Will Smeed: Somerset batter says his white-ball only deal is 'unique'

Batter Will Smeed will only play limited overs cricket for Somerset until the end of next season

Somerset batter Will Smeed says he feels like a "unique case" by signing a contract to only play white-ball cricket.

Smeed, who is yet to make his first-class debut, has signed a deal running until the end of 2024.

The ground-breaking move made headlines for suggesting there is a growing divide between cricket formats.

Yet the 21-year-old believes it is not a pathway many other young players will choose to follow.

"I feel in a very different position to what I think a lot of my peers are," he told BBC Radio Somerset.

"I don't think it's going to be something a lot of people do, just through the nature of the way their careers go.

"Most people come into first-class cricket and they're playing everything or Champo [County Championship] stuff.

"I felt like quite a unique case and I don't think there's a massive list of youngsters who are about to do the same.

"It felt like it made a lot of sense for me but I don't know if it will for a lot of other people at this point in time."

Smeed broke on to the scene as a teenager when, aged 16, he scored a century alongside former England opener Marcus Trescothick for Somerset second XI.

He has scored 886 runs in 35 Twenty20 matches for Somerset and last year became the first batter to score a century in the Hundred.

Smeed has also played in the Pakistan Super League, including this winter for Quetta Gladiators.

But in red-ball cricket playing for Somerset's seconds during 2022, he averaged only 15.57.

"For me it's just about the next couple of years putting all my eggs in one basket and seeing how that goes and if that helps me improve more in white-ball cricket, having that time to really focus on it," he said.

"The schedule is pretty hectic now so trying to do everything is increasingly tough."

Somerset searching for 2023 consistency

Somerset reached Finals Day last season and were beaten in the final in 2021, having previously been runners up in 2011 and 2010.

They have only won the title once, in 2005, but Smeed believes the team will be contenders this year.

"I think we'll be up there with the best teams," he continued.

"Obviously T20 cricket is quite up and down and anyone can beat anyone on their day, so for us it'll be about being as consistent as we can and different people contributing in different ways to winning.

"I think we've learned a lot the last couple of years, we're building an identity as a team and everyone is learning their roles which is exciting.

"If we play well there's no reason we can't win it this year and finally do well at Finals Day."