WITH the County Championship just one game away from the mid-season break at the end of May, I firmly believe that Somerset are the only county that can push Surrey for the title this season, which ends in the final week of September.

At this stage, Surrey are once again at the forefront of retaining their title, but I still have the belief that Somerset can push them all the way following their eight-wicket victory over Kent which ended on the final day on Monday.

The one main difference at present is that Surrey appear to have a far stronger bowling attack and, although the Somerset attack have done reasonably well, there is no doubt that Somerset are missing the international class of Matt Henry and that could prove crucial, despite Somerset being pushed hard by Kent, who had struggled badly for two days, but almost pulled out all the stops to take pride with a draw.

Many would argue that Somerset will have missed both Tom Abell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, but I can remember saying a couple of seasons ago that I always felt that Tom Banton was a huge talent, but for two seasons he appeared to lose his way following his huge rise to fame in the white ball game.

It was a little reminiscent I felt of former Somerset opener Mark Lathwell, who burst onto the scene in a big way back in the 90s and it appeared that technical flaws hampered his progress and I really felt for some time that Banton was going down the same road.

The Kent bowling was not great on the second day, but the progress both Banton and Tom Lammonby have made this season now they have been given their opportunities and taken them superbly can only bring the chance of more belief to a very good Somerset side as they look to chase down this first ever county championship title.

Previously both batsmen had their faults. Lammonby I felt was never quite sure where his off peg was and flirted far too often outside that off stump, and Banton always played as if he was in one day mould having made such an early impact in the white ball game.

What was so encouraging when the two were batting together in the red ball game was how they reached for each ball with the front foot, knew full well where the off stump was and knew on every occasion not to chase anything wide of a full length and their timing and balance was immense.

Roy Gannicott, who I played against years ago at Bridgwater, came to see James Rew and we both agreed that Rew is a huge talent with the gloves and the bat and, although he has taken several out-of-this-world catches this season, his batting has not reached the heights of last season. But is that a surprise? Of course not.

Rew last year at the raw age of 19 had a dream season with the bat. It really was what dreams are made of, so there was no way it was going to happen again, but from that sideways angle where you can spot the head over the ball, the balance, front foot to the pitch of the ball was their throughout his remarkable innings of 114.

Following on from horse trainer Michael Blake’s observation about the undoubted class of Andy Umeed, it was there for all to see as he and Matt Renshaw guided Somerset to victory on Monday afternoon and on that flat pitch, I cannot remember either Umeed or Renshaw playing and missing at one ball in almost two hours at the wicket.

There were a few alarms and a bit of frustration from both players and supporters over the four days, but this was an outstanding County Championship match, won by a very good side.