SOMERSET youngster Ben Green looks set for a County Championship bow as Lancashire visit Taunton for a match starting tomorrow (Tuesday).

Green is due to replace Eddie Byrom, who has struggled for form this summer and averages 20.60 from 15 innings, at the top of the order.

The 20-year-old Exeter-born all-rounder has come through the Somerset academy system and made three Royal London One-Day Cup appearances earlier in the summer.

Somerset head coach Jason Kerr told the ECB Reporters Network: “Ben is in excellent form with the bat and deserves his opportunity.  He has been opening for us regularly in second XI cricket this season.

“Eddie Byrom has not quite been delivering in recent games and the time is right to give Ben a chance.”

Green struck a double-century in last week's Second XI Championship match against Yorkshire and also offers a seam bowling option if required.

He came through the system as a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, but told the County Gazette in pre-season that he was being primed as an opener.

"Batting middle order and bowling is where I would have seen myself last year, but this year the coaching staff think I’ve got the potential to open the batting," he said in April.

“It’s about how I do and my own performance. I’m not going to take a spot if I’m not scoring bucketloads of runs. It’s nice having the backing of the coaches but it’s down to me.”

Somerset have named a 15-man squad for the match, which also includes Byrom, and there is also a tough decision to make on the bowling front.

Dom Bess is in the squad should Somerset plump for a second spinner, while the four seamers who each impressed in last week's win at Yorkshire are all fit and firing.

Lancashire's squad includes returning skipper Liam Livingstone, who is back from a broken thumb and struck an unbeaten double-century in a club game on Saturday.

South African international spinner Keshav Maharaj is also included along with promising young leggie Matt Parkinson, so Lancashire are well equipped in the event of a turning pitch.

The Red Rose are fifth in the table, with Somerset second - the hosts are 32 points behind leaders Surrey with four matches to play.

The match begins tomorrow at the earlier time of 10.30am - for free entry to any day's play, pick up a copy of this week's County Gazette and claim your voucher on page 80 (see below).

Somerset County Gazette:

Somerset squad: Tom Abell, Azhar Ali, Dom Bess, Eddie Byrom, Josh Davey, Steve Davies, Ben Green, Lewis Gregory, James Hildreth, Jack Leach, Roelof van der Merwe, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Marcus Trescothick and Max Waller

Lancashire squad: Tom Bailey, Josh Bohannon, Karl Brown, Steven Croft, Alex Davies, Brooke Guest, Danny Lamb, Liam Hurt, Toby Lester, Liam Livingstone, Keshav Maharaj, Graham Onions, Matthew Parkinson, Dane Vilas​