By Grockle
August 9 2026

The last away match of the first part of the Metrobank 50 over competition and it has not been very fertile ground for Somerset.  They will hope a young side will change that this afternoon as they chase a possible qualifying spot after smashing Surrey on Friday.  Lewis Goldsworthy won the toss and will bat first

Metrobank Game 7 v Northamptonshire @ Northampton Sunday 8 August 2026

After the win on Friday against Surrey one wonders who will move or will be rested as we need to win both of our final games to be in with a chance of progressing.  Sav Perera was left out of the Friday game as we tried a new openong partnership and although named he is out again for this one along with the very impressive Migael Pretorius - is he being rested?

The side that will bat first after Lewis Goldsworthy won the toss is;

Lammonby, Connell, Goldsworthy (c), Vaughan, Thomas, Lamey, Roberts, Church (w), Shaw, Leach, Ball

No Theedom, no Pretorius and, given our lack of batting assets, no Perera.  Somerset stick with the new opening pair and will hope to post a big tiotal for the spin and seam attack to defend.

I'm off to Ruishton for part of the afternoon so I will have to pick up when I get back.  The good news it that the opening pair got through the Powerplay at with 11 overs gone they had reached 51 without loss.  unfortunately that did not last because in the 12th over went for 22 from 34 balls at 53 for 1 caught by McManus bowled by their version of Leech.  A decent start but can we get a decent score and can we defend it away from home? 

Metrobank Game 7 Away in Norhtamptonshire

Discussion started by Grockles.com , 09/08/2026 11:53

Grockles.com
09/08/2026 11:53

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Grockle
08/08/2026 19:07

A kinda Home and Away type of season

Can we do the kind of damage we seem capable of at Taunton at other team's venues? It hasn't been that way this season to any real extent and we need to win both of our last games to move up from the fifth spot in our section of the tournament. It's that or nothing.

We went with the young team against Surrey and handed them their backsides well and truly but what willl we choose from the 13 man squad for the Sunday game

The squad is;
Parera, Vaughan, Thomas, Lammonby, Connell, Goldsworthy, Church, Lamey, Shaw, Theedom, Roberts, Leach, Ball

No Migael Pretorius and again no Langrdige though he was named in the Surrey squad but not tomorrow. I'm not sure why Miggy is out - it seems strange if he is being rested as he was our best seam bowler on Friday and there are only two important games to go.

The question will be whether we play Jack or not and it will probably mean Josh Shaw will return to the side for experience

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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2026:08:08:19:18:41 by Grockle.

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Devonboy70
08/08/2026 19:29

The stats say it should be Theedom over Shaw , who has by far the worst bowling average of the 5 sole quick bowlers in the competition this season . In addition Theedom has taken a wicket in less than every 3 overs that he has bowled compared to Shaw needing almost 7 overs to take a wicket ! Jack Leach and Perera also need to play . Connell needs a rest with a batting average that doesn’t merit a place .

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Loyal of Lhasa
08/08/2026 22:10

I have been happy to note that Bartlett has been producing some good scores for Northamptonshire lately and hope that his success continues, but if all his colleagues score less well tomorrow I shall shed no tears.

LoL

Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter

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cricketjerry-mouse
08/08/2026 23:47

Northamptonshire will be without experienced opening batter Ricardo Vasconcelos and leggie Aidi Sharma, both injured.

They name the same 13-man squad on duty when they lost to Nottinghamshire on Friday: McSweeney (capt.), Bartlett, Chahal, Guthrie, Knight, King, Leech, Louw, McManus, Miller, Procter, van der Merwe, Weatherall.

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Devonboy70
09/08/2026 10:52

Perera omitted again . The management obviously don’t take averages into account in this competition.

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Somerset LaLaLa
09/08/2026 11:03

Keep the team that thrashed Surrey. Not sure if Pretorius is rotated, but he's needed for Lancs. And more positivity... the two sides have different coloured shirts.

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Grockle
09/08/2026 11:10

Not sure what has happened with Sav Perera. No injury that we know of but with batting players at a premium, leaving him out suggests some issue we're unaware of I'd suggest. Is this why an onviously talented cricketer has not pushed on with a number of organisations and what IS the issue if there is one?

We may, of course, never know

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Somerset LaLaLa
09/08/2026 11:10

Commentators saying this is a used pitch... Will Vaughan and Leach take advantage later? I also hope Gloucs and Warks do us some favours elsewhere

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Grizzers
09/08/2026 13:43

Well it’s been a huge struggle so far, to put it mildly.

Perera’s absence is a complete mystery. I thought he was doing very nicely..

Ho hum.

Grizzers

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Devonboy70
09/08/2026 14:16

The decision to leave out Perera is frankly nonsensical given some of the poor batting performances today from other newcomers . He is by far the best batsman of any of those making their One Day Cup debuts for us this season .

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Loyal of Lhasa
09/08/2026 16:04

Watching Burns and then Procror in two consecutive matches has been excruciatingly unpleasant; I'd award them minus ten for elegance (if that much). Have they never watched Gower to learn how left-handers should bat?

LoL

Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter

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Bagpuss
09/08/2026 16:16

Gower was before their time. Procter and Burns spent their formative years watching Graeme Smith and Shiv Chanderpaul.

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Grizzers
09/08/2026 16:37

Well, we've certainly seen plenty of the Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde versions of Somerset in this competition.

Some puzzling selection choices and some very erratic performances on the field, ranging from superb to well, pretty much the opposite.

Not entirely sure where that takes us in terms of future progression tbh..

Let's hope we can finish off more positively v. Lancs. on Tuesday.

Grizzers

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Somerset LaLaLa
09/08/2026 16:55

Although we are high on talent, this competition where counties are stripped of their big names leads to huge inconsistencies in outcomes. This is especially true when the more experienced batsman fail.

Players unable to deal with the Northants spin attack. No middle order anchors who can rotate the strike. Juniors going for risky shots, when experience ought to have told them otherwise.

Where does that leave us? A county rich with a pipeline of high quality batsmen, bowlers and wicketkeepers. We are playing in a competition, well supported by our fanbase, that the ECB wants to sideline to the corners of the universe.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:08:09:16:56:14 by Somerset LaLaLa.

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