Dominic Sabir is elated to be finally playing a part in helping champions Somerset defend their Cup Match crown on home turf.

The 21-year-old all-rounder has been a reserve in in the past three Annual Classics but was finally given the nod after continuing to impress with bat and ball playing for Somerset’s league team this season.

“It’s definitely an exciting moment for me having been a reserve the last three years,” Sabir told The Royal Gazette.

“I tried to make the team and maybe wasn’t up to the standard in certain areas, but I have bettered my craft during the off season and over the last couple of month working with some of the best coaches that I have met across the board.

“It has been exciting to learn things and be able to portray them in games on the weekends.

“I have been playing cricket since I was four years old. I started out at Somerset and then left to go Warwick to develop when Somerset’s youth team wasn’t around and now I am back with the senior team, so it’s definitely been a journey.

“Tto be able to say I finally got here and made that eleven is big for me and my family.”

Sabir is following in the footsteps of his grandfather Aaron, who played for Somerset in Cup Match in the 1950s, and he can hardly wait for the first ball to be bowled at Somerset Cricket Club on Thursday.

“It’s exciting and I think the main thing for me is treating it like any other game,” he said.

“Obviously it’s not any other game because thousands of people will be there. But in terms of holding my nerve and just sticking to what I have learnt, and what I have trained for, I will treat it like any other game. Take the crowd away from it and just lock in and do what I have to do.”

Aiding in the player’s smooth transition into the team is that he is surrounded by familiar faces.

“It’s been pretty easy,” Sabir said. Bermuda being so small and such a close- knit community, especially cricket, I am playing with guys I have basically played with my whole senior career.

“Also a lot of the guys that are playing on the Cup Match team are also playing on the national side and I have been involved with that for the last three to four years, so it’s been easy coming into the mix knowing guy’s strengths and weaknesses and what makes them tick.

“It’s definitely an advantage coming into a side where you already know the majority.”

Sabir is one of two changes to Somerset’s team this year along with colt Jermal Proctor, grandson of former Cup Match captain Nathaniel Proctor.

“That’s definitely another good thing that I am experiencing as Jermal and I have played cricket pretty much our whole life together, so to be a colt the same year is a big thing for me,” Sabir said.

“It’s a bit of a shame my other team-mate and close friend Alex [Dore] wasn’t able to make the side this time, but all I can do is go out for the both of us and be able to portray what we have been working on all season.”