Somerset 2026 County Championship Full Season Preview
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
by Ronan Alexander & The Cricket Draft
With the cricket season fast approaching, now is the time to ensure you and your club are covered! Don’t risk the season with under insurance & outdated valuations; contact ASI, the specialist sports broker and PCA partner, to get your club or your own policy sorted before the first ball is bowled.
County Championship Values for 2026
Banker, Wildcard, Young Gun & England Watch
Banker: Jack Leach (BWL) £7.9m
A key player for Somerset, especially in home conditions where spin is heavily involved. Now that he has fallen out of favour with the England setup, he seems to be a lock in the team for Somerset. He played all 14 matches last summer, picking up 52 wickets and averaging 145.07 points per game while being valued at £7.8m.
Wildcard: Josh Shaw (BWL) £6.1m
Somerset’s only new recruit so far could be a good wildcard option. Given their options in the seam department, he may earn a regular spot in the side and bowl a lot of overs. He played seven times for Gloucestershire last term and picked up 13 wickets, which is something he’ll be looking to improve on this time around. He was valued at £6.0m last season and has only risen by £0.1m, which gives some flexibility with your budget.
Young Gun: Thomas Rew (WKT) £5.0m
Made his first-class debut in December when representing the England Lions in Australia but is yet to make his first red-ball appearance in a Somerset shirt. He impressed in the Royal London One-Day Cup, currently having a List A average of 44 with a top score of 84*. Also stood out as skipper of England Under-19s during their World Cup campaign, including a century in the semi-final against Australia. He will be looking to break into the side on a more regular basis in 2026.
England Watch: James Rew (WKT) £7.5m
An England debut seems inevitable and could easily be in either red or white-ball cricket. He has already played 57 first-class matches despite still being only 22, and already has significant experience under his belt. With 11 first-class tons, he averages 41.25 over his red-ball career and was Somerset’s leading run-scorer in the County Championship last summer.
Potential Starting XI for GW 1
2025 Review
Somerset enjoyed another strong campaign in 2025, finishing in third place as the “best of the rest” behind Nottinghamshire and Surrey. They were particularly formidable on home soil, going unbeaten at Taunton with three wins and four draws. Away from home, their form was more balanced, recording one win, three draws, and three losses.
Taunton proved to be the most equitable ground for seam and spin; spinners bowled 47% of the overs and claimed 47% of the wickets, highlighting the vital roles of Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan. Leach led the attack with 52 wickets, while Vaughan contributed 20. Craig Overton topped the seam charts with 33 wickets, followed by Migael Pretorius, returning this summer, who took 29 in just eight matches. With the bat, James Rew and Tom Abell both surpassed the 1,000-run milestone, while Tom Lammonby added a valuable 810.
2025 Stat Attack
Jack Leach collected 2,031 points last summer, ranking 12th overall.
James Rew finished in 16th place for total points with 1,985.
Jack Leach took 52 wickets, the third-highest total in the league. Those 52 wickets were the most taken by any spin bowler in the competition.
Jack Leach also recorded 126 maidens, the second-highest count overall.
Craig Overton’s 33 wickets ranked as the 13th highest for an all-rounder.
Craig Overton also held the 12th highest points-per-game average for all-rounders scoring over 1,000 seasonal points.
James Rew finished with the 12th most runs in the division.
Tom Abell finished with the 15th most runs in the division.
Both James Rew and Tom Abell successfully surpassed the 1,000-run mark.
Home Ground Stats
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Player Ins & Outs
Somerset’s squad depth has taken a bit of a hit over the winter, particularly within the seam department. Kasey Aldridge has joined Durham, while Ben Green made his move to Leicestershire permanent after an impressive loan spell at Grace Road where he played a key role in their promotion campaign. Josh Davey also joins him at the Foxes. Furthermore, the batting lineup has seen changes with Sean Dickson departing for Glamorgan and Andrew Umeed being released. In the spin department, England international Shoaib Bashir has moved on to Derbyshire.
To offset these numerous departures, only one new domestic player has arrived: seamer Josh Shaw from Gloucestershire. The club has secured Migael Pretorius as an overseas player across all three formats, while Riley Meredith and Daniel Sams join specifically for the Blast. As they still have one overseas slot available for red-ball cricket, the focus may well turn to recruiting another seamer to fill the gaps left by the winter outgoings.
2026 Fixtures
Somerset face a tricky start to the season with three highly competitive fixtures against sides you would predict to be competing towards the correct end of the table. Champions Nottinghamshire visit Taunton on the opening day before Somerset go to Essex and then remain on the road against Hampshire. May consists of home games against Yorkshire and Sussex with a trip to Glamorgan in between. In June they go to Trent Bridge before hosting Warwickshire. During August, they start by playing at home to Essex and then go to Hove to take on Sussex. The last month of the campaign sees them host Glamorgan, consecutive away games against Leicestershire and Yorkshire and then taking on Surrey at Taunton to close out the season.
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