THE Somerset cricketers who have been away are now back at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton including new red ball captain Lewis Gregory who spent some time earlier this spring playing T20 in Dubai, writes Richard Walsh.

However all that is behind them and Lewis has got his mind firmly focussed oh the coming season, during which he hopes to build on from the Vitality Blast success last season and take that into championship cricket.

The 31 year old all rounder who hails from Plympton and made his first team debut back in 2010 said: “It’s an exciting time of year for every county cricketer. Everyone is back in from being away and there is a really good buzz around the place and we are all looking forward to getting cracking.”

Regarding him being appointed as captain he said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for me to try and push the squad that we have got forward and hopefully we can see some results.

“Last year winning the T20 was fantastic and the team did really well as we have been for a number of years. We have got the players to be able to challenge in red ball cricket and if we can get the right mind set and get the guys in the right place we will hopefully see some great cricket and some wins.”

Before Somerset play their pre-season opener against Exeter University that starts on March 31st they are flying out to Abu Dhabi on Monday.

About which the captain said: “It’s a chance to get guys back outside on grass. A few of them went to Sri Lanka a few weeks back and others have been playing some franchise cricket so this is a great opportunity to get everyone together back out playing on grass and get ourselves ready to start firing at the start of April. 

“I have spent some time out in Dubai playing in the ILT20 and it was good to be able to get away and play some cricket outside, but now very much looking forward to getting cracking with the lads.”

Regarding the appointment of fellow Devonian Craig Overton as vice captain Lewis said: “Craig is obviously a fantastic player and has been for a long time now so for him to step up into a leadership role is really exciting for him and hopefully develop him as a cricketer and as a person.”