Somerset captain Tom Abell says he ‘remains optimistic’ he will be ready for the start of the County Championship season as he recovers from lateral strain.
Abell was injured while playing for the England Lions against Sri Lanka last month.
He had been called up for the first time in the England squad for their tour of Bangladesh, the injury denying him a first full international cap.
Somerset will face Warwickshire on April 6 at Taunton in their first game.
“I don’t want to come back until I’m fit to do so because then I won’t be good to anyone, I won’t help the team or anything,” Abell told BBC Points West.
The 29-year-old, who was named the England Lions’ one-day international captain for their tour of Sri Lanka, had hoped to make his debut on England’s white-ball tour to Bangladesh earlier this month.
He described the injury as “absolutely heartbreaking”.
“I had the pleasure of being called up to my first England team, then a few weeks later I got the injury and had to go home, and I was kicked out of that tour” , Abell said.
“On the one hand, it was amazing to be recognized, to be considered for this team, but naturally, absolutely disgusted that we didn’t get to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Abell’s strongest year to date
This will be Abell’s seventh season as captain of Somerset, having first taken charge in 2017 after graduating from the club’s academy.
He scored over 8,400 runs in his career and took over 60 wickets with his average pace.
However, the all-rounder said last season was the ‘strongest year’ he 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 bit more consistently and a bit more heavily. It’s always something I want to do at the top of the order for the team, so it was good to do that last season, and I guess that was shown in acknowledgment of opportunities during the offseason.
“We are always looking to improve and be better and it’s been no different for me this summer.”
Somerset finished seventh in the County Championship Premier League last year and have been in the hunt for their first piece of silverware since winning the One Day Cup in 2019.
They’ve signed a host of new faces for 2023, including Australian drummer Cameron Bancroft And rhythm leader Peter Siddle, and New Zealand setter Matt Henry, and Abell said he was “very excited” for the upcoming campaign.
“We had a pretty disappointing summer last year and it gave us time to sit down and think about it,” he added.
“I think we’ve implemented some changes in our environment and I certainly feel we’re in a better position to try and give our best this summer than maybe we were last season. .”
