The highlight of the early season matches in 2002 at Taunton is the visit of County Champions Yorkshire. Not only will this bring the 2001 champions and the runners up face to face, but as the Cidermen also won the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, the match is bound to attract considerable interest.

The 2002 season gets underway at The County Ground with a three-day fixture against Cardiff UCCE on April 13th, before Somerset commence their Championship season with a trip to Hove on April 24th.

In the space of 9 days, between April 28th and May 6th, Somerset play their five first round Benson and Hedges Cup matches against Warwickshire, Glamorgan, Northants, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

After seeing the draft fixture list for 2002, Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me: "I'm disappointed that we haven't got a tourist match this season, but we do have the possibility of two one-day matches against Sri Lanka, depending on our Cup situation.

"In addition we host a Women's Test match between England and India, and we have two Under-19 one-day internationals at Taunton in August, so there is a lot to look forward to."

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