SOMERSET'S recently appointed vice captain Craig Overton is counting down until the start of the new season which gets underway in earnest with an away match in the championship against Kent at Canterbury on Friday, April 5.

Craig was awarded a contract after graduating from the Academy and since making his senior debut in 2012 has scored over 4100 runs and taken more than 550 wickets in all formats.

During a break from his training Craig said: :”The boys are starting to come back in now from all the various places that they have been playing in various competitions. Everybody seems to be in a good place and we have got a couple of weeks build up before we head off to Abu Dhabi . We then have ten days over there when it will be good to get all the boys back together and build up for that first game against Kent.”

How did he feel about being made vice captain of Somerset?

“It was a bit unexpected but its something that I'm really proud about and I have been working alongside Lewis. We will all be working towards that dream of winning the championship and I feel that we are in a great spot to do that. We just need to stick with what we are trying to do and it will all go pretty well.”

With Lewis as skipper and Craig as his vice captain there are two Devon boys in charge

“Yes with Lewis and myself there are two Devon boys in charge of the team which is pretty nice and with Ben Green as well there are several of from Devon us in the team. We are all a pretty close knit group anyway.”

How much did it mean to win the Vitality Blast in 2023?

“Winning the Vitality Blast was a very special day and we hope that we can recreate those memories in the tournaments this year as well. I don’t think that any team has defended their T20 crown so hopefully we are in a good spot to be able to go again this year.”

Regarding the winter Craig said: “I have been at home all winter and had a back operation in November so have just been trying to build up and get ready for the start of the season It actually been quite nice to spend six months back at home and not worry too much about cricket and let the body recover both mentally and physically.”

Finally he added: “I will be ready to go come the start of the season and cant wait to get started.”