SOMERSET start their 2011 campaign in earnest tomorrow morning when they entertain Warwickshire at the County Ground in their opening LV=Championship match of the season(11am), writes Richard Walsh.

Skipper Marcus Trescothick said: “We have had a good pre-season but now we have got to hit the ground running and switch our brains into gear to cope with the competitive game and make sure we play as hard as we can.

“What has happened up to now counts for nothing really and we now have got to make sure that we get off to a good start this year.”

Director of cricket Brian Rose said: “We have got to guard against expectation and hype of pre-season and need to work hard because you only get things if you outperform the opposition in sport.

“It’s good that we are playing at home for our first game, but the over-riding thing in the last two seasons is that we have had slow starts and had to catch up mid season so obviously it would be very nice if we could get a couple of wins from our early championship games.”

New bowlers Steve Kirby, Gemaal Hissain and Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis are all expected to be named in the team.

The Cidermen next travel to play Lancashire in the championship at Liverpool, starting on Wednesday April 20.