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County Championship Preview: Somerset v Nottinghamshire
THE MATCH
Somerset welcome Nottinghamshire to the Cooper Associates County Ground this week in Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Sunday May 25th).
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 11am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 1:40pm to 3:40pm
Evening session: 4pm to 6pm
Tickets for this match are still available.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Gates will open at 10am.
Bag searches will be in operation and spectators are reminded that no glass or sharp implements will be permitted within the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Ticket buyers can print and download their online tickets via their SCCC account.
All ticket or Membership collections will be from the Jack White Gates (St James Street).
The Club Enquiries Desk will be based in the Reception of the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion and not in the Andrew Caddick Pavilion on matchdays.
Due to the busy nature of a matchday, our telephone lines will closed for the duration of the game and will reopen at 10am on Thursday June 29th.
Information on everything that you will need for a matchday at SCCC, including how to redeem your guest passes, how to download your e-tickets and how to use the SCCC Ticket App can all be found in our Visiting Guide.
Scorecards will be available from the SCS Shop and Reception in the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion.
On day three, only Block 5 of the Somerset Stand will be open to the public. The Somerset Stand will be closed on day four.
CATERING
Matchday food and drink will be available from Stragglers Coffee House, the Lord Botham Stand and from Salt & Malt.
Matchday dining is also available in the County Room. We offer breakfast, a carvery lunch and afternoon tea.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
Our live stream will once again be available for fans to watch via this website and at our YouTube channel.
You can also keep up to date using our dedicated matchday blog via this website’s Match Centre and on our Twitter feed.
In association with Vertu Motors, Somerset County Cricket Club will be providing radio ear pieces to enable Members and supporters to enjoy our live ball-by-ball match commentary. These will be available to purchase from Reception in the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion at a cost of £12 and these will last all season.
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Nottinghamshire
Captain: Steven Mullaney
Head Coach: Peter Moores
2022 finish: Champions (Division Two)
2022 highest runscorer: Haseeb Hameed (1,235)
2022 highest wicket taker: Dane Paterson (56)
Key winter moves: Nottinghamshire largely keep faith with the players who won the Division Two title to take on the much tougher challenge of being competitive in Division One. They have made one significant addition in England pace bowler Olly Stone, who moves from Warwickshire to replace Aussie quick James Pattinson. South African Dane Paterson returns but one overseas slot remains empty in the red-ball side should reinforcement be required.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset are without Jack Leach, (back), Peter Siddle (hand), Lewis Gregory (hand), Roelof van der Merwe (hand), Lewis Goldsworthy (rib) and Sonny Baker (back).
The starting XI will be named from the following squad: Tom Abell*, Tom Lammonby, Sean Dickson, George Bartlett, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, James Rew, Kasey Aldridge, Craig Overton, Josh Davey, Matt Henry, Shoaib Bashir, Andy Umeed and Ben Green.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “This is an incredibly important game for us and we need to get our mindset right. The physical demands are a huge challenge because we’ve got guys playing across both formats and there was a huge amount of physical and mental intensity last night against Gloucestershire. We’ll train today and we’ll be ready for Notts on Sunday.”
CLASSIC MATCH
The County Championship match between the two sides at Trent Bridge back in 2004 was a memorable one for several of the Somerset squad.
It was also a game that Somerset won convincingly by 10 wickets.
Notts skipper, Jason Gallian won the toss and elected to bat. He was soon to regret that decision as his side slipped to 122 for four. However, a century for Mark Ealham helped to ensure that the hosts posted a respectable total of 337 all out.
Richard Johnson was the pick of the Somerset attack, claiming five for 69 from his 25 overs.
The visitors suffered an early setback when Peter Bowler fell with just two runs on the board. However, the Somerset batters then decimated the home attack as Jamie Cox (250), Matthew Wood (113) and James Hildreth (108) put their side in a commanding position. Somerset eventually declared on 654 for eight.
In the Notts second inning, Darren Bicknell made 142, whilst Gallian added 55 but Ian Blackwell tore the heart out of the home line up. He claimed an excellent seven for 90 as Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 317.
Bowler then secured the one run that Somerset needed to complete an impressive victory.
MATCH SPONSOR – Vertu Motors
Vertu Motors group recently expanded its presence in the South West of England with the acquisition of 28 sales outlets from Helston Garages Group. The Vertu Motors retail brand holds a variety of partnerships across sport, including Sunderland Association Football Club, Middlesbrough Football Club, Burnley Football Club, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, as well as the Newcastle Eagles basketball team, and naming rights for the Eagles’ Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle.
Vertu Motors operates a number of dealerships in the South West including:
- Volvo Taunton
- Vertu Land Rover Taunton
- Vertu Jaguar Taunton
- BMW Bridgwater
- MINI Bridgwater
You can make your business grow by aligning yourself with Somerset County Cricket Club!
We are the UK’s best followed county and the South West’s most followed professional sports club on social media!
There are a wide range of opportunities available which are designed to meet any business need or budget, so harness the power of sport sponsorship now!
BARNABY WEBBER
The thoughts of everyone associated with Somerset County Cricket Club and Somerset Cricket Foundation are with the family, friends and clubmates of Barnaby Webber at this difficult time.
19-year-old Barnaby lost his life following the tragic events in Nottingham recently.
As a mark of respect, the flag at the Cooper Associates County Ground will fly at half-mast during this match and both sets of players will wear black armbands.
We would ask that all Members and spectators join the players in observing a minute’s applause before the match begins.
INCLUSION MATCH
This match has been designated as our annual Inclusion match.
During the interval on the first three days of this fixture there will be on field demonstrations from Super 1s cricketers, Somerset Disabled CC, Somerset’s Visually Impaired team, Somerset’s walking cricketers, the Community Disability Project and street cricketers.
THE BIG SOMERSET CRICKET BASH
A special sponsored 10K walk which is raising funds for St Margaret’s Hospice will conclude at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Those taking part in the event, which is sponsored by Rotec, will join us for the match free of charge.
St Margaret’s Hospice will also be on site on Sunday raising funds for the charity.
MEMBER FORUM
In order to keep Somerset Members up to date with everything that is happening at the Cooper Associates County Ground, we will once again be holding a number of Member Forums throughout the season.
The next of these will take place 20 minutes after the close of play on day two of this fixture (Monday June 26th).
SCCC CEO Gordon Hollins and Director of Cricket Andy Hurry will be the speakers at this event.
WPA PREDICTIONS LEAGUE
So, you think you know your cricket do you? Here’s your chance to prove it!
Powered by WPA Health Insurance, the new game allows you to score points on every Somerset matchday.
Collect points throughout the year for correct predictions and make your way up the leaderboard to prove that you are the font of all cricketing knowledge!
The top Scorers for each competition will receive a prize.
Watch. Predict. Win!
NEXT MATCH
Somerset’s next match is on Friday June 30th when we take on Surrey in the Vitality Blast at the Kia Oval.
Tickets for this match are still available.
