Following the conclusion of their championship match against Sussex at Hove Somerset face a hectic nine days, during which they will play their five zonal Benson & Hedges Cup matches.

After close of play today the Cidermen travel to Edgbaston, where they will take on Warwickshire tomorrow. The home side will no doubt still be smarting from their defeat in the Cheltenham & Gloucester semi-final at Taunton last year, when the match was snatched away from them by Keith Dutch and Rob Turner.

Over the last few years Edgbaston has not been a particularly happy hunting ground for Somerset, so they will be looking to get their Benson & Hedges campaign off to a good start.

Last season Somerset lost to Warwickshire in the zonal round match at the County Ground, but went on to win the group with four wins from five matches to qualify for the quarter-finals, where they were beaten by Yorkshire.

Somerset have won the Benson & Hedges Cup on two occasions, in 1981 and 1982, and would dearly like to win the competition which is being phased out to make way for the new mid-season 20-over competition in 2003.

Confidence in the Somerset camp is high and it is generally agreed that Jamie Cox and his men are a good bet for one of the limited-over competitions this season.

All rounder Pete Trego has been added to the squad for the game, and is expected to play. In the absence of Steffan Jones with a hamstring injury it is likely that Matt Bulbeck and new signing Simon Francis will be in contention for the final place in the line-up.

Earlier this morning Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "Having won the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy in its first year, it would be a great pairing if we could win the Benson & Hedges Cup in its last year."

Somerset fans would like nothing better than to have the opportunity to return to Lord's on June 22nd and see their name engraved on the last-ever Benson and Hedges Cup.

© SOMERSET