County Championship 2022. Division 1. Lancashire v Somerset. 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th July. Southport.
Tom Abell, Tom Banton, Craig Overton and Will Smeed were unavailable for selection due to being on England Lions duty. Jack Leach was unavailable due to being rested following his recent Test match duties.
Lancashire. K.K. Jennings, L.W.P. Wells, S.J. Croft, D.J. Vilas (c)(w), J.J. Bohannon, R.P. Jones, G.P. Balderson, L. Wood, T.E. Bailey, W.S.A. Williams, J.P. Morley.
Somerset. M.T. Renshaw, S.M. Davies (w), T.A. Lammonby, G.A. Bartlett, L.P. Goldsworthy, J.E.K. Rew, L. Gregory, R.E. van der Merwe, P.M. Siddle (c), J.A. Brooks, G.S. Virdi.
Overnight. Somerset 446. Lancashire 624 for 9. Lancashire lead by 178 runs with one first innings wickets standing.
Fourth day 14th July – Pure Goldsworthy
With no prospect of victory Somerset began the final day needing to bat most of it to save the match. It was their eighth Championship match of the season, and they were yet to draw a single game after two victories and five defeats. As a consequence, they began the match sitting in one of the two relegation places. With eight points for a draw this season, the inability to save matches has made a significant contribution to Somerset’s plight. No other team has failed to draw a match and Northamptonshire, five points above Somerset, having played one game less, have no victories but five draws. Draws, where victory is not possible, are particularly crucial this year.
Lancashire, in third place, were 19 points behind leaders Surrey at the start of the match. A victory for them was as crucial as a draw for Somerset. And yet, the crowd for the final day was the smallest of the match. Smaller final day crowds are a common feature of Championship matches, whatever the state of the game. Uncertainty about whether there will be play, or how much, perhaps acts as a deterrent to attendance.
A small crowd it may have been, but tension pervaded the air. The result remained in doubt until the final overs. I arrived in good time to be in my seat under the privet hedge for the start, one of the Lancashire supporters who had sat with me for the previous two days already firmly in his seat. There was too, a little along from us, the occupant of a house immediately outside the ground. He sat on a garden bench in a gap cut in his hedge to provide a personal viewing platform with a raised view of the cricket. He certainly had full value on this day.
Lancashire had declared overnight, and Somerset began with a mixture of firm defence and some early well-struck boundaries. Steven Davies found two balls in Tom Bailey’s second over sufficiently inviting to drive them through the covers with that smoothness of stroke which can cause a ball to reach the boundary without apparently making a sound as it leaves his bat. Both ran to the large hospitality tent next to the clubhouse as if they were part of the package. Matthew Renshaw drove Bailey square off the back foot to the same boundary with equal ease, if with less finesse.
But, once the bowlers had settled, runs came at a premium, Somerset concentrating on keeping the ball out. For Lancashire, 21-year-old Jack Morley, in only his second Championship match, looked threatening with his left arm spin. “He’s still a second team bowler,” said the Lancashire supporter with me. He did though persuade one ball to bounce, reminding of the comment about van der Merwe’s bowling on the previous day, though Renshaw scrambled a single as the ball popped up off the bat, just evading the short leg fielder.
After 11 overs, Somerset had battled their way to 23, the ball being left at every opportunity. Out of the slow grind Renshaw suddenly attacked Morley, drove him hard and straight, but straight into Morley’s hands. Morley looked surprised, Renshaw looked stunned, the Somerset heart sank, and the Lancashire crowd burst into applause. It was the beginning of a golden patch for Morley. By the end of the 20th over, with 76 remaining to be bowled, Somerset were 44 for 3, and Morley had taken all three in seven overs. Davies the second to go, caught at leg slip trying to clip to fine leg. There was no leg slip, but Rob Jones ran from slip to take the catch. “Well anticipated,” the comment of my Lancastrian colleague. Davies had scored two since his second boundary, 13 overs before, an indication of the intensity of the cricket. George Bartlett soon followed. Having guided Morley to fine leg for two, he repeated the stroke, missed and was given out leg before wicket.
Now the tension bit, the hush in the ground nothing to do with the large numbers of empty seats and everything to do with the long road stretching ahead of Somerset. Tom Lammonby though, in free-flowing mode despite the tightness of the match, was using his feet to Morley. He had driven him to the midwicket boundary and cut and pulled Will Williams for four. The newly arrived Lewis Goldsworthy, Somerset’s first innings centurion, took the more traditional approach to saving a game and constantly came forward or went back in defence to the spinner. It is the way it has been done down the ages, but it tweaks the nerve ends of the spectator for it draws fielders close to the wicket. Every stretch forward or step back, as Morley sought the edge or to pass it, raised the hopes of Lancashire supporters and the fears of Somerset ones. The quiet as the ball left the bowler’s hand was all-enveloping, two isolated, oblivious conversations apart.
Over the next eight overs, Lammonby squeezed five singles, Goldsworthy did not score, and the tension gripped ever harder. Then, with lunch approaching, Goldsworthy broke the spell with three boundaries in three overs. Three exquisite strokes. A cover drive off the back foot off Morley, a square drive, again off the back foot, off Luke Wood followed by a guide past the slips with an angled bat. “Lovely play,” said my Lancashire colleague, county allegiance giving way to an appreciation of good cricket. Lammonby attacked too, a reverse sweep and a paddle sweep, both off Morley, both for two as Somerset freed their arms and relaxed the tension a notch. They reached lunch on 74 for 3, 104 behind, with Lammonby on 32 and Goldsworthy on 13.
Two overs after lunch the game was back on a knife edge, the hush in the crowd so palpable a knife could have cut it. With three close catchers, slip, leg slip and short leg crowding him, Lammonby, continuing to take the attack to Lancashire, attempted successive paddle sweeps against Morley. The first shot over Jones’ head at leg slip. He got a hand to it, jumping up and backwards, but palmed the ball to the frustration of Dane Vilas behind the stumps. The second looped to Jennings at short leg off the toe of the bat and Somerset were 75 for 4. Excited applause from Lancashire supporters. Dropped jaws and disbelieving eyes from Somerset ones.
Lammonby’s wicket brought Somerset’s two youngest players and first innings top scorers, Goldsworthy and James Rew, together. The main threat facing them, Lancashire’s youngest player, Morley. Two 21-year-olds and an 18-year-old, two fighting relegation and one striving for the Championship. Around the ground, a crowd, mostly old enough to be their grandparents, all held in thrall by the intensity of the duel which unfolded in front of them. Morley began to give the ball more air, Goldsworthy began to look for the ball to hit and Rew defended his wicket with the uncompromising air of a red traffic light.
To Rew, Morley employed a slip, leg slip, short leg and silly mid-off. Rew, compact, behind the ball, repeatedly defended. Morley found a ‘spot’, the ball spat, lifted, beat Rew and the keeper. No-one dropped a pin. Had they, the sound would have echoed around the cavern of silence which the ground had become. Bailey, trying off breaks, dropped short. Goldsworthy pounced, pulled him for four. Two balls later, he over pitched. Goldsworthy drove through the covers to the ice cream van. Momentarily those boundaries released the pressure on Somerset. When Wells replaced Bailey to bring spin to both ends, the hush returned and tightened its grip as Somerset quickly reverted to defence and were kept to six runs in five overs. “Cricket is a wonderful game,” said my Lancashire colleague quietly through the hush. “Every ball brings threat and carries potential.”
Sometimes, when tension bites, it is easier to walk awhile. It relieves the tension, and it doesn’t. The tension bites less sharply than when you are sitting, but the eyes refuse to miss a ball and the pit of the stomach wells up each time the bowler reaches the crease. For ten overs I wandered along the railway boundary, around the Grosvenor Road End, taking care only to pass behind the bar between overs, and back again. Others manage the tension in other ways. Most just sit and suffer its interminable clawing. One group quietly discussed football, Oldham Athletic and Crewe Alexandra their teams of choice. Another preferred non-league football. But the eyes of none departed from the cricket when the ball was bowled.
My overriding impression of those ten overs was of Lancashire rotating their bowlers, searching for another breakthrough, and of Rew defending intensely, repeatedly pushing the ball no more than a few yards. The Somerset score crept up at two runs an over and a bit. An occasional boundary from Goldsworthy gave the scoreboard a welcome boost, and I was beginning to calculate how close to the close Somerset might have to bat if they could build a lead.
As I returned to my seat, Goldsworthy drove Williams off the back foot through the covers to the railway boundary to a Lancastrian comment of, “Nice shot that.” When Morley beat Rew the ball beat Vilas too and four byes further boosted Somerset’s total. By now tea was approaching and I was calculating Somerset’s shrinking deficit after every over and matching it against the overs left in the day. Two balls before the interval, Goldsworthy cut Wells’ spin backward of point to the railway boundary for another four and Somerset left the field on 151 for 4, Goldsworthy 58, Rew 19 from 106 balls. They were 27 behind with a minimum of 29 overs remaining, although with spinners bowling so many overs it would be several more than that and, if they chose, Lancashire could have a good burst with the new ball.
A reality emerged from my calculations. Somerset would need to bat most of the evening session. Set against that, six wickets still stood, and the inevitable beaten bat and harmless edge apart, Goldsworthy and Rew were well set. The combined first innings of the two sides totalled nearly 1100 runs, only four wickets had fallen in the first two sessions of the final day and none for the preceding two hours. A neutral observer might already have had the match slated as a draw. But few in the ground were neutral observers and the committed faces in the seats were taut and still enveloped in that intense hush.
Intervals break concentration. The tea interval may have broken Rew’s. Morley continued from the Harrod Drive End from where he had bowled most of the afternoon. Off the 108th ball of his innings Rew drove through the covers to the railway boundary for only his second four. Two balls later he went back in defence, Morley found another ‘spot’. The ball bounced and turned, and Jennings leapt forward from short leg to take the catch. Rew had scored 23 in ten minutes short of two hours, added 80 with Goldsworthy and Morley had his fifth wicket. It had been an exceptional afternoon’s cricket from the three youngsters.
Rew’s wicket sustained the tension into which walked Lewis Gregory. What goes on in a cricketer’s mind in the middle is probably known only to the cricketer. From beyond the boundary, Gregory gives the impression of being the most laid-back cricketer imaginable even when he is playing intently in defence as he did when he played out a maiden to his first over from Morley. In his second, to the first ball, he stepped away to leg and drove square off the back foot for four as if he were playing in the park on a Sunday afternoon. He seemed just as relaxed as he cut a looping ball from Wells backward of point to the railway for another four and then drove Morley through the covers to the clubhouse for four more. That took Somerset to within three runs of Lancashire with five wickets and a minimum of 20 overs remaining. On the other side of the scales, there was a push short of silly point, another short of silly mid-off and a rap on the pads, all off Morley to exasperated gasps from Lancashire supporters. But Gregory’s runs were tightening the equation for Lancashire and the tension for their supporters. Perhaps Morley sensed it, for my Lancashire colleague said, “He has stopped giving it air.”
Goldsworthy meanwhile was as solid as he had been all day, not giving an inch and pouncing on Wells when he pitched short to pull him for four. It was Gregory though who finally took Somerset into the lead with a pull for four off Morley, wide of midwicket and into the area where the group of Somerset supporters had been sitting in the shade under the same tree for four days. With that stroke, each run now scored would need to be scored again by Lancashire, and there were still those five Somerset wickets to be taken. A minimum of 18 overs remained, perhaps four or five more. Lancashire’s task was growing perceptibly more difficult with each passing over.
Lancashire took the new ball at the earliest opportunity. It sparked discussion among their supporters for Morley’s left arm spin had taken all five wickets to fall. It must have been a difficult call for Vilas. But Morley was looking less effective and must have been tiring having already bowled 31 overs. He had also taken only one wicket in the last 47 overs of play. The new ball was taken by Bailey and Williams. In Williams’ first over, from the Harrod Drive End, Gregory twice cut him through backward point for four, relaxing the pressure again before driving him straight to Bohannon at extra cover and tightening it again. Gregory departed for 25 scored in less than three-quarters of an hour. He had accelerated Somerset into the lead, but that lead was just 11 with perhaps 20 overs still to be bowled. The wicket kept the door open for Lancashire, or so it felt to anxious Somerset supporters. Perhaps to Lancashire supporters too. One was massaging the back of his neck whilst flexing its muscles by moving his head forward and back. A neutral observer might have been more sanguine, but cricket is not the same game for neutral observers.
With the idiosyncratic, in batting terms at least, van der Merwe now at the wicket all Somerset supporters could do was hold their breath. He and Goldsworthy took the cautious approach, gnawing away at Lancashire’s overs with a straight bat. That tension was still gnawing away at the crowd was evident from a discussion about whether or not the clock on the scoreboard was a minute slow. The umpires settled the issue by signalling the final hour. Sixteen overs remained, perhaps one or two more if Lancashire reverted to their spinners.
Lancashire stuck with Bailey and Williams. Van der Merwe reverted to type with an uppercut for four off Bailey and a call of, “No! No! No! Yes. Come on!” when Morley returned at the Harrod Drive End. Goldsworthy reached 70 with a single to the comment, “The young lad has played brilliantly!” from my Lancashire colleague. Four from van der Merwe, struck through the covers off Wood, took Somerset 28 runs into the lead with 12, perhaps 13 overs remaining. “We lose two overs for the change of innings,” someone said which seemed to deflate the Lancashire hope, until Wood’s next ball lifted and surprised van der Merwe who fended it to Jennings at short leg.
A slither of Lancashire hope had returned, but it was quietly extinguished by the calm way in which Peter Siddle and the ever-present Goldsworthy played out the next five overs for seven runs. With Somerset 35 ahead and effectively five overs left in the day the players shook hands, as did I with my Lancashire colleague. We had spent three wonderful days together in the gentle ambience of Southport and Birkdale Cricket Club. We had watched a match which had varied from relaxed high scoring to intense tension. We had seen an outstanding innings from Keaton Jennings and in Lewis Goldsworthy, James Rew and Jack Morley we had seen the three youngest players in the match make their mark.
In one sense, the enjoyment my Lancashire colleague and I had had in each other’s company made the result irrelevant. But it wasn’t irrelevant. With Surrey winning at Scarborough, it dealt Lancashire’s Championship hopes a shuddering blow. They were now 28 points behind the leaders. Somerset were still in the relegation zone but, and it was an important but, they had fought hard for four days to achieve their first draw of the season. With draws carrying so much weight this year, and after losing five of their seven matches prior to this one, the way in which Somerset fought, along with the performances of Goldsworthy and Rew, may have been the most important aspects of this match for Somerset.
Result. Somerset 446 (L.P. Goldsworthy 130, J.E.K. Rew 70, R.E. van der Merwe 55, W.S.A. Williams 3-85) and 213 for 7 (L.P. Goldsworthy 73*, J.P. Morley 5-69). Lancashire 624 for 9 dec (K.K. Jennings 318, L.W.P. Wells 109, J.J. Bohannon 91, R.E. van der Merwe 5-174, M.T. Renshaw 3-29). Match drawn. Lancashire 15 points. Somerset 11 points.
Elsewhere in Division 1.
Canterbury. Northamptonshire 303 (E.N. Gay 112) and 396 for 8 dec (R.D. Rickelton 133). Kent 335 and 161 (S.C. Kerrigan 5-43). Northamptonshire won by 203 runs. Northamptonshire 22 points. Kent 6 points.
Chelmsford. Gloucestershire 136 (S.R. Harmer 5-44) and 252 (S.R. Harmer 8-112). Essex 310 (Sir A.N. Cook 145, Zafar Gohar 5-84) and 79 for 1. Essex win by nine wickets. Essex 22 points. Gloucestershire 2 points.
Scarborough. Yorkshire 521 (A. Lyth 183, J.A. Tattersall 180*) and 220 (J. Overton 6-61). Surrey 515 (R.J. Burns 132, D.M. Bess 5-126) and 228 for 6. Surrey won by 4 wickets. Surrey 22 point. Yorkshire 5 points.
Southampton. Warwickshire 217 (K.J. Abbott 5-45) and 243. Hampshire 370 (O.J. Hannon-Dalby 5-86) and 91 for 2. Hampshire won by eight wickets. Hampshire 23 points. Warwickshire 4 points.
P Pl W L D Ded* Pts
1. 9 5 0 4 0 165 Surrey
2. 9 6 2 1 -2 150 Hampshire
3. 9 3 1 5 0 137 Lancashire
4. 8 4 1 3 0 118 Essex
5. 8 1 1 6 0 103 Northamptonshire
6. 8 1 2 5 -2 101 Yorkshire
7. 9 1 3 5 -1 95 Warwickshire
8. 9 1 3 5 -3 90 Kent
9. 8 2 5 1 0 72 Somerset
10. 9 0 6 3 -3 55 Gloucestershire
*All deducted points were the result of slow over rates.
'Farmer White' Somerset Cricket Writing 