SOMERSET face County Championship holders Middlesex at Lord’s from tomorrow in need of a morale boost – and points.

Middlesex denied Somerset a maiden Championship crown in a dramatic finale last season, a campaign which saw the Cidermen open with six draws (one of those at Lord’s).

Somerset are four without a win this time round – but three of those have been defeats, the latest at home to Hampshire.

Middlesex have drawn all three of their matches in the Championship so far this season, but they are unbeaten at Lord's since 2014, and have not lost any of their last six Championship matches with Somerset 

They are bowling pretty well – Dom Bess and Jack Leach spinning their way to 10 and seven wickets, respectively, against Hampshire – but the batting, particularly that of the middle order, has been poor.

Somerset are yet to pass the 300-mark in a Championship innings this season (278 against Lancashire their highest).

Openers Marcus Trescothick and Dean Elgar have been solid, but Tom Abell, James Hildreth and Steve Davies are all struggling for form – going for five, two and five, respectively, in the second innings on Sunday.

Skipper Abell said after that latest defeat: “Without a doubt there’s three or four of us who aren’t performing as we need to be.

“We’ve got ourselves in this mess, so we need get out of it.”

Director of cricket Matt Maynard has opted not to make sweeping changes for Middlesex - which may be seen as vote of confidence in his batsmen, or a last chance for them to prove themselves.

With Craig Overton absent (he is playing for the England Lions against South Africa A in three one-day games), the Somerset squad for this weekend is as follows:
Marcus Trecothick, Dean Elgar, Tom Abell (c), James Hidlreth , Steve Davies (wk), Pete Trego, Lewis Gregory, Roelof van der Merwe, Josh Davey, Dom Bess, Jamie Overton, Jack Leach and Tim Groenewald.

Maynard commented: “Our batting has been probably the area that needs the most work at the moment with four players who appear in decent nick in practice but just not transferring that into matches.

“We know that we need to get scores on the board now. After this game a third of the season has gone so we know that it's important for us to start performing better.

“I trust in the guys we have to put things right, but there are guys in the Second XI who are knocking the door down and banging really hard- Adam Hose got 190 yesterday, George Bartlett has been in great form, and Jim Allenby and Johann Myburgh are in great form in the one-dayers.

“There are people queuing up for an opportunity, but I believe that these guys can pull us out of this situation and get us playing some good cricket again.”

Speaking of the Somerset 2nds, they have made it to the Second XI Trophy semi-finals, where they host Yorkshire at the Cooper Associates County Ground (tomorrow, 11am start).

The 50-over match is free to attend.