SOMERSET must put the frustration of the draw against Warwickshire behind them, as they prepare to play local rivals Gloucestershire at Taunton from tomorrow (August 22-25).

Somerset were denied an almost certain victory by Tuesday’s rain, leaving them one point behind Worcestershire at the top of the Bob Willis Trophy’s Central Group.

Captain Tom Abell admitted it had been “desperately frustrating”, but was taking the positives from another dominant performance.

“We were desperately frustrated with how it played out,” Abell told the County Gazette.

“We had three days of fantastic cricket and dominated from the first ball to the last.

“I couldn’t be much happier with how we are playing at the moment.

“We pride ourselves on our fielding and it’s pretty clear that our bowling attack is a huge strength.

“In our batting, guys have stepped up when needed, and Steve [Davies] has been playing brilliantly this season - he’s so important to us.”

Davies scored a century against Warwickshire, as did Jamie Overton, and despite his impending move to Surrey ahead of the 2021 season, Abell insists his focus is undiminished.

“I cannot fault Jamie’s attitude - he always gives 100 per cent.

“The club is gutted to lose him, but we have to respect his decision and his ambitions to play for England.

“We cannot fault his effort in our first three games - he’s been fantastic.”

Gloucestershire sit third in the Central Group standings going into this week’s match, having picked up one win (by 78 runs against Warwickshire), one loss (by eight wickets against Worcestershire) and one draw (versus Glamorgan) so far

They will hope to gain revenge for their comprehensive defeat they suffered at the hands of Somerset in a four-day warm-up match last month.

While Abell believes it will be “different” this time around, in what is very much a competitive fixture, he added: “We can take confidence from how we played in those four days, and from our start to the season.

“A huge part of cricket is in the mind, and we know that if we start well [on Saturday] we can put them under pressure.

“We will be sticking to our process, as what we are doing is working.

“Our batting is getting there, but can still improve - we need to keep raising the bar.

“If we play our cricket we’re confident we can beat anyone in the country.”

Somerset will also hope to carry momentum into their opening T20 Blast match of the season next Friday (August 28).

“Confidence is huge, and as a squad we are very happy with how we are going about things,” Abell said.

“T20 cricket can be quite fickle, though, and you have to start [the competition] well.

“It’s a very different format but momentum is something we can transfer into the T20.”