Richard Johnson back to face Surrey in Cheltenham and Gloucester tie

With the return of Marcus Trescothick from England duty, apart from Andy Caddick who is injured, Somerset will be at full strength for their Cheltenham and Gloucester fourth round tie against Surrey at the County Ground in Taunton on Wednesday.

This means that one of the most successful attacks in first class cricket, Richard Johnson and Nixon McLean will be reunited after Johnson was passed fit to play, and so far this season the pair have already taken 56 first class wickets between them.

`Johnno' told me: "I'm obviously looking forward to it, this is a big occasion for us and it's what you play cricket for. I'm delighted to be fit enough to be able to play."

Despite the number of Test players who will be playing for the opposition skipper Mike Burns feels that Somerset go into the match with the edge. "I think it will be a good game and we feel confident. We will be absolutely up for it on Wednesday and this is probably the draw that they would have least liked, playing against us down here at Taunton in front of a full house," he told me.

The Cidermen have got an impressive record in the C and G and have made it through to three finals out of the last four years, and have lost just once in the last two years of the premier one day competition and that was in the 2002 final at Lords.

Whilst the Somerset players were busy getting in some final practice, Head Groundsman Phil Frost and his team were busy making sure that wicket and the outfield were in peak condition and ready for the match.

Taunton born Keith Parsons who was Man of the Match following Somerset's victory over Leicestershire in the 2001 final told me: "We are all looking forward to the game immensely. We have got a good track record in the competition and I'm really looking forward to getting out there. It would be good to get on another roll in the cup this year".

All rounder Ian Blackwell told me: "We are all looking forward to the match and obviously we are excited because there is no bigger game than to play against Surrey.However we are all up for it and hopefully all of our players will perform well and we get the right result."

Batsman James Bryant who has played an important part in the sides impressive performances in the county championship told me: "I'm looking forward to playing here at Taunton with a big crowd atmosphere for the first time. I'm happy with my form, but so far I haven't got any big scores so tomorrow would be a good time to put this right."

Coach Kevin Shine has named a squad of twelve for the match- Jamie Cox, Marcus Trescothick, James Bryant, Mike Burns, Keith Parsons, Ian Blackwell, Keith Dutch, Rob Turner, Richard Johnson, Nixon McLean, Steffan Jones and Simon Francis

Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson told me this afternoon: "With a fine day in prospect judging by the number of telephone calls and personal callers we have had for tickets I think that we will get a lot of people here. I'd be very surprised if we didn't see a crowd in excess of 5000 inside the ground which will create quite an atmosphere, but tickets will be available on the day."