Somerset target Ponting or Smith

Somerset are hoping to speak to Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith in a bid to get one of them to play next summer.

Ponting's brief spell at Taunton in 2004 coincided with a marked upturn in Somerset's performances, while Smith led the county for part of 2005, guiding them to victory in the Twenty20 Cup.

"We will be talking to the connections of both players," Brian Rose, Somerset's director of cricket, Was quoted as saying by the official website. "But we won't commit ourselves unless either can play for a meaningful period. It could all come down to how long their respective cricket boards are willing to let them play county cricket for next season."

Ponting is due to lead Australia in Bangladesh at the start of the 2006 season and Zimbabwe at the end of the summer, while Smith and South Africa should be in Zimbabwe in August.