MATCH PREVIEW: Somerset v Lancashire
Lancashire head to Taunton, on the back of two draws which have both provided encouragement in different ways, searching for the first win of 2023.
Somerset v Lancashire
LV= Insurance County Championship, Division One
Thursday April 20 - Sunday April 23, 2023 (11am)
The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
They face a Somerset side smarting from a heavy defeat to newly promoted Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge last week, losing by 165 runs. The Taunton side had followed an opening round home draw against Warwickshire.
Lancashire’s draws have come at home to Surrey when they showed impressive second-innings resistance with the bat, led by a century for Josh Bohannon.
Last week, against Essex at Chelmsford, the Red Rose had much the better of a rain-affected draw. The hosts held on having been set a 340 target in the final two sessions.
While experienced heads Jimmy Anderson and captain Keaton Jennings impressed with ball and bat, fledgling wicketkeeper batter George Bell stood out with a pair of middle order half-centuries.
Saqib Mahmood could come back into contention for his first first-class appearance since this time last April following a stress fracture of his back.
Steven Croft is also set for his 200th first-class appearance for Lancashire, the veteran batting all-rounder having debuted in 2005.
Opponents:
Somerset have struggled with the bat in recent seasons, an indication of which was shown in defeat to Nottinghamshire last week when they failed to pass 200 in either innings.
Set 295 to win on Sunday’s fourth day, they were bowled out for just 129 inside 39 overs. That had followed a first-innings 173 all out.
Coached by Boltonian Jason Kerr and captained by batter Tom Abell, they should have a pair of Australian overseas players in their team this week in batter Cameron Bancroft and veteran seamer Peter Siddle, who wore the Red Rose in 2015.
Siddle has now played county cricket for Notts, Lancashire, Essex and Somerset.
England Test spinner Jack Leach will be key to Somerset’s hopes of victory this week, while the Cidermen also signed batters Sean Dickson from Durham and Tom Kohler-Cadmore from Yorkshire ahead of this summer.
Somerset finished seventh in Division One last season with three wins and six defeats from 14 matches.
Opposing player to watch:
There are significant similarities between the two men who could take the gloves for their respective sides this week.
James Rew of Somerset and Lancashire’s George Bell were team-mates when England reached the final of the Under 19s World Cup in the West Indies early last year, both batting in the middle order.
Ironically, neither man was England’s first choice keeper in that competition, the honour going to Glamorgan’s Alex Horton.
Bell, 20, is making waves in Lancashire’s team, while Rew - a little a year his junior - has also made an impressive start to senior cricket for the West Country county.
The Londoner has played the first two Championship matches of the season ahead of former England limited overs keeper Steve Davies, and while he has not yet stamped his authority on the season you feel it may only be a matter of time before he does.
Rew has not yet played 25 senior matches in his career - this week would be his 25th across the formats - but he has already scored a hundred in the Championship and the One-Day Cup. Both came last season.
Previous meeting:
Lancashire and Somerset only played each other once in 2022, a high-scoring draw at Southport last July. And it was a game which Keaton Jennings won’t forget in a hurry.
Somerset, having elected to bat, posted a commanding 446 in the first innings, thanks largely to Lewis Goldsworthy’s patient 130 in the middle order.
From there, a Red Rose victory was always going to be an uphill battle. But they forced a reasonable chance on the last day thanks to the heroics of captain to be Jennings, who opened the batting and amassed a stunning career best 318 off 426 balls.
He shared 186 for the first wicket with Luke Wells (109) and underpinned a total for 624-9 declared - the declaration coming at the start of day four with a lead of 178.
Left-arm spinner Jack Morley then set about the victory task in hand, taking all five wickets as the visitors were reduced to 155-5 in the 68th over of the day.
However, Goldsworthy was Lancashire’s thorn in the side once more, with an unbeaten 73 seeing Somerset to 213-7 after 94 overs and the safety of a draw.
What they said:
“The guys have gone alright,” is Keaton Jennings’ assessment of Lancashire’s start to the 2023 season.
“It’s a good start. Essex was slightly better than Surrey. We were in a slightly stronger position. We continue to apply ourselves and correct mistakes.
“It’s a long season, 12 games left and a lot of cricket to be played.
Bring on Somerset and see how we go.
“Every game you target to try and win. You look for weaknesses in the opposition and try to exploit those. Every team in this division is strong. We just need to continue playing good cricket and see where it takes us.”
While Jennings is satisfied with Lancashire’s draw-draw beginning to the summer, he is absolutely delighted with the way fledgling wicketkeeper-batter George Bell has started.
The 20-year-old has taken five catches and affected a stumping in the first two matches, scoring 20, 60 and 56 in three innings with the bat. The twin fifties came at Chelmsford last week.
Jennings added: “He’s a lovely, lovely lad - but a tough lad who gets stuck in. It’s awesome to see him enjoying his cricket and playing with a smile on his face. Keep playing that way and have fun.”
How’s Stat!
Keaton Jennings’ 318 against Somerset last season was - and still is - Lancashire’s fourth highest individual score in first-class cricket, behind 424 for Archie MacLaren, 366 for Neil Fairbrother and 322 for Eddie Paynter.
MacLaren’s 424 in 1895 also came against Somerset, at Taunton.
In fact, three of Lancashire’s 10 highest individual innings have come against this week’s opponents, with John Crawley also scoring 281 not out at Southport in 1994.
Should Croft be selected, he would be the first Lancashire player to make 200 first-class appearances for the county since Glen Chapple did versus Durham in 2007.