One-day name | Somerset |
---|---|
Personnel | |
Captain | Tom Abell |
One-day captain | Jim Allenby |
Coach | Matthew Maynard |
Overseas player(s) |
Dean Elgar Fakhar Zaman Corey Anderson (T20) |
Team information | |
Colours | First-class: List A & T20: |
Founded | 1875 |
Home ground | County Ground, Taunton |
Capacity | 8,500 |
History | |
First-class debut |
Lancashire in 1882 at Old Trafford |
Championship wins | 0 |
One Day Cup wins | 3 |
National League wins | 1 |
B&H Cup wins | 2 |
Twenty20 Cup wins | 1 |
Official website: | Official website |
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Somerset. The club's limited overs team was formerly the Somerset Sabres, but is now known only as Somerset.
Somerset's early history is complicated by arguments about its status. It is generally regarded as a minor county from its foundation in 1875 until 1890, apart from the 1882 to 1885 seasons when it is considered by substantial sources to have been an unofficial first-class team, holding important match status. There are, however, two matches involving W. G. Grace in 1879 and 1881 which are considered first-class by some authorities. In 1891, Somerset joined the County Championship, which had just become an officially recognised competition, and has important match status from 1891 to 1894. The county is classified as an official first-class team from 1895 by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the County Championship clubs; classified as a List A team since the beginning of limited overs cricket in 1963; and classified as a senior Twenty20 team since 2003.
Somerset have never won the County Championship, their highest finish being second, which they achieved in 2001, 2010, 2012 and 2016. The club won their first silverware in the late 1970s, winning both the Gillette Cup and John Player League in 1979. In the years since, Somerset have experienced some success in one-day cricket, winning the Gillette Cup on two further occasions, the Benson & Hedges Cup twice and the John Player League once more. The team has reached the final of the Twenty20 cup competition on four occasions, winning it in 2005.