Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory is back in full training, after being given the all-clear on his back injury by the county’s consultant.

Despite being on the sidelines for much of the second half of his first full season on the staff at the County Ground, the 19-year-old Devonian made an excellent start to his career at Somerset.

Gregory topped the Clydesdale Bank 40 bowling averages with 13 wickets at 14.92, as well as being the leading wicket taker for the Cidermen in the Friends Life Twenty20, in which he claimed 18 wickets at 17 runs apiece.

Gregory also made his LV= County Championship debut against Worcestershire at the County Ground, and made an unbeaten 48 at Edgbaston against Warwickshire.

As he looked ahead to the new season, Gregory said: “We’ve got a few more lads back now who have been away, so quite a number of the squad are here and we’re all training very hard.”

Regarding his injury, the Plympton-born youngster said: “My back is good now. I got some results at the start of January which gave me the all-clear, so we are now gradually increasing the intensity with the bowling and building up the numbers. It’s all coming along nicely and I was up to 80 per cent of my full speed last week, so it’s all going well.

“I haven’t had any ill effects apart from a bit of stiffness for a couple of days afterwards, which is to be expected, but I’ve got no pain whilst I’m bowling so I’m good to go.”

Talking about his personal regime, Gregory added: “I have about three hours working with [coach] Andy Hurry on my batting in a week, and I’m also trying to fit in some more sessions with the bowling machine on my own to try to keep going with batting against spin which I have been working on. I’m definitely trying to hit as much as I can because I want to improve this side of my game.

“I see myself as a batting all-rounder, but I have to admit that I was very disappointed with the way that I batted last year, so that’s an area of my game I’ve worked pretty hard on during the winter and something I’ll be looking to improve upon this summer.

“The bowling in 2011 went a little bit better than we expected for me. We’ve made a few slight adjustments to my action, so hopefully it will have the desired effect out in the middle. If I can bring my batting into the equation, then hopefully I’ll be a better all-round player.”

With the departure of Charl Willoughby and Alfonso Thomas being away at the Indian Premier League, there are opportunities to be grasped. Gregory said: “There is definitely scope for one of us younger guys to step up this season.

"We’ve got a very good young talented squad at the moment, and there are a lot of us pushing for places, so every opportunity that we get we’ll be looking to score big runs or take lots of wickets.

“It’s a cut-throat environment, so I’ve just got to go out there and perform as well as I can when I get my chance.”

When Gregory was asked what he was hoping for in 2012, he replied: “As a team, we’re looking for trophies in 2012 and that comes through a lot of hard work and consistency.

“If we perform as we know we can, then we will put victories on the board and keep pushing forward. My personal aim this season is to nail down a spot in the Championship team. Last year one-day and T20 cricket went really well for me, but I want to score runs and take wickets in the Championship this summer.”