Somerset Benefit From An Old Rivalry

SOMERSET youngsters Eddie Byrom and George Bartlett put aside their old schoolboy rivalry to play key roles in the club’s fight for Division One survival this autumn.

- Jeremy Blackmore

The pair first met as teenagers on opposing sides during fiercely contested matches between their respective schools King’s College and Millfield, but rallied to a common cause in the Somerset top order as the county attempted to drag itself out of the relegation zone.

Both graduated from the Somerset Academy, but the rivalry between the two remains: “Millfield always won, obviously,” says George, 19, with a smile.

With Byrom, 20, hailing from Zimbabwe, the pair have followed different paths to the club, but there’s a familiar strand to both their stories, with cricket loving fathers encouraging each player’s development.

Bartlett, whose family moved from Surrey to Somerset when he was one, grew up playing the game in the garden with his father, before joining Westlands CC in Yeovil and progressing through the Somerset age-groups.

Byrom attended St John’s in Harare, playing for Mid West Rhinos and representing Zimbabwe U17s before moving to Taunton in 2014 to complete his education at King’s, Jos Buttler’s former school.

There he fell under the watchful eye of former Somerset player Rob Woodman and director of cricket Phil Lewis who introduced him to Somerset. Indeed, this week Byrom scored his maiden first class century on his debut appearance for Rising Stars in Zimbabwe.