Match Preview: Somerset v Hampshire Men, Rothesay County Championship

Somerset v Hampshire Men

Rothesay County Championship

Monday 15^th – Thursday 18^th September (10:30am start)

Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton

Hampshire Men travel from Edgabston to Taunton as they take on Somerset, for the second time in three days, in the Rothesay County Championship.

Ben Brown’s side came away with a draw in their last match at Hove, where 31 wickets fell on the opening two days.

The Rose and Crown claimed three fourth innings wickets on a turning pitch, but rain quashed any chances of a positive result for Hampshire.

The team took 11 points from the fixture, but have been docked eight points by the Cricket Discipline Panel for preparing a ‘sub-standard’ pitch for the Championship match against Sussex at Utilita Bowl in May.

Hampshire currently sit one place above the drop zone, ahead of Durham by eight points.

Somerset meanwhile sit in third place with an outside chance of winning the title.

They played out a draw in their last match at Taunton where a Tom Abell century gave them three batting points before they had Yorkshire nine down to claim another three points and take 14 from the game.

For Hampshire, it will be a chance to enact revenge from the men’s Vitality Blast Final at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Hampshire

Hampshire have named a 14-player squad for their County Championship match against the Wyverns at Taunton.

Indian all-rounder Washington Sundar comes straight into the squad and is set to play his first County Championship game since 2022.

Left arm spinner Andrew Neal is left out, whilst Bjorn Fortuin returns to South Africa after today’s IT20 against England was washed out.

Full Hampshire squad

Somerset

Captain: Lewis Gregory

Head Coach: Jason Kerr

2024 finish: Third

2025 highest run-scorer: James Rew (930)

2025 highest wicket-taker: Jack Leach (41)

Key winter moves: New Zealand seamer Matt Henry is expected to rejoin the club for seven Championship games, starting with the second round of matches against Sussex at Hove, subject to recovery from shoulder and knee problems. South African all-rounder Migael Pretorius has been re-signed for the whole of the 2025 season and should be available for all formats, strengthening both the batting and bowling departments.

What we’re looking forward to seeing: How Will Smeed will adapt to Championship cricket. At the age of 23, the scorer of the first-ever century in The Hundred has changed his mind about concentrating solely on white-ball cricket and is ready to add his considerable skills to a Somerset team who have struggled for consistent top-order runs in the four-day format. Smeed may have to be patient in awaiting his chance, but provides a hugely talented new option for a top six batting place.

Final thought: Somerset are employing a Performance Psychologist this season and much could depend on how the players respond mentally to the bitter disappointment of making a sustained challenge for all three domestic trophies last season without winning any of them. The finale of that campaign proved a huge anti-climax, but the team still finished third in the Championship and there is no reason why they should not be up there fighting for a first ever title again.

Head-to-Head

Hampshire Men’s record in County Championship matches v Somerset:

Last five meetings:

• April 18-21 2025 | Utilita Bowl | Match Drawn
• September 26-29 2024 | Taunton | Hampshire won by five wickets
• September 3-6 2023 | Utilita Bowl | Hampshire won by 185 runs
• July 10-13 2023 | Taunton | Match drawn
• May 19-22 2022 | Taunton | Hampshire won by ten wickets

Tickets

Tickets for Hampshire Men’s County Championship match against Somerset are available here.

Coverage

A live stream will be available for the match and a link to this stream will be available in the at www.utilitabowl.com/cricket, along with a live match centre with the scorecard, statistics and insight available throughout the match.

Weather Forecast

Please follow the link to view the latest weather forecast for Taunton: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2636177.