It was a hugely positive season for us - head coach Kerr
Going through a competition unbeaten, yet failing to win it left a surreal feeling
JASON Kerr insists the shortened cricket season was “hugely positive” for Somerset, despite yet another narrow failure to lift a trophy.
And the head coach believes the emergence of several hugely promising young players will ensure a strong challenge for a first County Championship title and a one-day trophy next summer.
Losing the Bob Willis Trophy final to Essex at Lord’s on firstinnings totals after the five-day game ended in a draw was an alltoo-familiar tale for Somerset supporters.
It followed five runners-up finishes in the Championship in the space of ten seasons. But, having swallowed the latest disappointment, Kerr has good reason to accentuate the positive.
“We desperately wanted to beat Essex and prove ourselves the best red-ball team in the country,” he said. “Going through a competition unbeaten, yet failing to win it left a surreal feeling.
“After five days of really tough cricket at Lord’s, we fell just short. But the game was drawn and we would have won all our group matches had bad weather not affected the match with Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
“We were arguably the best side in the competition but didn’t get the result we deserved at the end.
What’s certain is that the two best red-ball teams contested the final and the Essex side was much more experienced.
“We are improving by the year. Our immensely talented young players are now further forward in their learning curves and that bodes very well for next season.”
Somerset were without the injured James Hildreth and Tom Banton, away playing in the Indian Premier League, for the Bob Willis final. But centuries from Eddie Byrom in the first innings and Tom Lammonby in the second underlined their potential among a crop of developing batsmen, who have emerged from the academy ranks.
Ben Green made scores of 24 and 41 opening with Lammonby in the final, while an otherwise largely disappointing Vitality Blast campaign saw 18-year-old Will Smeed smash 82 against Gloucestershire at Taunton in only his second appearance.
Nineteen-year-old Lewis Goldsworthy made an unbeaten 38 in the Blast group match against Glamorgan at Cardiff and claimed five wickets in three games with his left
arm spin at an economy rate of 7.81.
Kerr expects all the young guns to be challenging more strongly for selection next summer. And, despite Jamie Overton and Dom Bess leaving the club, he is confident the bowling attack will be a match for any in the country.
He said: “While I am gutted to lose Jamie and Dom after investing so much time in their development, I understand their reasons for leaving and I believe we will still boast the strongest attack in the country.
“Craig Overton, Josh Davey, Jack Brooks and Lewis Gregory are a
formidable seam bowling unit and we have some good young seamers like Ollie Sale coming through.
“It has been a tough year for Jack Leach with illness and injury. But we all know his quality as a spinner and it was good to see him pick up a couple of wickets against Essex.
“They will have done wonders for his confidence. Above all, he now needs to be playing regularly again and hopefully that will happen with us next season.”
Kerr does not foresee the need for much winter recruitment, although one area of concern is cover for wicketkeeper Steve Davies.
“We may look at that or use the loan market if it became necessary,” he said.
“Steve seems to be getting better with age, but we could do with cover as Tom Banton has a lot of outside commitments these days and our promising academy keepers are not quite ready yet.
“Overall, I am incredibly excited about the future.
“Our T20 results and some of the performances were disappointing this season, but I got the balance of the team wrong at times and the emergence of the likes of Smeed and Goldsworthy were huge positives.”