Everything Ben Green touches right now turns to gold. Not content with being the T20 bowler with the best strike rate in the world, Greener dominated Leicestershire’s recent County Championship victory over Middlesex. Sam Dalling sat down with the man himself for an exclusive chat. Long-read interview below and podcast available in all your usual spots.
When faced with the bowler who, since 2023 started, has snatched T20 wickets at a better strike-rate than any other worldwide, the obvious question must be posed.
“Tres just jumped on it,” explains Ben Green when asked how his ‘Neil’ tag materialised. “My first ever pre-season trip was to Desert Springs seven or eight years ago. I had watched all the Inbetweeners before going out there, and if anything went wrong on that trip, I'd just say ‘oh, Neil, not again Neil.’ He started calling me Neil the whole time, and now no-one at the club ever calls me Ben!”
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Plenty, though, has been going right for Green in recent times. As kings of the Blast, Somerset have liberal sprinkles of stardust in their side. But true champions can be measured by their match-winners beneath the radar.
In red-ball cricket, Surrey have Jordan Clark, while Essex have Shane Snater: Green – the only Somerset bowler with two T20 five-fers (remarkably, both were 5 for 29) – is the white-ball equivalent.
Green has 47 T20 wickets in the past 18 months, those being spaced out by just 10.5 balls on average. His overall tally in last summer’s Blast was bettered only by Matt Henry and only Matt Taylor has claimed more victims this summer.
“Stats are stats,” says Green with a smile. “The boys were ripping into me a little as that [stat] came out before the Middlesex game and then I took wickets with my first two balls. But it’s an exciting stat and suggests I’m doing something right!”
The outsider might suggest that something has clicked but Green believes “it’s more about experience. I’m not blessed with Riley [Meredith]’s 90mph pace, nor do I have long fingers - so the knuckleball is a tough one.
“I need to be as smart as possible, try to read what the batter is going to do, set fields accordingly, and take into account the ground. I use all these bits and bobs to my advantage as best I can.”
Green worked hard over the winter with head coach Jason Kerr, who is “always challenging me to see if I can expand my skillset. Batters are going to understand a bit more about what I’m going to deliver so it’s about hopefully trying to throw a few curveballs in there for them.”
Kerr has worked with Green since the all-rounder joined the Academy back in 2013. To the outsider, Kerr is softly spoken, a man of few words, Yoda-like even. Is that accurate? “I’m sure he will love being referred to as being a small, green, alien,” says Green, eyes twinkling, moustache and mullet twitching. “He’s been there ever since I started at the club and has been a fantastic bowling coach for me. He is incredibly knowledgeable about the game and about bowling, especially. He and Sarge have built a great culture.”
Green also works with Steve Kirby, who returned to Taunton as bowling lead over the winter after two years with Zimbabwe. Somerset fans will be heartened to know that Kirby has lost none of his edge – on the slinger: “Kirbs is the ‘nasty fasty’. If you hit him for a few, he just keeps banging them him in at you. He can't shake that mentality! It’s wonderful to have him back.”
Has his mitting improved? “Well, he still wears his shin pads,” Green says. “He got conked on the shin a few times when he was here last. That just shows you that he's not that confident with the mitt in hand!”
For twenty minutes or so, Green and I sip coffee (coconut milk for him, drop of the oat stuff for me – “aren’t we bougie!?” he says) and kick the tyres about various Somerset stars.
Roelof van der Merwe is “called the Bulldog for a reason. He’s fiercely competitive, an amazing teammate to have and a hell of a lot of laughs.” Sean Dickson, we agree, was the “unsung hero” of Finals Day. “He’s been fantastic and very consistent. I can’t see a T20 side without him now.” And, unsurprisingly, Green confirms that Craig Overton is well capable of pushing his own buttons. “We know not to get Craig too angry in football - otherwise he’ll be flying through you,” Green tells Cider Press. “That’s just the competitive side that has been so good for him and his bowling over however many years. You need to get into that fight mode, almost, against the batter.”
Then conversation turns to Lewis Gregory. “He’s a beauty, Lew,” says Green instantly in response to the club captain’s name being uttered. “He’s uber-positive. He wants us to always take the game to the opposition - don't take a step back at any point. He's got that air of confidence and positivity. There are obviously a few curse words that come out of his speeches, but I think that just gees the boys up.”
As well as coming across as a man who could sit in a broom cupboard of exploding fireworks and not get distracted from his book, Gregory also has a savvy cricket brain. “I think some decisions that he's made over the last few years have won us cricket matches,” Green admits. “He's a brilliant tactician and plays the game very well himself.”
As a bowling captain, Green explains that Gregory does not “over-communicate” with him. “He’s often at extra cover and if I’ve been hit for a boundary, he’ll often be like ‘you happy? you clear?’
“I’ll probably say what ball I’m going to bowl, and he’s like ‘yep, sweet’ or ‘mmm, why don’t you do this?’. And I’ll be like ‘mmm’, and we’ll have a bit of an ‘mmm-off’ and then I’ll probably bowl the ball I’d like to bowl!”
Both know that the key to T20 bowling success is soaking the emotion out of it. Boundaries are inevitable, “especially having played lots at Taunton, I've been hit for a lot. It sounds silly, but the more it happens, the more okay I am with it.
“You can bowl the same four overs on one given day and get 5 for 20, or you can bowl exactly the same overs and go 0 for 55. It just depends on what decisions the batter makes and what decisions you make. Taunton’s small boundaries accentuate that at times. So, it's about parking it, being clear on what my next delivery is going to be and trying my best to execute that.”
Green is now well-established in Somerset’s white-ball sides, but for a few years that was not the case. The line can be drawn in the sand when the then 23-year-old was called into director of cricket Andy Hurry’s top-floor suite back in 2021.
At that point, Green had made 20 appearances across all formats, plugging leaks without ever finding a permanent role. When he entered Hurry’s den, Green noticed that both Kerr and Paul Tweddle were also present.
“And I’m thinking ‘s!@& I could be done here’. When Sarge calls you in, it’s hard not to fear the worst.” Instead, Green was offered the 50-over cup captaincy. A beaming grin appeared “and my heart rate went down!”
It was, Green explains, a “huge moment” for his white-ball cricket, a role that gave him “a little freedom from baggage.” His mindset shifted from “if I don’t perform, I won’t be in the side” to, as captain, being able to “really focus on my game. All my thoughts were ‘what do we need in this situation at this given time?’ I think that freed me up a bit.”
Green is still, though, yet to cement a place in Somerset’s red-ball side, making just 15 appearances across what is now seven summers since his September 2018 debut. Back then he opened the batting with Marcus Trescothick in a thrilling tie against Lancashire at Taunton, before travelling to Hampshire a week later to perform the same role against Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott and Fidel Edwards.
Back in April, he utilised the inter-county loan systems to play three games for Leicestershire, re-uniting with Alfonso Thomas. He returned to Grace Road last week, adding career-bests with bat and ball, before taking the winning catch.
“I put myself on the loan list,” Green tells Cider Press. “I felt confident with my red ball cricket going into the season, but – like with our white-ball team - we’ve got an incredibly strong squad. It makes getting into that team pretty difficult at times.
“I was away at Headingley for a 2nd XI game when Sarge rang me to say ‘look, Leicester have said, do you want to play three games for them?’ I was like, ‘yeah, absolutely’. I had to then go straight from Headingley to Leicester for the Derbyshire game, and then went back home to get the rest of my stuff.
“It was a great opportunity to bowl a lot of overs - I bowled something like 75 overs. The first game it was sore, the second and third games were great. Bowling that many overs was brilliant for my bowling and my body, just to give me some confidence that my body can withstand that kind of stuff. I felt like I bowled pretty well without many rewards. So that gave me a lot of confidence in red-ball cricket.”
Green is chatting ahead of a T20 match later in the evening. Match days are relatively relaxed, with the only mandatory requirement “on deck” time an hour before the first delivery.
Earlier still at casa Green there is also a leisurely start. He shares a dwelling with Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Lammonby and the former’s dogs, Pepper and Coco.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Green says. “I’ve grown up with Lammers. I’ve known him forever. Both of us have played at Exeter. He’s like a little brother to me.
“And Pepsi's obviously been great addition. He's forever on the barbecue, which is always nice. He's not playing much golf at the moment, so Lammers and I will have an afternoon tee time and, when we come home, he will be on the barbecue.”
What happened when TKC was at the IPL. “We had to make do, Lammers and I.
It felt quiet without him! We have a bit of a system when it’s not barbecue weather: one cooks; one washes up; one has a night off.”
What is Green’s signature dish? “Chicken and chorizo pasta bake. When I’m cooking, that’s the one they ask for. The most important thing that Pepsi keeps reminding me is that the cheese is crispy on top!”
Sam Dalling
Twitter: @SamJDalling