County Championship 2022. Division 1. Somerset v Northamptonshire. 20^th, 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd September 2022. Taunton.

Jack Leach was unavailable for selection for this match.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, Iman-ul-Haq, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, L. P. Goldsworthy, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, C. Overton, K.L. Aldridge, J.H. Davey, Sajid Khan.

Northamptonshire. W.A. Young (c), E.N. Gay, L.A. Proctor, J.J. Cobb, R.I. Keogh, R.S. Vasconcelos (w), S.A. Zaib, T.A.I. Taylor, L.B. Williams, B.W. Sanderson, C. White.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day 20^th September – Abell shapes the day

Somerset entered this match, the penultimate of the season, locked in a relegation tussle with Kent, who they play at Canterbury in the final match, and Warwickshire, both eight points beneath them in the table. Yorkshire are nine points above Somerset and 17 above Kent and Warwickshire, and probably safe since all three of those counties would have to pass them for them to be relegated. Gloucestershire, 41 points below Kent and Warwickshire, are already effectively relegated. But, with eight points for a draw and 16 for a win, the situation around the second relegation spot is devilishly tight.

A good start for Somerset was crucial. It was not a day to be late. Tell the bus company that. My bus, or a bus, arrived 25 minutes after its due time. Twenty-five minutes is a very long time at a bus stop when you are waiting for a Somerset match to start. Instead of being in my seat in time for a leisurely survey of the scene, I walked through the Brian Rose Gates as the players walked onto the field. Northamptonshire players. Somerset were batting. Cue deep intake of breath. The anxiety level is always farther up the scale when Somerset are batting. A brisk walk behind the Somerset Stand took me to the block at the far end adjoining what was, at the start of the day, The River Stand. The River Stand was starkly empty with its name obscured by black sheeting. It too was waiting, to be formally re-named the James Hildreth Stand at lunchtime.

That end of the Somerset Stand is neither behind the arm nor square of the wicket. An apparently odd angle from which to watch cricket. A little finer than deep backward point. And yet it is a curiously restful angle, at least, as far as any angle can be restful when watching Somerset, especially in a match potentially crucial to their survival as a First Division club. In late September when the sun is shining as it was on this morning, it is also likely to be warm, as opposed to the autumnal chill usually felt in September in the shade at the top of the Trescothick Pavilion.

The anxieties associated with potential relegation are even more acute this year because English domestic cricket is facing a fundamental review of its structures to be implemented from the 2024 season. ‘Upheaval’ might be a better description than ‘review’. Finishing positions in the 2023 Championship may be crucial to where counties are placed in the first-class part of that structure in 2024. Starting 2024 in the second tier of the Championship with, based on current expectations, minimal opportunities for promotion back to the top tier will make it a precarious place to be for smaller counties without Hundred franchises.

This match, and the final one at Canterbury, could therefore be instrumental in determining Somerset’s long-term existence as a first-class county. That thought made my focus on the cricket even more acute than it normally is. The pitch was slightly tinged with green. In a match scheduled to finish on the autumn equinox, with a 10.30 start, batting first, even on what presumably looked a good batting pitch to Tom Abell, is a risk. The ball could be predicted to dart about for an hour or so on the first morning. It would be a typically anxious watch. The temperature at least was late summer rather than early autumn and the sun indeed shone on my seat.  

There was a good-sized crowd, probably around 1,500 as Tom Lammonby and Imam-ul-Haq, Somerset’s left-handed openers, took up their positions. The crowd could be expected to grow towards 2,000. A Championship crowd always grows through the first half hour as people make their leisurely way to the ground, more so in September, for buses and trains do not accommodate their timetables to the earlier start time. As to the cricket, the openers caught the need of the moment, and played with the most studious of care, as if the ball were made of glass and they were fearful of breaking it. Balls were left and defended with the softest of hands. Scoring strokes were rare, and when played, were played with a lightness of touch which a glass ball would not have feared.

Northamptonshire have been the surprise team of the First Division this year. A perennial Second Division side making a rare visit to the First Division but looking destined to finish mid-table. Their opening bowlers, Ben Sanderson and Jack White, were quickly on the mark. For all the care and application of the Somerset batters, playing and missing, beaten bats and leg before wicket appeals were sprinkled liberally enough to fuel the anxiety of the Somerset supporter, and must constantly have fired the hopes of Northamptonshire ones.

Soon, the Northamptonshire pressure told. Lammonby played and edged a ball from Sanderson chest high to the left of Emilio Gay at second slip. Gay reached the ball with both hands, the catch looked assured, Somerset breaths were caught, but the ball fell to earth. The sighs of relief among the home crowd were audible. And then the tightly probing bowling and meticulously careful batting resumed. The intensity, from bowlers and batters alike, the paucity of runs, the constant threat of a wicket all built tension. Eyes were fixed hard on the cricket, faces taut, conversation hushed, the prospect of relegation hanging over Somerset adding to the sense of apprehension.

There was brief relief from a beautifully straight-driven four to the Lord Ian Botham Stand from Imam, but it was the eighth over before Somerset reached double figures, Imam turning White behind square towards the Ondaatje Stand for two. From there, such runs as came continued to be scored off the most carefully constructed strokes, the ball still, for the most part, treated with the utmost delicacy. A straight drive off Williams, perfectly stroked by Lammonby, finished a languid, decelerating run before it reached the Trescothick Pavilion boundary as the batter kept tight control of the stroke and settled for three well-run runs. Overhead, high white cloud had softened the effect of the sun and was gradually thickening, although not yet enough to work in alliance with the green in the pitch.

The smooth gracefulness of stroke which marked the partnership gave the impression of a ballet being played out before us. The ball, played with such care, eased its way into the gaps, although only slowly raising the score as the morning wore on. After 16 overs Somerset were 25 for 0. And then, with tension still gripping hard, Gay dropped Imam off Williams. Again, he was at slip. This time the ball arrived head high and was on the ground before breaths could be held, the batters taking a single before the ball could be retrieved. Again, the tense, tight bowling, often supported by four slips, and meticulously careful batting resumed. When Lammonby drove Williams straight, the stroke was exquisite, but it was hauled in before it could cross the Trescothick Pavilion boundary. In his next over, the 13^th since the last boundary, Imam twice cut Williams, once backward of point and once through point, both for four to the Priory Bridge Road boundary, but then, as if that were enough adventure for the session, the balletic pace of the game resumed.

In the half hour before lunch not a single boundary disturbed the scene. Just nine runs were scored with only a glance for two from Lammonby off Sanderson being worth more than a single. But, just as it looked as if Somerset might reach lunch with all their wickets intact, the persistence of the Northamptonshire bowling finally paid a dividend. Imam, on 23, after over an hour and a half at the crease finally edged another defensive stroke to Gay at second slip. This time Gay held the catch and Somerset were 49 for 1. Looked at on the unforgiving scoreboard it was a middling start. In the late September conditions, a first wicket partnership persisting for as long as this one had was gold dust. It had given Somerset a base when, if one wicket had gone early, others might so easily have followed. By lunch, the score had reached 55 for 1, Lammonby 23, Abell one, and the afternoon on a pitch which might become easier to bat on stretched before them.

James Hildreth has played 705 matches for Somerset across all formats, 277 of them first-class. He has scored 45 first-class centuries for the County, including that remarkable one on a broken ankle in an attempt to keep Somerset in the hunt for the 2016 County Championship. Apart from a few matches for the England Lions, he played only for Somerset. Over 20 seasons he finished with a first-class average of 40. In return, the River Stand was re-named in his honour during the lunch interval with spectators being invited for a foray onto the outfield. As we waited for the short ceremonial opening of the stand to begin someone said to me, looking at the scoreboard, “Would you have settled for that?” “Absolutely,” my reply. “A good base. We just need to keep it going now.” The ceremony was low key, but the applause from the crowd for Hildreth was loud, long and heartfelt. Enough at one of the many folk concerts I attend to have earned an encore. There will be no encore from Hildreth. His professional cricketing days are over, but I doubt there was a single Somerset supporter in the ground who would not have paid a princely sum to see him batting at his best one more time.

Lammonby fell soon after lunch, caught at second slip by Gay off Sanderson as he tried to defend the ball. He had made 30 in nearly two and a half hours. His wicket left Somerset on 72 for 2 after 35 overs. It was an anxious moment, for it is a score from which a match can go either way, particularly in conditions which still retained some help for the bowlers. But his and Imam’s hard work of the morning was not wasted. Over the next two hours, anxiety steadily metamorphosed into anticipation, although the tension never went away. Abell, in consort with George Bartlett, imposed himself on the game despite continuing tight and testing Northamptonshire bowling.

Abell struck early with an on drive off Williams which rifled through midwicket to cross the Somerset Stand boundary, hitting the boards to my right. It was a stroke typical of Abell when he is in form, full of classical power which sets the heart and the hope pumping. Bartlett showed style of a different stripe, less imposing, but effective while he remained at the crease. An uppercut off Williams over backward point flew to the Ondaatje boundary. Bartlett is not always the best of starters, and his uppercut was followed by a quiet period before three boundaries in an over from White added to rather than broke the tension. None convinced, and one nearly cost him his wicket. The first was safe enough in the end, a thick edge off the back of the bat which flew fortuitously between third slip and backward point without being at risk of troubling either. It ran down to the Hildreth Stand boundary. The second was edged low and wide of the keeper, Ricardo Vascencelos, perhaps closer to the slip fielder. Vascencelos dived for the ball, but it flew over his straining arm and ran to the Lord Ian Botham Stand for four. The third was cut through the air off the middle of the bat but flew two yards square of the backward point fielder before curving around him to the Somerset Stand boundary in front of me.

Abell also found the boundary, either side of White’s over, with a stunning square drive off Tom Taylor, bowling from the River End, which crossed the rope in front of the Caddick Pavilion and another, also off Taylor, a classical off drive to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary. An edge fell short of second slip, but the Somerset score was beginning to mount. 106 for 2 after 46 overs was a score most around me would have settled for in mid-September. And then, as if taking breath before advancing again, Somerset consolidated under gradually thickening cloud. Nearly a dozen overs slipped by without another boundary, but singles and occasional twos steadily pushed the score along. At 134 for 2 a glance at the scoreboard revealed that Abell had 36 and Bartlett 34, both scores accumulated faster than the watching eye had realised. Together, they had added 62 in 22 overs. Three an over to the two of the morning, but the play, and the Northamptonshire bowling, had been no less intense, Bartlett’s single over foray apart.

And then, Abell further built Somerset’s momentum. He signalled his intent by hooking Williams fine to the Trescothick Pavilion for four. He followed by cutting of Rob Keogh’s off spin fine, also to the Trescothick Pavilion boundary. A fast-run two in the next over from a square drive to the Somerset Stand off Sanderson and a flurry of pushed and steered signals from both batters kept the scoreboard turning. An edge off Sanderson, short of first slip, which ran to the Lord Ian Botham Stand and a classical cover drive off Keogh through the covers to the Priory Bridge Road boundary took Somerset to within a run of tea which was taken at 163 for 2 with the last seven overs realising 29 runs. Abell’s late surge had taken him to 59 with Bartlett on 37 and the Somerset heart was now beating with some optimism.

A teatime perambulation revealed a happy Somerset crowd. A lot rested on this match, and everyone knew it. Although better in the second part of the season there was still considerable anxiety about the potential brittleness of Somerset’s top order. No-one would have been surprised at a lunch score of 75 for 5 in the conditions Lammonby and Imam had faced. A score of 55 for 1 was heavenly in comparison with some of the starts at the end of last season and the first half of this. Somerset’s 163 for 2 at tea had been achieved against some excellent Northamptonshire bowling too. “We have batted, and they have bowled very well. They have a good attack,” was one succinct opinion which summed up the rest. It did not remove the anxiety about what might be to come. “There is a long way to go in this match,” one noted. But Abell and Bartlett were generating confidence. The pitch too was beginning to feed optimism. It was turning white, generally associated with runs, and the progressive acceleration in the scoring through the afternoon had lifted spirits.

The Taunton buzz was very evident after tea. Tension was still in the air, but Somerset were now clearly ahead in the game and Abell and Bartlett had looked, for the most part, in control. The surge in runs before tea continued in the overs immediately afterwards. There was another classical on drive from a dominant Abell off White. It reached the Ondaatje boundary and brought applause for the stroke and for the hundred partnership. An off drive off the slow left arm of Saif Zaib reached the Somerset Stand boundary and Bartlett cut Taylor hard. The ball cannoned into the turf and bounced over the head of gully before running to the covers store. Beyond that, the scoring came from singles, twos and a three turned behind square off Zaib to the Somerset Stand by Abell and completed to a shout of, “Well run!” as the batters ran in hard ahead of the returning ball. It all gave the impression of Somerset on the charge and beginning to break through the Northamptonshire bowling as it tired in the final session. It was now that the work of Lammonby and Imam in the morning showed dividends, for the lack of wickets then must have greatly reduced the pressure on Abell and Bartlett. The 200 and Somerset’s first bonus point came up from a leg bye off Bartlett’s pads in the 74^th over, 37 runs coming in the ten overs after tea.

With the lights suddenly on, although from the stands the light looked quite playable, Bartlett was hit on the head by Taylor causing a short delay while he underwent concussion tests. He was fit to carry on, but it was not the first time I have seen Bartlett hit on the head, the last being at Edgbaston. Almost immediately, he dropped to one knee and lifted Keogh’s off spin over the long on boundary where the ball landed next to the broadcasting van which sits between the Ondaatje Stand and the covers store. The next ball pitched a foot outside off. Bartlett left it. It turned sharply, leaving batter and keeper looking startled as it almost clipped the top of off stump. Bartlett came forward to cover the next ball. It took the outside edge and was caught low to his right and coming forward by Will Young at slip, Bartlett perhaps playing for spin that did not materialise. He was applauded off for 62 having added 134 in 40 overs with Abell. It left Somerset on 206 for 3, and the thought emerged that if the pitch was taking turn Somerset might be building a very useful score.

With the lights still on, the sun came out and Lewis Goldsworthy joined Abell. They added 42 runs in their first eight overs together as Somerset continued the cumulative acceleration which they had pursued throughout the afternoon and evening. Three fours in an over, two reverse sweeps from Abell and a drive to Gimblett’s Hill from Goldsworthy saw Keogh removed from the attack. Sanderson was welcomed as his replacement by Abell turning him through midwicket towards the Caddick Pavilion for three and Goldsworthy turning him off his legs to the Priory Bridge Road boundary for four. In Sanderson’s next over we had the unusual phenomenon of three threes as the batters continued to press Somerset’s advantage. Goldsworthy drove square to the Somerset Stand and turned the ball behind square to the Priory Bridge Road Stand. Abell’s three was more fortuitous, a thick edge wide of the slips towards the River Stand. It mattered not to Abell or to any of the Somerset supporters in the ground for his bat was held aloft and they were on their feet applauding his century. They included a group of about 30 youths sat at the far end of the Somerset Stand in smart school uniform who had cheered him on vociferously throughout his innings.

Somerset now pressed on past 250 and a second bonus point. No-one knew how crucial that might be, or if it would be crucial at all, but the applause it attracted marked its potential importance amidst the uncertainty engendered by playing in the relegation zone. And then something inexplicable happened, unless it be explained by a break in concentration driven by tiredness. Abell drove through the covers to the Caddick Pavilion boundary. Williams retrieved the ball just inside the rope as Abell completed his first run. As Williams shaped to throw, Abell turned and set off hard for a second. “There isn’t a run there,” the immediate thought. The same thought must have occurred to Goldsworthy because he ran the first run as if he had no thought of a second. Abell turned back from halfway with Goldsworthy looking on bemusedly from the other end. The ball reached the stumps with Abell well short of his ground and Somerset were 259 for 4. Abell 111. It was an unfortunate end to an outstanding innings and one which, even with four wickets down, had put Somerset firmly in the ascendancy.

Another dozen carefully gathered runs saw Somerset to the close with Goldsworthy on 22 and James Rew on a typically carefully gathered six. With most supporter’s thoughts focused on the safety of a draw, a score of 271 for 4 at the close was seen as an excellent day for Somerset, although Kent had taken an unexpected first innings lead of 108 over title-chasing Hampshire on a low-scoring first day at Southampton. That Kent were 20 for 3 in their second innings brought some relief, for it suggested Hampshire were fighting their way back into the match. With Warwickshire 255 for 8 against Gloucestershire it was difficult to judge which way that match might go. There was regret about the nature of Abell’s dismissal, but this was overshadowed by the acknowledgement that it had been an exceptional innings when seen in the context in which the match is being played. Most Somerset supporters I saw leaving the ground were carrying smiles as they went, for Somerset’s First Division status would still be very much alive on the morrow.

Close. Somerset 271 for 4.