The T20 Blast champions have had a chastening time in the country’s other limited-overs county competition, with Prithvi Shaw and then James Bracey making double centuries against them in consecutive bowl-first games. After five games, they sit bottom of the South Group table, with the worst net run rate of any team in either group.

However, their struggles are not all of their own making, with The Hundred depriving them of the following players: Tom Abell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Will Smeed, Matt Henry, Roelof van der Merwe, Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Tom Banton, Ben Green, Sonny Baker and Tom Lammonby.

“We’ve lost 10 players to The Hundred, and we’re playing against teams that have lost one player, two players,” said Dickson, following a 198-run defeat to local rivals Gloucestershire. “We’re basically playing our second team against everyone’s first team.”

Dickson felt that his side had performed creditably in the previous two games, crossing 300 in each, even if both ended in defeat. “To compete like we have in the past few games, not so much this game, but the two games before this, to go and put 300-plus on the board and put in a performance where we put ourselves in a position to win games of cricket, we can’t say that we’ve underperformed.

“Yes, today, we’ve underperformed, but it’s going to happen with a group of young players, we’re going to get it wrong at times. Moving forward in this competition we’ve just got to keep our heads up and try and get one or two more wins.”

Somerset have had to dip deep into their player base to replace those absent in The Hundred, with several teenagers getting game time. James Langridge, 17 years old, is one example, with the left-armer conceding 95 runs from eight overs against Gloucestershire. Dickson hoped the youngsters would be better off for the experience.

“If you want to play at this level, you’ve got to sometimes learn the hard way,” he said. “Being thrown in at the deep end sometimes doesn’t look great, but it builds a lot of character and it creates experience. These younger players in this position will find ways to come out the other side, that’s what’s really important about it. Yes, in the short term, it doesn’t look great, but long term it builds character and hopefully they’ll come out the other side.”

English cricket has faced a dilemma over what competition to stage alongside The Hundred ever since its inception – any county tournament will be affected by player absences, while staging no other cricket would leave hundreds of players without any action for the prime month of the summer. Staging another event separate from the counties, meanwhile, such as a regional first-class competition, as has been suggested by some, would leave county sides and fans disgruntled at a diminished calendar.