Hampshire Left to Rew Missed Opportunities Against Somerset

But insists he won't give up on the kind of positive approach that has given Hampshire's young batters a greater sense of freedom this summer.

Albert was caught behind by James Rew off the bowling of Lewis Gregory as Hampshire looked to be getting on top of the West Country visitors in the morning session.

That dismissal precipitated another Hampshire collapse, that saw five wickets fall for 51 runs in just 13 overs.

"I tried to be nice and positive," says Albert, who has spent the opening two matches of the campaign carrying out 12th man duties.

"We've been talking about it a lot in the dressing room with Russell (Domingo) and Jake (Lehmann). It's something we're really trying to execute.

"The view is that if you're going to get out then it's better to get out playing positive cricket than waiting for a ball to arrive with your name on it.

"(Jake) has played a lot of cricket and scored a lot of runs.

"So I think we'd be stupid not to use him and ask him questions about how he goes about it, or what he's thinking.

"Everyone's in a really positive mood and excited for the season to come.

"Even now, this is only the third game of a 14 in the championship - it's a long season."

Albert has had to bide his time and came into Hampshire's starting XI at the expense of Joe Weatherley, who was left out after a disappointing return from his opening two matches.

In many ways, the opening day at the Utilita Bowl followed a fairly familiar pattern, with Hampshire putting themselves in a decent position before losing quick wickets and momentum.

Albert and Tom Prest both looked in good form in the early part of the day, while Eddie Jack - who scored a Championship best score of 36 and Lehmann, who again finished as Hampshire's top scorer with 76, looked set to nudge them to a first batting point.

As it was, 238 was probably below par. Somerset were teetering at 73 for three, before James Rew handed Hampshire another painful reminder of his talents.

He finished the day 77 not out, as the visitors walked off in the late evening sunshine just 84 runs short of Hampshire's first innings total.

"He (Rew) is a very good player," says Albert.

"He's done very well, and to have scored the volume of rounds he scored at his age, I think he's 22 maybe now, is pretty impressive.

"I think it's only a matter of time, really, before he gets an opportunity (with England).

"Everyone's different in their own way, but I think you only have to look at his record and the amount of hundreds he gets to know how well he does.

"Everybody goes about scoring runs in different ways and puts pressure on bowlers in different ways. But he's technically solid, and he scores quickly enough.

"So yeah, I'm not sure the bowlers like bowling too much at him.

"Hopefully we can get him out early tomorrow and then cheaply in second innings."