Cricket: Somerville back after long wait

The first and last time Will Somerville played for Otago, the tall offspinner took three for 26 and helped his province earn first innings points over Wellington.

Otago went on to lose the match, the last of the season, by 51 runs, but Somerville's debut generated plenty of enthusiasm in the region.

Among his victims were the dangerous Jesse Ryder and accomplished first-class player Neal Parlane. But that was last March and the 21-year-old has had to cool his heels in the provincial A tournament while Aaron Redmond and Nathan McCullum enjoyed good form.

But with Redmond sidelined with a knee injury, Somerville is poised to play for Otago in its State Championship match against Auckland at the Eden Park Outer Oval today.

"I just can't wait to get out there," Somerville said. "It's great to be involved again.

"They [Redmond and McCullum] are two very good players and have been in good form. So I've just had to bide my time and try and be as consistent as possible."

Somerville spent most of the winter at the New Zealand Cricket Academy in Lincoln with eight others, including locals Matt Harvie and team mate Sean Eathorne. "It really opened me up to new aspects of cricket," he said. Otago are still well-placed in the competition with eight points from three games. Auckland is in fourth place with four points and Wellington lead the competition with 16 points.

Defending champion Auckland has a strong-looking 12, with Black Caps Kyle Mills and Andre Adams returning from injury.

Lou Vincent and Scott Styris are on duty with the Black Caps for the one-day series against the West Indies.

THE TEAMS

Auckland
Andre Adams, Carl Cachopa, Tama Canning, Paul Hitchcock, Matt Horne, Richard Jones (captain), Tim Lythe, Chris Martin, Tim McIntosh, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Reece Young.

Otago
Neil Broom, Craig Cumming (captain), Sean Eathorne, Gareth Hopkins, Nathan McCullum, Warren McSkimming, Bradley Scott, David Sewell, Gareth Shaw, Jordan Sheed, William Somerville, Jonathan Trott.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES