Somerset coach 'pretty confident' that Steffan Jones will play in championship opener at Hove

At the end of a week during which he has celebrated the birth of his second son, and his team has given an impressive batting performance against Hampshire in their final warm up match, Somerset coach Kevin Shine was in very positive mood when I spoke to him earlier this evening.

I asked him how the practice session at the County Ground had gone today. He told me: "The boys were brilliant, the best I've ever seen them. We are ready to go now, it's just a pity that we are not involved in the first round of Championship matches that got underway today. What we have been doing is a taster of what is to come.

"They will all have the weekend off and then report back in for a final session on Monday, which will be along the same sort of lines as today has been. We have had such a great pre-season and the weather and the practice wickets have been first class. Frosty has done a fantastic job for us."

What was the latest on Steffan Jones ankle injury? The coach told me: "It's looking good for Steffan. He did some running today at the ground, and I'm pretty confident that he will be in the start line up."

What was it like to have the captain back, I asked Kevin. He told me: "It's good to have Jamie back around again. He's such a nice guy and a good captain he's like a breath of fresh air on the scene.