Tom Abell: Somerset captain staying optimistic on injury return

Somerset captain Tom Abell has scored in excess of 8,400 runs during his career

Somerset captain Tom Abell says he is "keeping optimistic" that he will be ready for the start of the County Championship season as he recovers from a side strain.

Abell was injured playing for England Lions against Sri Lanka last month.

He had been called up to England's squad for the first time for their tour to Bangladesh, with the injury denying him a first full international cap.

Somerset play Warwickshire on 6 April at Taunton in their first match.

"I don't want to come back before I'm fit to do so because then I'll be no good to anyone, I won't help the team or anything," Abell told BBC Points West.

The 29-year-old, who was named England Lions one-day international captain for their tour of Sri Lanka, had hoped to make his debut during England's subsequent white-ball tour of Bangladesh earlier this month.

He described the injury as "absolutely gutting".

"I had the high of getting called up to my first England squad and then a couple of weeks later I had the injury and had to fly home, and that was me ruled out of that tour," Abell said.

"On the one hand it was amazing to be recognised, to be considered for that squad, but naturally absolutely gutted that I wasn't able to take advantage of that opportunity."

Abell's strongest year yet

This will be the seventh season Abell has captained Somerset, having first taken charge in 2017 after graduating through the club's academy.

He has scored more than 8,400 runs during his career, and taken in excess of 60 wickets with his medium pace.

However, the all-rounder said last season was the "strongest year" he has had.

"There were some amazing experiences and opportunities for me. Captaining the Lions was probably the epitome of that for me," he said.

"I probably scored a little bit more consistently and a little bit more heavily. It's always something that I want to do at the top of the order for the team so it was nice to do that last season, and I guess it was shown in recognition of opportunities through the off-season.

"We're always looking to improve and be better and that's no different for me this summer."

Somerset finished seventh in Division One of the County Championship last year and are looking for their first piece of silverware since winning the One-Day Cup in 2019.

They have signed a host of new faces for 2023, including Australian batter Cameron Bancroft and paceman Peter Siddle, and New Zealand seamer Matt Henry, and Abell said he is "very excited" for the upcoming campaign.

"We had a pretty disappointing summer last year and it's given us time to sit back and reflect on that," he added.

"I think we've implemented a few changes within our environment and I certainly feel like we're better placed to try to perform to the best of our ability this summer than perhaps we were last season."