Caddick on course for opener

Andy Caddick © Getty Images

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Veteran paceman Andrew Caddick is winning his race to be fit for the new season just three months after undergoing back surgery.

Caddick, 39, had his operation on Christmas Eve but has made sufficiently good progress to provide Somerset with hope of a first-team return this month.

The former England bowler claimed 70 wickets as his county romped to the LV County Championship Division Two title last summer and is seen as a vital spearhead of the attack.

Those at Taunton consider Caddick to be around 85 per cent fit currently - having built up his workload on the pre-season trip to Abu Dhabi - and on course to face Lancashire in the club’s Championship opener on April 23.

“It is obviously a team game but for us there are certain key individuals in the side,” said coach Andy Hurry.

“Being realistic, it would be a harder challenge for us if Caddick was not 100% fit but he has progressed really nicely.

“The sun in Abu Dhabi certainly benefited his back and he was able to train for longer than he would have been able to back home.

“So we are optimistic he will be ready for the start of the season - the way he has progressed has been really encouraging and there is no reason to think otherwise.”

Steffan Jones expects to have a heavier workload this year in Division One © Getty Images

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Somerset’s dominance in 2007 was largely based around their depth of batting, with Marcus Trescothick, Justin Langer and James Hildreth among five players to register 1,000 first-class runs.

With such huge totals to defend, however, the flip side was that teams often folded against new-ball duo Charl Willoughby and Caddick - and their strength in depth was not tested.

But Ben Phillips is fit again after missing the entire last campaign through injury while the fourth member of their 30-something club Steffan Jones, streamlined and stand-in captain, took 11 wickets in four matches at the Pro Arabian Cricket Challenge.

“Last year, I didn’t bowl a lot obviously with Caddy and Charl bowling everyone out,” said Jones, 34.

“I went out to Tasmania to play club cricket this winter, got a few overs under my belt and lost about 10 kilograms in weight.

“I did more cardiovascular stuff because your metabolism slows down a bit when you get past 30.

“I still do a lot of weights because I believe a lot in strength, power and speed - but it was getting hard to get to the crease being over 16-and-a-half stone.”

Somerset also hope to complete the signing of South African all-rounder Alfonso Thomas ahead of the season to further improve their overall quality.

“There is a lot of competition within the squad this year, which is a good thing,” added Jones.

“If we hadn’t won last year, we needed hanging because the players we had were not just good county players but world-class players in JL and Trescothick and Hildreth, who is coming through and is as good as any.”