have been called up for the first Test of England’s new era, but Matt Parkinson must again wait for his chance.
The pair of 23-year-olds have been named in a 13-man squad for next month’s Lord’s clash against New Zealand after director of men’s cricket Rob Key convened a selection panel alongside recently appointed captain Ben Stokes and incoming head coach Brendon McCullum.
Despite the overhaul in leadership it is a largely familiar group, featuring 10 players who travelled to the West Indies in March plus the returning duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who boast a combined 321 caps.
Lancashire leg-spinner Parkinson has been the leading slow bowler in the country this season, taking 23 Division One wickets in four games on batting-friendly pitches, but his hopes of graduating from the fringes to the first XI have been dashed with Jack Leach favoured.
But the efforts of two rising stars of the domestic scene have been recognised.
Yorkshire batter Brook, who made his Twenty20 debut in January, has been rewarded for a prolific start to the LV= Insurance County Championship season during which he has raced to the top of the Division One run-scoring charts with three centuries and an average of 151.60.
Potts plies his trade with Durham in the second tier, but with a raft of injuries in the fast-bowling ranks his 35 wickets at 18.57 represented an irresistible case.
England are missing the likes of Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Fisher.