SOMERSET bring down the curtain on their season when they host Hampshire in Division One of the Vitality Championship at Taunton tomorrow morning (Sept 26), starting at 10.30am.

Just two weeks ago the Cidermen were in with the chance of winning all three of the domestic trophies, since when they have lost the T20 final to Gloucestershire, to Lancashire in the championship meaning that Surrey have claimed the coveted pennant and in the Metro Bank final they were beaten by Glamorgan.

Before the start of the final round of championship matches Surrey have amassed 221 points from their 13 matches and are out of reach at the top of the table, Hampshire are second with 195, Somerset are third with 193, while Essex are fourth on 179.

Looking ahead to the match ,Jason Kerr, Somerset’s head coach, “It’s now down to personal pride and professionalism. It’s about learning from the last couple of weeks and not forgetting that we have played some incredibly good cricket throughout the season to have got us to where we are, and now we need to do that for the last fixture of the season.

“Beating Surrey was an incredible high and to conclude the game in the last few minutes of the fourth day and come out victorious was a testament to the group.

“But this is a distant memory and we now need to focus on the game at hand.”

With Surrey having claimed the championship they have won the £600,000 prize money that goes with the title, but the match between Somerset and Hampshire is likely to decide who will claim the runners up spot worth in the region of £300,000, while the third placed team wins £200,000, so there is still a lot at stake to play for.

However, irrespective of the outcome of the Cidermen’s final match, 2024 will go down as one of the most successful in the modern era and while there has been no silverware to add to the trophy cabinet there has been plenty to cheer about and lots of positive memories to take into the winter.