 Somerset County Cricket Club made their debut in first @-@ class cricket in the 1882 English cricket season . They were captained by Stephen Newton , and played eight first @-@ class matches , five against county opposition , two against the Marylebone Cricket Club and one against the touring Australian team . They only won one of the eight contests , that against Hampshire at Taunton . Of the other matches , one was drawn and the other six were all losses for Somerset . Wisden Cricketers ' Almanack described the season as " disastrous " , but the publication qualified this statement with mild optimism for 1883 . 
