SOMERSET will be forced to make at least two changes as their County Championship title bid continues at Headingley this weekend.

Jack Leach and Lewis Gregory are both in the England Lions squad taking on Australia A in Canterbury from Sunday, opening up opportunities for Somerset’s recently sidelined bowlers to re-enter the fray.

Craig Overton will travel with the squad as he nears recovery from a groin injury, while Jack Brooks is likely to be back in the XI against a club with whom he won two Championship titles before departing for Somerset at the end of last season.

Somerset head coach Jason Kerr said: “One of the exciting things right now is that we have a lot of depth.

“Craig Overton is almost fit and we beat Notts with three of our seamers, Craig Overton, Jack Brooks and Josh Davey not playing, so we have options for Headingley.

“Craig is progressing really well. He has bowled quite a lot of overs this week and will travel with us to Yorkshire.

“We have been careful with him because we don’t want to lose him for a long period.

“But if he tells me he is ready and our medical team are happy he will be in our XI.

“Brooksy [Jack Brooks] has been unfortunate, he has been out the side in the last couple of games, so if he gets an opportunity I’m sure he will be looking forward to that.

“It is a place he knows really well and he certainly knows how to bowl there.”

Dom Bess will also be up against former and future teammates- the spinner played four matches on loan at Yorkshire earlier this season and will rejoin them for the first 10 matches of the Vitality Blast.

Bess this week became the seventh Somerset bowler to take a Championship five-wicket haul this season, while he also made an important half century with the bat.

“It was important for Dom to be playing cricket,” Kerr said.

“He gained confidence from his loan spell and we have seen the benefits of that with bat and ball.”

Somerset travel north with a 15-point lead at the summit, with second-placed Essex continuing on their coat tails after an emphatic win over Yorkshire at Chelmsford.

“We can’t worry about what other teams are doing,” Kerr said.

“We are a really confident group at the moment and, if we continue to concentrate on the things we can control, we have the ability to get our rewards.”

Somerset squad: Tom Abell, Azhar Ali, Tom Banton, George Bartlett, Dom Bess, Jack Brooks, Josh Davey, Steve Davies, Tim Groenewald, James Hildreth, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton and Roelof van der Merwe.

Yorkshire squad: Gary Ballance, Harry Brook, Ben Coad, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Will Fraine, Matthew Fisher, Adam Lyth, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Oliver, Steven Patterson, Josh Shaw, Jonathan Tattersall, Jordan Thompson and David Willey.