Somerset's treble bid turns into season of promise without silverware
IT was another year in which Somerset threatened so much, but ultimately delivered nothing to its members. But it most definitely was not for the lack of trying.
The county could not have come much closer to winning a trophy, but they were beaten in the final of the Vitality Blast T20 by old rivals Gloucestershire and in the final of the Metro Bank one-day Cup by Glamorgan at a sodden Trent Bridge.
The quest for that elusive maiden County Championship crown also continues with Somerset taking their title challenge to the penultimate round of fixtures before a fatal loss at Lancashire, who were relegated, and victory for Surrey over Durham meant it was the Londoners that took the honour.
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So near, but yet so far is a phrase coined far too often at the County Ground over the years, but this year underlines once again just how hard it is to turn a good season into a successful one - and to win a trophy in any format of the game.
“The reality is that it is not a great season, it’s a really good season,” Somerset coach Jason Kerr said, reflecting on an eventful summer in Taunton. “A great season is where you achieve things and ultimately win trophies and we haven’t been able to do that.
“I am incredibly proud of the group putting ourselves in a position to do that - and it is one of the aims. With the (lack of) depth of the squad, to do that – and the way in which we have done it – I am incredibly proud.
“We need an opportunity to reflect and think about it, but when you look at the nature of some of the games, and then coming away from (T20) Finals Day and the quick turnaround, going up to Old Trafford, I think day one up there hit us hard emotionally – and we didn’t quite recover from that.”
Few counties will have had a season like Somerset where they were battling for honours oin all formats going into September, and perhaps they were victims of their own success, chasing honours on not just one, but all three different fronts.
“Potentially.” Kerr admits. “It’s incredibly demanding mentally and it’s a hard thing to explain, but you feel it within the group that people are mentally exhausted and that can be weeks ago.
“The intensity of the cricket and what you are trying to achieve, it is not easy to do. It is a challenge that we relish and that will definitely be some of the learning, it’s how you develop that mental robustness to actually ensure that you are mentally in that same space that you were in April and May come the end of the summer.”
However, it is not all doom and gloom at the County Ground. While they may not have registered on the honours board in 2024, certain individuals have had fine campaigns, none more so than Plymouth-born captain Lewis Gregory. The 32-year-old has been outstanding with bat and ball this summer, leading the fight when others have failed, while his captaincy has also been a major positive.
“It’s growth,” Kerr said when looking at the positives from the campaign. “When you look at it as individuals, there is some huge growth, whether it’s (Tom) Banton, (Tom) Lammonby, James Rew had another outstanding season, Lewis Gregory has been immense as a leader and demonstrated that both on and off the field. But collectively as a team, again, we are moving forward.
“I am always talking about the journey and we want to keep putting ourselves in a position. The challenge for us as a group is that the expectation is getting higher each year, so you need to be able to manage that as well.
“There is a huge amount of emotion around the group - and the club – at the moment and a huge amount of disappointment, frustration, excitement. It is important that we process those emotions and make sure we learn from the right experiences.”
Another positive was the emergence of Archie Vaughan. The 18-year-old son of former England captain Michael Vaughan broke into the team this summer, taking his first wicket with his sixth delivery on his County Championship debut. He already has a ten-wicket haul, in that dramatic win over Surrey, finishing with figures of 11-140, and opened the bat for Somerset as well, something mahy have been tasked with and struggled.
“The most pleasing thing for me is his maturity, he looks like he’s been first class cricket for a long time,” Kerr said. “He relishes the challenge of opening the batting, which is incredibly difficult in this country, but he wants to do that, he’s demonstrated that he has the capabilities for that and he’s been outstanding with the ball.”
However, while the emergence of youngsters like Rew, Vaughan, Will Smeed, Lewis Goldsworthy, Shoaib Bashir and Alfie Ogborne to name just a few will always be a part of Somerset’s make-up, perhaps they can make better use of overseas signings. Maybe that could be the difference from a very good season to an outstanding one.
“You need strength in depth,” Kerr said. “There is always a comparative to champions in all formats and I think, from a bowling point of view, we need to try and strengthen that department.
“Coming into the back end of the season, if you have that depth, it allows you to rest, rotate and keep people fresh. To try and have six first class bowlers of quality that are going to influence games would be great, but it might not be possible.”