Somerset not treating cup defence as Second XI event
SOMERSET and Gloucestershire supporters will have the chance to assess an abundance of young talent when the clubs start their Royal London Cup campaigns on Sunday.
Both begin with home games in the 50-over format, Somerset playing hosts to Derbyshire (2pm start), while Gloucestershire take on Lancashire at the Bristol County Ground (11am).
This season’s competition clashes with The Hundred, for which many of the best one-day players around the counties have signed up with the various franchises. Somerset will be without Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Max Waller, Tom Banton, Tom Lammonby, Tom Abell, Roelof van der Merwe, Marchant de Lange and Will Smeed, while Gloucestershire must find cover for David Payne, Ryan Higgins, Ian Cockbain, Miles Hammond and Benny Howell.
With other counties similarly hit, it has been suggested that the Royal London Cup will be little more than a second XI competition.
But Somerset head coach Jason Kerr, who himself will be transferring to The Hundred with Welsh Fire, and his Gloucestershire counterpart Ian Harvey are certainly not viewing it that way.
Kerr told me: “We are defending the Royal London Cup, having won it when it was last played in 2019, and will treat the competition as seriously as any other year.
“I certainly don’t regard it as a second XI tournament. We will have a lot of experienced players involved in the likes of Jack Brooks, James Hildreth, Steve Davies and Josh Davey if he is fit.
“They will form the nucleus of the side. And because we are without players of the calibre of Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory, it creates opportunities for our talented youngsters.”
Harvey agrees. “We are looking forward to giving some of our younger guys a go,” he said. “A few have already earned opportunities in the other competitions and have performed well.
“The mix of senior and junior players will give us a chance to assess the future of the club. A lot of people are putting down the Royal London Cup, but I can assure you the lads representing Gloucestershire won’t be thinking that way.”
With Kerr taking on a coaching role at Welsh Fire, Somerset’s 50-over campaign will be plotted and led by assistant coach Paul Tweddle.
Ben Green has been handed the captaincy of a squad likely to include promising wicketkeeperbatsman James Rew and teenaged pace bowling prospect Sonny
Baker.
Kerr said: “Paul Tweddle will have responsibility for picking the side, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see some fresh faces.
“We are a club that likes to produce our own players and it will be incredibly exciting to see how some of the young ones get on.
“James Rew has been outstanding in the second XI and is playing against India in a County Select XI this week, while Sonny Baker has impressed through pre-season and in second team cricket. They are the next in line and deserve their chance.”
Kerr will be keeping a close eye on performances and is confident that Somerset, already through to Division One in the second stage of the Championship and the Vitality Blast quarter-finals, will again be hugely competitive.
“I am leaving my baby behind in the hands of a more than capable coach in Paul Tweddle,” he said
“Paul will offer a different pair of eyes and I am sure will rise to the challenge of bearing the responsibility that comes with leading a side.
“He will do things his own way. We are delighted to offer him the chance and for the club it might aid a succession plan for moving forward.
“Ben Green has demonstrated his leadership qualities in the second XI. He is a calm head and a clear thinker and he has made significant contributions to our Vitality Blast campaign with bat and ball.
“Like Paul, he is highly respected in the dressing room and we hope that together they can help us make a successful defence of the trophy.”
Harvey expects Gloucestershire to bounce back strongly from the double setback of narrow failure in the group stages of the Championship and Blast after showing much promise in both.
With last season’s 50-over captain Chris Dent recovering from hand surgery, a relatively small squad will be severely stretched.
But Harvey insisted: There are still some very good senior players available to us, one of whom will take over the 50-over captaincy from Chris.
“We have no choice but to rely on a lot of younger players, but that doesn’t bother me unduly.
“We have seen Ollie and Tom Price come in and do a good job at Cheltenham, while Dom Goodman has also impressed when given the chance.”
Harvey also discounts any suggestion that Gloucestershire might suffer a hangover from the other competitions.
“We have had a disappointing week in the Championship and Vitality Blast, but this is a new competition, with the chance of silverware, and no one should need lifting for it,” he said.
“I see it as a great chance to turn our season around after the recent setbacks and we will be looking to make a good start.”
The groups for the Royal London Cup were drawn randomly. Gloucestershire are in Group A, together with Essex, Worcestershire, Sussex, Middlesex, Kent, Durham and Hampshire.
Somerset are in Group B, taking on Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Yorkshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire.
The winners of both groups will progress directly to the semi-finals, with the second and third placed clubs contesting quarter-finals in a bid to join them. The final is at Trent Bridge on Thursday August 19.
I hope the competition is wellsupported. The 50-over format has long been an important and watchable part of our domestic cricketing calendar. This year it may well prove a platform for future stars such as Lammonby, whose innings of 90 off 36 balls against Gloucestershire at Taunton last Sunday evening ranked among the best T20 knocks I have ever seen.
Tom only announced himself as a Somerset first team player last summer, having been given an opportunity in the previous season’s Vitality Blast.
Perhaps the coming weeks will provide a similar launchpad from second XI cricket for a player destined to make a mark at one of our counties.