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Vitality Blast Preview: Essex v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset take on Essex in the Vitality Blast tomorrow at the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford.
Play is due to get underway at 7pm.
Somerset are currently top in the South Group with 14 points from nine matches, whilst the hosts are third in the table with 14 points from nine matches also.
Tickets for this match are still available
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date with a live blog via our dedicated Match Centre and also on our Twitter feed. A live stream will be available on the Match Centre, courtesy of Essex CCC.
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Essex Eagles
Captain: Simon Harmer
Overseas players: Simon Harmer (South Africa), Daniel Sams (Australia)
Finals day appearances: 5
Titles: 1 (2019)
2022 finish: Quarter-finals
2022 leading run-scorer: Michael Pepper (439)
2022 leading wicket-taker: Simon Harmer (17)
Key winter moves: It is 2022 all over again as far as Essex are concerned. They were sufficiently impressed with the Australian T20 specialist Daniel Sams (a strike-rate of 171.87 with the bat last season alongside 15 wickets) that they have asked him to return.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset will be without Sonny Baker (back), Peter Siddle (hand) and Lewis Goldsworthy (rib). Craig Overton is rested.
The starting XI will be selected from the following squad: Lewis Gregory*, Will Smeed, Tom Banton, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Abell, Sean Dickson, Ben Green, Roelof van der Merwe, Matt Henry, Josh Davey, Jack Brooks, Tom Lammonby, Shoaib Bashir.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the game, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “It’s a gutting feeling whenever you lose a game of cricket and we’ve got the opportunity to bounce back at Essex.
“We’ll assess the squad and there’s a good chance that we will rotate some of the bowlers. We’ve got three Blast games this week and a Championship game at the weekend, so we need to be as smart as we can with that from a selection perspective.”
CLASSIC MATCH
For today’s classic clash between the Somerset and Essex we go back to 2016.
It was a match that Somerset won comfortably courtesy of another rapid knock from the returning Chris Gayle.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
You can find out everything that you need to know about attending the game via the Official Essex Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset’s next match is on Wednesday (June 21st) when we take on Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in the Vitality Blast.
Tickets for this match are still available.
