Bob Willis Trophy final: Essex and Somerset to meet in unique final

Essex emerged as champions after last season's County Championship decider against Somerset, but will they do so again in this season's Bob Willis Trophy?

"To play a five-day final at Lord's is special. You don't tend to get that in red-ball cricket, and it might not happen again."

It is fair to say the importance of Wednesday's Bob Willis Trophy final against Somerset is not lost on Essex head coach Anthony McGrath.

The final of the one-off competition, named in honour of the late ex-England fast bowler Bob Willis, sees the two teams who were involved in a last-game County Championship decider in 2019 again battle it out for red-ball honours in a coronavirus-impacted 2020 season.

And with a new trophy to play for, featuring a cuboid design painted by Willis' widow Lauren, both sides will be eager to emerge victorious for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime honour.

"For me, arguably the best two teams in the country have got to the final," Somerset head coach Jason Kerr told BBC Somerset.

"We know we've got an opportunity to continue to play the cricket that we've played over the past five games and if we do that I'm sure we'll get the right result."

The two sides progressed to the final as group winners with the most points.

Somerset won the Central Group with four wins out of five and 97 points, while Essex finished first in the South Group with four wins and 90 points. Yorkshire fell just short, having won the North Group with 87 points.

"We knew we needed three or four wins to get to the final, so to win four out of five and have the other rained off, you can't ask for much more," McGrath said after they beat Middlesex to reach the final.

"We have carried on from last season. It has been unbelievable consistency from everyone."

The weather and pitch at Taunton stole the headlines in last season's decider.

Following Essex's rain-affected draw which crowned them champions, Somerset were handed a 24-point penalty, with 12 suspended for two years, because the wicket was judged to have "excessive unevenness of bounce".

That deduction was delayed until 2021 because to the shortened 2020 season, but does the punishment, as well as the defeat by Essex, add an edge to this year's final?

"For me not at all - it's an opportunity to test ourselves against the best," Kerr continued.

"They're number one, we're number two, that's how it finished. We're looking to overturn that.

"Part of the aim on the back of last year was to improve our skills and we've done that and that's without the overseas players and with the emergence of some really exciting young cricketers."