SOMERSET all-rounder Lewis Gregory is confident his side can start climbing the County Championship table after showing signs of progress in the draw against Middlesex at Lord’s.

Having walked to the wicket at 80-5, Gregory brought up his maiden First Class century on his way to 137 as part of a 249-run partnership with Dean Elgar, and spoke of his delight at reaching the landmark at such a prestigious ground.

“It was a special moment. It was pretty surreal because it is such a special place to play, and it is great to have got my first century at the place I also took my first five-for,” he said.

“More importantly it was nice to help the team to a good score – we weren’t in a great position when I came in, but Dean has been superb this year and was a really calming influence.

“Our mindset was just to take each ball as it comes – and there were some good balls out there – but we managed to grind it out.

“Throughout the innings he kept me going and kept me at ease. I wasn’t too nervous in the nineties as I got through them quite quickly, which was helpful, but I tried not to be too concerned with my own personal score as it was just about helping the team to as many runs as we could.

“My batting has felt in good shape all year, so it’s nice to have backed that up with a significant score. Hopefully I can now kick on from here and keep contributing.”

Having matched last year’s champions at Lord’s, another tough test lies in wait this weekend as Yorkshire – the other side in the 2016 top three – visit Taunton for a match which begins tomorrow (Friday).

Looking ahead to the clash, Gregory said: “You know you are always going to get a tough test against Yorkshire, but hopefully a few of our guys have now turned a corner and we can look to put big runs on the board and secure a positive result.

“With only eight teams in the division this year, you are only a couple of wins away from being back in the mix.

“We have started poorly and find ourselves in a bit of a dogfight at the moment, but we know we have a really good squad and if we can get on a run, as we did in the second half of last year, there is no reason we cannot start climbing the table and competing at the right end.

A further bonus from the Lord’s draw was a return to form for Tom Abell, who looked fluent en route to 71 not out on the final day.

Speaking about his captain, Gregory said: “Tom has played knocks in the past couple of games where he has looked solid without making the scores to reflect that, but in the last innings at Lord’s he played beautifully and with freedom.

“The bowlers have been pretty good throughout this season and we showed that again – the wicket got slower as it went on and a few divots were created, so if we’d had the full allotted overs I think we could really have pushed on in their second innings.”

The Plymouth-born all-rounder has missed a chunk of this season already due to a recurrence of a back injury, which he admitted may prevent him bowling as much as he would like over the summer. 

“My back is not in a great position and I need surgery, but the injections are doing the job at the minute and I’m not getting any of the sharp pains I was getting,” he said.

“We are assessing it and trying to reduce my bowling workload, especially at home where I have not been needed as much.

“It has never healed properly, so whenever I bowled long spells the pain was coming back. Hopefully at the end of the season I’ll have it screwed together and then it has no choice but to heal.”

Though the start to the Championship season has been far from ideal, Somerset have a one-day quarter-final to look forward to on Tuesday against Nottinghamshire.

Previewing that match, Gregory said: “We are in a fabulous position, knowing that three wins on the bounce will bring us silverware - that is how we have to look at it.”