Ward offered captaincy bait

Ward believes a move can help revive his England career

Somerset have offered the captaincy to Ian Ward in an attempt to persuade him to join them for next season.

Opening batsman Ward is on the look-out for a new club after deciding to part company with Surrey.

"We have offered the captaincy before - Chris Tavare, Peter Bowler and Andy Hayhurst being examples," said chief executive Peter Anderson.

Ward has scored almost 7,000 first-class runs during his career and made five Test appearances for England.

Ward quits Surrey

He was a member of the Surrey side which won the Championship in 1999, 2000 and 2002 and this season helped them win the Twenty20 Cup and National League.

Anderson acknowleged that Somerset faced competition for a number of other counties for Ward's signature.

"To get someone of his seniority to move counties there has to be an objective for him, and if his ambition is to captain then it seems he has to leave Surrey," he told BBC Somerset Sound.

Somerset have confirmed, meanwhile, that they have also spoken to Australian one-day skipper Ricky Ponting with a view to him joining them.

"He can't give us an answer either way. He wants to come to England at some stage in his career but he has to have the permission of the Australian cricket board," Anderson added.