The 2025 English county cricket season begins on 4 April when 18 counties will play across Divisions One and Two of the Rothesay County Championship.
Only three sides have never won the competition – Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and Somerset.
The latter have come close recently, finishing as runners-up six times in the 21st century, but are yet to break their duck.
They will face off against Yorkshire, Sussex, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Durham, Essex and two other top-flight sides, while eight other counties will compete in Division Two.
2024 season
It was an agonising season for Somerset as they came up short at the final hurdle in all three competitions.
They had hopes of catching up to Surrey after a dramatic final-day victory over the champions at Taunton in September but it was not to be as they ended the season in third, 35 points behind the Londoners.
They only lost one of their first 12 games but back-to-back defeats at the end of the season crushed their title hopes and meant they finished with five wins, six draws and three losses.
The county’s top-scorer against the red ball was young batting all-rounder Tom Lammonby, who hit 941 runs at an average of 39.20 to finish 11th in the division’s run charts.
He was almost matched by England international Tom Banton, who scored 891 runs at 49.50 in his best-ever first-class season.
Fellow England player Jack Leach ended the year as the sixth-highest wicket-taker in Division One with 45 wickets at an average of 22.77, despite playing only nine games.
Their 50-over form was sublime as they topped Group A and fought past Leicestershire in the semi-finals to set up a showdown with Glamorgan at Trent Bridge, but the Welsh side triumphed with a 15-run victory in a reduced 20-over game.
They won six of their eight group stage games with big wins over Durham, Lancashire, Northamptonshire and Middlesex.
They then faced Group B runners-up Leicestershire in a home semi-final and smashed 334/4 in their 50 overs, with all-rounder Lewis Goldsworthy hitting an unbeaten 115 against the side he spent time with on loan just months before.
The Foxes fought hard and despite a hundred from Peter Handscomb they succumbed to a 23-run defeat.
Onto the final, rain shortened the affair to 20 overs per side and Group A winners Glamorgan batted first, hitting 186/7.
After a slow start, Sean Dickson’s side were in reach of their target but despite the captain’s 44 off 20 balls they fell 15 runs short.
Scottish opener Andrew Umeed impressed throughout the tournament and posted 492 runs at 54.66 as only two players scored more runs in the competition.
James Rew and Goldsworthy also crossed the 400-run mark and made the top seven in the run charts.
With the ball, Leach led the way again with 15 wickets at 22.20, almost doubling his career tally in the format.
The Vitality Blast also saw a heartbreaking defeat in the final after strong performances throughout the tournament.
They finished third in the South Group, behind Surrey and Sussex, with eight wins in 14 games.
Victories over Northants and Surrey saw them face off against nearby Gloucestershire in the Finals Day showpiece at Edgbaston.
Batting first, they fell to 42/4 but captain Lewis Gregory dragged them to 124 with an innings of 53 off 37 balls.
However, they were sublimely thrashed as their fellow West Country county chased down their target with eight wickets and five overs remaining, as openers Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft both scored half-centuries.
Banton was one of the competition’s star batters as his 515 runs at 46.81 were beaten by only four others.
All-rounder Ben Green led the way with the ball, taking 21 wickets at 21.71 and career-best figures of 5/29 against Hampshire.
Squad
Somerset will be managed by former all-rounder Jason Kerr for the eighth season in a row.
The 50-year-old took over from former Director of Cricket Matthew Maynard in October 2017 and has overseen two trophy wins – the 2019 One Day Cup and the 2023 T20 Blast.
Lewis Gregory remains as club captain after being promoted to the role before last season after the resignation of Tom Abell.
Gregory was named as the county’s T20 skipper in 2018 but last year was his first in charge of the red-ball side.
The Plymouth-born all-rounder has played at Taunton since 2010, scoring almost 7,000 runs and taking over 600 wickets in 333 matches.
Sean Dickson will captain the one-day side again with Gregory playing in The Hundred.
The batter joined from Durham in 2023 and will likely be assisted by young wicketkeeper James Rew again.
The three overseas players who will be turning out at the County Ground in 2025 will all be familiar to Somerset fans.
Australian fast bowler Riley Meredith has renewed his deal for the T20 Blast and may also be available for first-class and List-A matches.
South African bowling all-rounder Migael Pretorius will also return after appearing for the club last season and is expected to be take part in the full season.
The final overseas, another fast bowler, will be New Zealand’s Matt Henry, who makes a welcome return to Taunton after playing for the county two years ago.
The 33-year-old will take part in seven Championship and eight Blast matches between 7 April and 25 June.
Last year’s other overseas players Matt Renshaw and Brett Randall have not extended their deals after short spells last year.
Other departures are Sonny Baker, Ned Leonard, George Thomas and Roelof van der Merwe.
Young fast bowler Baker has left to join Hampshire after taking 20 wickets in 12 limited-overs appearances.
The 22-year-old has since been awarded an England development contract having toured Australia with the Lions squad during the winter.
Fellow pacer Leonard has moved to Glamorgan after spending the last month of the season on loan.
He played 19 times for Somerset after coming through their academy.
All-rounder Thomas made 23 appearances in white-ball cricket, scoring 620 runs and taking 13 wickets, but has joined Sussex after struggling for regular game time.
40-year-old Van der Merwe took 207 wickets across all formats having spent ten seasons with the county but has left by mutual consent a year before his contract was due to expire.
Ben Green and Shoaib Bashir have both left on loan for the first part of the season, with Green re-joining Leicestershire for the first seven red-ball matches after spending time at Grace Road last year and Bashir signing a three-game deal with Glamorgan.
Batter Will Smeed has turned his white-ball-only contract to an all-formats deal having only played T20 cricket for the county so far.
Seven Somerset players will take part in The Hundred this summer: Will Smeed (Birmingham Phoenix), Lewis Gregory (Manchester Originals), Craig Overton (Southern Brave), Tom Banton (Trent Rockets), Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Abell and Riley Meredith (all Welsh Fire).
Full squad (as of 30/03/25):
Batters – Tom Abell, Sean Dickson (OD captain), Fin Hill, Will Smeed, Andrew Umeed
All-rounders – Ben Green, Lewis Gregory (CC and T20 captain), Lewis Goldsworthy, Tom Lammonby, Migael Pretorius (O), Josh Thomas, Craig Overton, Archie Vaughan
Wicketkeepers – Tom Banton, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, James Rew
Fast bowlers – Kasey Aldridge, Jake Ball, Josh Davey, Matt Henry (O), JD Langridge, Riley Meredith (O), Alfie Ogbourne
Spinners – Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach
Overseas Players
Somerset’s early season will be headed by the Kiwi Matt Henry, who is currently one of the best bowlers in the world.
The fast bowler has taken 312 international wickets in 142 matches and recently was part of the New Zealand team that finished runners-up in the Champions Trophy, with Henry taking 10 wickets at 16.70 to end as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
The 33-year-old had a previous spell with Somerset in 2023, when he was part of their Vitality Blast success, taking 33 wickets, more than anyone else, and also picking up 32 wickets at 16.18 in six red-ball matches.
When separating his career stats, he has taken 488 first-class wickets at 23.07 and 178 T20 wickets at 23.70.
Joining him in the Blast will be Riley Meredith, who took 14 wickets at 22.78 in last year’s edition of the competition.
The 28-year-old Australian’s form earned him a recall to the national side for a T20 against Scotland and he has taken nine wickets at 24.66 overall in the format.
His career T20 stats read 145 wickets at 23.95 with best figures of 4/12, which came for Somerset last season against Middlesex.
The fast bowler was also involved in Hobart Hurricanes’ recent Big Bash League triumph, which was their inaugural title.
The final overseas player to don the Somerset colours will be Migael Pretorius.
The 30-year-old took 23 wickets at an expensive 39.43 in eight red-ball games but will be back in 2025 and will want to improve on those figures.
If his career stats are anything to go by, then he is certainly a better bowler than last year’s campaign suggested, with 201 first-class wickets at 27.98, as well as 177 dismissals with the white ball.
He was called up to South Africa’s Test squad in July as an injury replacement and, although he did not make an appearance then, he could receive further international recognition this year if he steps up at Somerset.
Key Player
If Somerset are to battle with Surrey for the county title, then their bowling attack will have to match the strength and performances of Dan Worrall, Kemar Roach and the seemingly never-ending stack of all-rounders that the champions have at their disposal.
The one asset that Rory Burns’ side lacks is a high-quality spinner, as they relied upon a variation of early-season magic from Cameron Steel, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan being drafted in for that dramatic September game at Taunton and the part-time abilities of Dan Lawrence and Will Jacks.
On the other hand, Somerset possess one of county cricket’s best and one of England’s best 21st century spinners in the form of Jack Leach.
The 33-year-old left-arm off-spinner has taken a staggering 495 first-class wickets at 28.12 and 142 at 34.07 in Test cricket.
Despite being dropped in favour of fellow Somerset spinner Shoaib Bashir, who ironically has been forced to move out on loan in the past two seasons due to being behind Leach in the pecking order at county level, many England fans would say that the Headingley 2019 Ashes hero should be first-choice for the national team.
His 45 wickets in last season’s Championship were the joint-second most for a spinner and he was instrumental in the last-gasp victory over Surrey, taking match figures of 9/142 as he and young all-rounder Archie Vaughan took all 20 opposition wickets.
If Leach continues to be seen as second-choice to Bashir, Somerset fans will not be complaining as they watch ‘The Nut’ display his magic throughout the summer.
He will be the key factor in how far Somerset’s title charge goes with his experience, control and skill.
One to look out for
As just mentioned, Leach’s wingman in the thrilling, inspiring late Taunton win was Archie Vaughan, son of England’s Ashes-winning captain Michael.
The now-19-year-old took 11 wickets in that match, having only made his first-class debut the week before against Durham.
The teenage off-spinning all-rounder batted at seven on debut before being moved up to open the batting against Surrey and proceeded to score a measured 44 off 107 balls in the first innings of the match.
He would later score his maiden half-century in the penultimate game of the season and finished the season with 236 runs at 33.71 and 15 wickets at 20.13.
He was then chosen to captain England U19s in their winter tour to South Africa and scored 164 runs and took nine wickets across three one-day games and two Tests, which included figures of 6/19 to win the second four-day match.
Vaughan, who was born three months after his dad inspired the country with a first Ashes series victory in 27 years, will have even more opportunities to display his talent in 2025 and it may not be long until he follows his father’s footsteps and makes his international debut.
Prediction
Despite Somerset’s mix of experienced county players and talented, up-and-coming youngsters, it remains an incredibly tough task for them to overhaul Surrey.
However, they still have one of the best squads in the division and should finish in the top three.
They will also have a strong side in the One Day Cup and should be targeting to win at least one white-ball competition, so will be one of the favourites to become 50-over champions, alongside holders Glamorgan.
In the T20 Blast, they will also have a talented, all-round lineup and with the likes of Tom Banton, Matt Henry and Riley Meredith will inflict big defeats on some sides.
The question of whether they can turn their group stage dominance into Finals Day success will be asked but, if they have Henry and Meredith available for the Edgbaston showdown, then they should go on to win the tournament.
Somerset’s county season gets underway on Friday 4 April when they will face Worcestershire at the County Ground in Taunton.