Over the years the two counties have battled it out in some thrilling matches and many Glamorgan supporters see the games between the two sides as the biggest of the season.

The rivalry partly goes down to the geographic proximity between the two counties but also to the events of 1997 when a Glamorgan side led by current head coach Matthew Maynard travelled to Taunton with victory guaranteeing the club a third County Championship title in their history.

What unfolded went down in club folklore as Glamorgan put together one of their greatest ever performances.

“It was extra motivation because it was Somerset in their back yard down at Taunton with Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick playing and the amount of travelling fans we had down there,” recalls Maynard.

“That’s something we always get when we play at Somerset is a great following and they out sang and cheered their supporters.

“After we did such a great job with the ball it was my job to score runs and get them as quickly as possible alongside Hugh Morris and we put on a sizeable partnership and that enabled us to get a substantial first innings lead.

“Winning in the style we did and for only the third time in our history was always going to be sweet but because we had some many supporters down there and we won within three days was extra special.”

Thousands of Welsh fans travelled to Taunton in September 1997 to initially see Waqar Younis take four wickets as Somerset were bundled out for 252, before witnessing Matt Maynard blitz a stunning 142 and Hugh Morris dominate for 165.

Somerset were dismissed for 285 thanks to a Darren Thomas five-for before Steve James clipped the winning runs for four and was joined on-field by the ecstatic Welsh contingent. (See the Sky Sports News segment here)

As he looks towards 'The Big Match,' Maynard recognises the similarities between Somerset and Glamorgan in their situations and processes.

“We’re quite similar in a way. They represent the west of England, and we represent Wales. We’ve both got passionate fans.

“They’re further down their timeline than we are but we have that core of real experience we can count on. Obviously we’ve got Colin Ingram, Michael Hogan, Graham Wagg, Craig Meschede has played a lot of T20 cricket, we’ve got David Lloyd, so there’s a really nice blend. We’ve got spin depth and seam bowling options. We’ll be putting up a fight, there’s no doubt about that.”

Over the years the two counties have battled it out in some thrilling matches and many Glamorgan supporters see the games between the two sides as the biggest of the season.

In 2016 Glamorgan were on the verge of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Twenty20 Blast competition but after winning four in a row in the middle of the tournament, the team were on the edge after consecutive defeats.

In a must-win clash, old foes Somerset stood between Glamorgan and a shot at reaching their first Finals Day in 12 years.

2016 proved to be Mark Wallace’s final season as a Glamorgan player, and his final game against Somerset may just have been his most satisfying. Needing to win in Cardiff to stay in the race for a quarter-final berth, Glamorgan fielded well and ‘Wally’ pulled off a classic stumping for the TV audience as helped remove the dangerous Gregory, now Somerset’s skipper in the shortest format of the game.

In the span of his 17-year career Mark Wallace played in plenty of these rival fixtures, but the 2016 fixture was a particularly special one to the veteran keeper.

"There’s always been a rivalry between Somerset and Glamorgan. Whether it’s here or down at Taunton, there is a tough atmosphere.

"They are enjoyable games to play in and you always want to play in games with a little bit of needle. We’ve had some really good games and close encounters.

"Games like that are trying to perform in the moment. It was a big game, we had to win that to make sure we could qualify for the quarter-finals. We were in good form, there’s always a slightly different feel to these games."

2004 was the second year of the Twenty20 Cup and was the year when the country realised it was here to stay and it was to be taken quite seriously.

Ian Thomas was a dashing opener who enjoyed the shorter formats of the game, so T20 cricket almost appeared tailored made for him.

"Playing at Glamorgan in era of one-day cricket success, I played with some very good players and I had a clear gameplay that suited T20 cricket. We were shaking our heads in 2003 at playing a pub format but within a year it got very serious and it’s now escalated around the world."

When Glamorgan went to Taunton in 2004, they were confident in their chances of victory. They were a well-drilled outfit and Taunton is a great place to play one-day cricket (for batsmen at least).

"Everything clicked, we got off to a decent start and we had a clear gameplay of how we wanted to play. The wicket was unbelievable, Taunton has those shorter boundaries and you could play through the line. That day it clicked."

'Bolts' is aware of the need to get off to a flyer in this year's Vitality Blast, with early momentum a key to teams reaching the knockout stages.

“Glamorgan and Somerset have always played a lot of cricket against each other, especially in pre-season due to the geography. Usually there are two or three games before Glamorgan face Somerset but with it being the first game it’s important to prepare well and build momentum early for the rest of the campaign."