SOMERSET County Cricket Club has been forced to move its match against Cardiff MCCU from the Cooper Associates County Ground to Taunton Vale Cricket Club due to fears about the ground’s outfield. 

The match, which gets underway on Sunday, will now be played at the Gipsy Lane ground, home of Somerset second XI.

The decision has been taken in order to ensure that the outfield has as much time as possible to recover from the winter drainage works, ahead of the crucial first home Specsavers County Championship match against Lancashire on May 1.

Head groundsman Simon Lee said: “Obviously we would have liked to have played the game here but the weather recently has been very poor.

“It’s been cold and wet and therefore all the grass seed that we’ve put down hasn’t been able to grow quickly enough.

“The game could have been played here but the pragmatic approach is to move the game to Taunton Vale so that the pitch will be in the best possible condition for the match against Lancashire.

“We have done everything that was required of us to get the outfield ready but the one variable that we can’t control is the weather.

"As a groundsman, you and your team do everything that you possibly can to get a pitch ready but at the end of the day you are still at the mercy of the weather.”

The Somerset v Cardiff MCCU match will begin at 11am on Sunday. Entry and parking at Taunton Vale Sports Club is free. Hot food and the bar will be available on Sunday and Tuesday.