Matthew Maynard is backing Mahela Jayawardene to fire Somerset towards the Royal London One-Day Cup quarter-finals.
After the Taunton based outfit were downed in Cardiff last night, not least due to the exploits of former Somserset player Colin Ingram, attention now shifts back to the 50-over tournament.
Maynard believes the longer format will suit Somerset better and is confident Jayawardene can inspire victory over Glamorgan at Taunton on Sunday and help clinch a place in the knock-out stages.
He said: “Mahela is a class player with a terrific one-day international record and so much experience of 50-over cricket.
“He will bat at four for us in the remaining Royal London Cup group matches and the starts we make will dictate how he sets about his innings.
“Whatever the situation, he has the quality to be a major player for us. His record speaks for itself.
"I was happy with the way we played in the opening group games and I think the competition fits the skills of our current squad more that T20.
“We don’t have the dashing batsmen of Somerset teams in the past such as Marcus Trescothick in his prime, Craig Kieswetter, Jos Buttler and Kieran Pollard.
“But we have some very good players and a group willing to fight for each other. We are in a decent position going into the remaining fixtures and I am very optimistic about qualifying.”
Trescothick is not playing white ball cricket this season, despite his supreme form in the Specsavers County Championship. But James Hildreth looks set to return to Somerset’s one-day line-up against Glamorgan after losing his place in their T20 side.
News that Jamie Overton has been ruled out for the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his back is a blow.
But Maynard is happy the seam bowling cover is there in the likes of Josh Davey and Paul van Meekeren, who have both impressed in the second XI and earned recent T20 call-ups.
With a bitterly disappointing T20 campaign coming to an end, confidence in the Somerset camp received a huge boost with a ten-wicket Championship win over Notts at Trent Bridge this week.
It was an amazing success considering the hosts had an opening stand of 196 on day one and went on to score 401
Maynard said: “It was the best we have bowled as a collective unit since I have been at the club.
“Even when Notts were going so well on the first day, we stayed disciplined and kept the scoring rate at around three an over.
“That kept us in the game and to roll them over for 135 in the second innings and then attack our victory target so positively was an outstanding effort.”