The 2011 season saw Somerset County Cricket Club competing in three domestic competitions; the first division of the County Championship in which despite being within a shout of winning the Championship with two games to go a lack of consistency cost them and they finished 4th, and reached the finals of both one day domestic competitions the Clydesdale Bank 40 and the Friends Life t20. While in international competitions they failed to make it past the group stage in the Caribbean Twenty20 but impressed in the Champions League Twenty20 reaching the semi-finals.
They were captained for the second season by former England international, Marcus Trescothick, who topped the batting table scoring over 2,500 runs saw him named as both Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) Player of the Year and the PCA's Most Valuable Player of the Year.
Background The 2010 season yet again saw Somerset fall short in all domestic competitions finishing runners-up in each including finishing on equal points with champions Nottinghamshire in the County Championship and losing the Twenty20 competition on losing more wickets than champions Hampshire.
Somerset started the season as many people's favourites for the County Championship title, and many praised the signings of Gemaal Hussain, Steve Kirby, Ajantha Mendis and George Dockrell. Both Hussain and Kirby signed from Gloucestershire to replace the loss of Ben Phillips to Nottinghamshire, Mark Turner to Derbyshire and Zander de Bruyn to Surrey with Michael Munday, Robin Lett and David Stiff were all released. While Mendis was brought in to cover while Murali Kartik and Alfonso Thomas are playing in the IPL both for Pune Warriors India and Kieron Pollard was brought in for the Friends Life t20 again with Roelof van der Merwe in addition for the first half of the competition while Pollard was on international duty with the West Indies. As well as these new players Alex Barrow, Calum Haggett and Craig Meschede were promoted from the club's academy and all featured in the first team as well as other débutants Adam Dibble and Lewis Gregory.
Squad The following players made at least one appearance for Somerset in first-class, List A or Twenty20 cricket in 2011. Age given is at the start of Somerset's first match of the season (14 April 2011). Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Batsmen Alex Barrow Right-handed Right arm medium-fast Nick Compton Right-handed Right arm off break James Hildreth Right-handed Right arm medium-fast Chris Jones Right-handed Right arm medium pace Andrew StraussEngland Test Cricket captain Andrew Strauss featured as a guest player in Somerset's three day game against India. Left-handed Left arm medium pace Marcus Trescothick (Captain) Left-handed Right arm medium pace All-rounders Lewis Gregory Right-handed Right arm fast-medium Calum Haggett Left-handed Right arm medium pace Craig Meschede Right-handed Right arm medium-fast Kieron Pollard Right-handed Right arm medium pace Arul Suppiah Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Alfonso Thomas (Vice-captain) Right-handed Right arm fast-medium Peter Trego Right-handed Right arm medium pace Roelof van der Merwe Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Wicket-keepers Jos Buttler Right-handed — Craig Kieswetter Right-handed — Steve Snell Right-handed — Bowlers Adam Dibble Right-handed Right arm medium-fast George Dockrell Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Gemaal Hussain Right-handed Right arm medium Steve Kirby Right-handed Right arm fast-medium Murali Kartik Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Ajantha Mendis Right-handed Right-arm off break, leg break Max Waller Right-handed Right arm leg break Charl Willoughby Left-handed Left arm fast-medium
Notes
Caribbean Twenty20
By finishing as runners-up in the 2010 Friends Provident t20, Somerset should have qualified for the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 but no English county sides were allowed to take part due to a clash with the end of the domestic season. So both winners Hampshire and Somerset were invited to compete in the 2010–11 Caribbean Twenty20 in January 2011.
Somerset named a relatively strong side with a mixture of youth and experience but without captain Marcus Trescothick and wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter so the side were captained by Alfonso Thomas and these missing players provided a chance for Somerset débuts for George Dockrell, Calum Haggett, Gemaal Hussain, Steve Kirby and Craig Meschede. Somerset lost their first match against Guyana, who elected to bat first but with only two batsmen scoring double figures, Somerset strangled them to just 112/8 from their 20 overs with Alfonso Thomas taking 3-23 but after cruising to 105/3 off 18 overs Somerset looked to be in total control but then collapsed to lose 7 wickets for just 6 runs and therefore lost by a single run. Their second match against the Windward Islands was more successful with an allround bowling beformance coasting to a 17 run victory, Somerset scored 139/4 with Jos Buttler top scoring with 47 and the Windward Islands finished on 122/9 with Max Waller taking 3–16. In contrast in the next game, a contest reduced to 6 overs a side due to rain Jamaica scored 85 at 14.16 an over with only Waller taking a wicket and in reply Somerset scored just 24, losing by a whopping 61 runs. In their final game with no realistic chance of qualification Somerset scored 165/4 with James Hildreth top scoring with 69 aided by Nick Compton's 44 and an 11 ball 26 from Craig Meschede and in reply Combined Campuses and Colleges were restricted to 123/7 with Steve Kirby taking 3-26.
Season standings Note: Pld = Played, W = Wins, T = Ties, L = Losses, Pts = Points, NRR = Net run rate. Caribbean Twenty20: Group ATeamPldWLPtsNRRWindward Islands*43112+0.375Jamaica*4228+1.317Somerset†4228−0.045Guyana†4228−0.574Combined Campuses and Colleges†4134−0.840Teams marked progressed to the next stage of the competition. Team marked were eliminated from the competition.Source: Cricinfo
Match logs No.StageDateOpponentsVenueResultRef 1 Group A 12 January Guyana Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua Lost by 1 run 2 Group A 14 January Windward Islands Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua Won by 17 runs 3 Group A 18 January Jamaica Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados Lost by 61 runs 4 Group A 20 January Combined Campuses and Colleges Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados Won by 42 runs
Batting averages Player Matches Innings Runs Average Strike rate Highest score 50s 4 4 93 1 4 4 55 0 4 4 95 0 4 4 74 0 4 4 50 0 Qualification: 50 runs. Source: CricInfo
Bowling averages Player Matches Overs Wickets Average Economy BBI 4wi 4 4 0 4 5 0 4 4 0 4 5 0 4 5 0 Qualification: 10 overs. Source: CricInfo
County Championship
Season standings Note: Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, D = Draws, T = Ties, A = Abandonments, Bat = Batting points, Bwl = Bowling points, Adj = Adjustments/Penalties, Pts = Points. County Championship: Division OneTeamPldWLDTABatBwlAdjPtsLancashire (C)161042003744-1246Warwickshire16943004645-9235Durham168440047450232Somerset166730045390189Sussex 166640034400182Nottinghamshire165650035430173Worcestershire1641110031440142Yorkshire (R)16367003437-2138Hampshire (R)16367003036-8127Source: CricketArchive
Match log No.DateOpponentsVenueResultRef 1 14–16 April Warwickshire County Ground, Taunton Lost by an innings and 382 runs 2 20–22 April Lancashire Aigburth, Liverpool Lost by an innings and 20 runs 3 27–30 April Hampshire The Rose Bowl, Southampton Won by 9 wickets 4 4–6 May Worcestershire County Ground, Taunton Won by 91 runs 5 10–13 May Durham Riverside, Chester-le-Street Drawn 6 18–21 May Sussex County Ground, Hove Lost by 8 wickets 7 24–27 May Yorkshire County Ground, Taunton Won by 10 wickets 8 20–23 June Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham Lost by 10 wickets 9 11–14 July Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham Drawn 10 21–24 July Durham County Ground, Taunton Won by 9 wickets 11 26–29 July Worcestershire New Road, Worcester Won by an innings and 8 runs 12 2–4 August Sussex County Ground, Taunton Won by 9 wickets 13 17–20 August Nottinghamshire County Ground, Taunton Drawn 14 31 August - 3 September Hampshire County Ground, Taunton Lost by an innings and 61 runs 15 7–10 September Yorkshire Headingley, Leeds Lost by 6 wickets 16 12–15 September Lancashire County Ground, Taunton Lost by 8 wickets
Batting averages Player Matches Innings Runs Average Highest score 100s 50s 13 23 6 6 13 22 2 5 9 14 2 3 15 23 2 4 12 18 1 3 16 29 0 6 16 25 1 3 Qualification: 450 runs. Source: Cricinfo
Bowling averages Player Matches Innings Wickets Average BBI BBM 5wi 10wm 7 12 32 2 1 16 27 53 1 0 8 13 26 1 0 14 24 47 0 0 16 26 27 0 0 16 18 10 0 0 9 14 22 1 0 Qualification: 10 wickets. Source: Cricinfo
Clydesdale Bank 40
The 2011 Clydesdale Bank 40 saw Somerset finish as runners-up to Surrey in the Lord's final for the second year in succession. Somerset qualified for the semi-finals by topping their qualification group and securing a home semi against Durham, Somerset bowled their opponents out for just 219 and they strolled to 165 for 3 when bad weather ended the match with Somerset 39 runs ahead using Duckworth-Lewis. In the final after electing to bat, only Jos Buttler impressed with an impressive 86 dragging Somerset to a below par total of 214 all out, and after a few rain breaks Surrey required 186 from 30 overs and reached that total with 15 balls and 5 wickets to spare.
Season standings Note: Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, NR = No result, Pts = Points, NRR = Net run rate. Clydesdale Bank 40: Group CTeamPldWLTNRPtsNet R/RSomerset*12920119+1.008Nottinghamshire Outlaws†12740115+0.260Essex Eagles†12630315+0.255Lancashire Lightning†12650113-0.172Glamorgan Dragons†12450311+0.161Gloucestershire Gladiators†1248008-0.488Unicorns†12110013-0.640Teams marked progressed to the next stage of the competition. Team marked were eliminated from the competition.Source: Cricinfo
Knockout stages
Match logs No.StageDateOpponentsVenueResultRef 1 Group C 24 April Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham Won by 47 runs 2 Group C 1 May Unicorns Sir Paul Getty's Ground, Wormsley Won by 4 wickets 3 Group C 2 May Glamorgan County Ground, Taunton Won by 10 runs: Duckworth–Lewis method used 4 Group C 8 May Gloucestershire County Ground, Taunton Won by 8 wickets 5 Group C 15 May Lancashire County Ground, Taunton Won by 7 wickets 6 Group C 18 July Lancashire Old Trafford, Manchester No Result: Match abandoned after 7.4 overs of the first innings due to rain 7 Group C 31 July Essex Garons Park, Southend-on-Sea Won by 6 wickets 8 Group C 14 August Glamorgan SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff Lost by 3 wickets 9 Group C 15 August Nottinghamshire County Ground, Taunton Lost by 3 wickets: Duckworth–Lewis method used 10 Group C 21 August Unicorns County Ground, Taunton Won by 6 wickets 11 Group C 24 August Gloucestershire County Ground, Bristol Won by 59 runs: Duckworth–Lewis method used 12 Group C 29 August Essex County Ground, Taunton Won by 40 runs 13 Semi-final 4 September Durham County Ground, Taunton Won by 39 runs: Duckworth–Lewis method used 14 Final 17 September Surrey Lord's, London Lost by 5 wickets: Duckworth–Lewis method used
Batting averages Player Matches Innings Runs Average Highest score 100s 50s 13 10 411 0 4 10 9 399 2 1 12 11 338 1 2 14 13 444 1 2 Qualification: 300 runs. Source: Cricinfo
Bowling averages Player Matches Overs Wickets Average Economy BBI 4wi 7 2 9 0 14 0 5 0 14 0 9 0 5 0 Qualification: 30 overs. Source: Cricinfo
Friends Life t20