Dom Bess: I want Somerset to get smacked

Asked if there was a part of him that wanted Somerset to go all the way, having come up through their system before moving to Yorkshire, Bess said: “I mean, if they do, then they do it by losing here and having to win elsewhere.

“I mean, as a fan, as a player, and as somewhere that put so much time and investment into me as a player, of course when they’re not playing me and this team I want them to do well.

“But when it comes to this game it’s the complete opposite. I want them to get smacked, which is the way it is, I guess.”

Somerset arrive at the top of Division One, four points clear of second-placed Nottinghamshire, who face Sussex at Hove this week before hosting Yorkshire in their final match of the season at Trent Bridge.

Somerset, who finish their campaign against Surrey at Taunton, are five points clear of third-placed Warwickshire, who have the easiest run-in of the title contenders on paper.

They travel to relegation-threatened Essex this week before hosting second-bottom Leicestershire at Edgbaston.

Yorkshire, in fifth, are out of the title race and safe from relegation, but Bess says they are determined to finish with a flourish.

“I think the important thing is putting spanners in the works and finishing as high as we can,” he said.

“The good thing is we’ve got a chance to put a spanner in two sides now, Somerset and Notts.

“I think, more than anything, we owe it to ourselves and to our fans to go out there and show everyone what we can do.”

Yorkshire face defending champions Nottinghamshire only once in the Championship this season because of the unbalanced nature of the Division One schedule and the way the fixtures are worked out.

They beat them in both T20 games but lost to them in the One-Day Cup quarter-final in York.

As for Somerset, Yorkshire enjoyed one of their finest wins of the campaign at Taunton in May, coming from behind to win by 75 runs in the Championship.

But they suffered one of their most painful defeats in years when Craig Overton’s remarkable innings knocked them out in the T20 Blast quarter-final at Headingley in July.

Overton hauled Somerset from 82-8 in the 15th over to a target of 162 with an unbeaten 79 from the No 9 position, made from 30 balls with five sixes and eight fours.

“I think I’ve already forgotten about that, if I’m honest,” Bess said.

“The way Craig played was phenomenal, but if you actually look and dissect that performance, we had them 80-odd for eight, so I actually take that from it more than anything.

“Some people will say that we owe them one, but I think the way we operated down there at the start of the summer, to be so far behind in that game and win and dominate like we did was very impressive.

“I know they’ll have eyes on us, and if you're chasing a title you've got to win at places like here, which I know for a fact is not easy.

“I remember being a youngster coming up here and it's not a nice place to come and a hard place to win.”

Bess believes Yorkshire are getting closer to winning silverware themselves.

It has been a season of what-ifs - especially in white-ball cricket - with Yorkshire’s Championship record of four wins, four draws and four defeats highlighting their inconsistency in the four-day format.

“If we’d won at Surrey the other week, then we would have been in a completely different scenario going into these last couple of weeks, and I think that’s how close we are,” Bess said.

“It feels as though we’re close to being right at the top.

“I think if you look at what we’ve got in there now in the dressing room, it’s seriously dangerous.

“Some of the Surrey boys were saying that they could see us in two or three years as a real force, but of course you don’t take that for granted and ultimately we’ve got to get to that point.”

The immediate priority for Bess is pegging back Somerset.

Yorkshire go into the match on the back of an excellent innings win against Essex last week.

Bess played his part with the top score of 80 not out and five wickets in the contest, continuing his fine season.

Again, there will be no divided loyalties for him.

“Somerset are the longest-serving side in Division One and I know how much it would mean to them and they’re chasing really hard,” he said.

“It would be nice to beat them, let’s put it that way.”