Somerset to start new campaign at Lord’s
SOMERSET will head to the home of cricket for their opening County Championship match of the 2021 season following the release of the new season’s fixture list.
The opening group stage fixture begins on Thursday, April 8 and sees the return to Lord’s where they take on Middlesex.
Lords was where Somerset’s 2020 season ended in disappointment as they lost to Essex in the final of the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy.
Somerset’s opening home fixture will see local rivals Gloucestershire travel the short distance to the Cooper Associates County Ground on Thursday, April 15.
Following the group stage, the four division stage matches will be played between August 30 and September 24. The final between the top two teams in Division One will be held at Lord’s between September 27 and October 1.
Meanwhile, Jack Brooks has revealed he is on the comeback trail after picking up an injury in that final defeat to Essex at Lord’s.
Brooks hurt his thumb which forced him to undergo surgery and after further surgery on his Achilles, he is resting up for Christmas following the procedures.
“I had a couple of surgeries at the end of the season that I needed to get done,” he said. “During the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s I dived for a ball and jammed my thumb into the ground. I then rolled over on it and heard a bit of a crack. My thumb swelled up, but I knew I hadn’t broken it because I could still move it. It was really sore, and I couldn’t grip the ball properly and bowled a spell where I just couldn’t hold the ball how I wanted.
“It felt like I was bowling an orange at about 20 miles per hour at one point. It turns out that I’d torn the ligaments off the joint, so that obviously required an operation and put me in a hand cast for about six weeks. Thankfully, that’s now just come off and I can use my hand again.
“The thumb looks a bit shrivelled but I’m getting some strength work in on that now and it’ll be fine by the New Year.
“Alongside that I’ve had operations on some long-standing achilles problems which I’ve managed for most of my career. They’ve never stopped me playing but they’ve gradually got a bit worse.
“It means that I’ve been off my feet for quite a few weeks now which limits what I can do. It’s not much fun being down to one working limb, especially as that’s my left hand which I never use for anything.”
Brooks added: “I can’t really get around physically at the moment, which is frustrating, so I’m just trying to fill my time with various different things with an eye on the future.
“I’ve been doing a bit of networking and putting some feelers out regarding work experience and work options that I can look at after or alongside my career. I’ve been using my time wisely and I think that this year has taught me that we need to be aware of what options are out there if cricket goes pear-shaped.
“Although I’m at the back end of my career, I’m certainly not winding down and I hope that I can play for a few more years yet. I just think that it’s important to get something in place for the post-career period sooner rather than later.”
Middlesex (A) April 8, Gloucestershire (H), April 15, Leicestershire (A) April 22, Middlesex (H) April 29, Hampshire (A) May 6, Surrey (H) May 13, Gloucestershire (A) May 20, Hampshire (H), June 3, Leicestershire (H) July 4, Surrey (A) July 11.