County Championship 2022. Division 1. Surrey v Somerset. 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th April 2022. The Oval.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable for selection by Somerset through injury.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, M.T. Renshaw, T.B. Abell (c), T. Banton, J.C. Hildreth, S.M. Davies (w), C. Overton, J.H. Davey, J. Leach, P.M. Siddle, J.A. Brooks.

Surrey. R.J. Burns (c), R.S. Patel, H.M. Amla, O.J.D. Pope, B.T. Foakes (w), S.M. Curran, W.G. Jacks, J. Overton, J. Clark, J.P.A. Taylor, R.J.W. Topley.

Overnight. Somerset 283 for 6.

Second day 22nd April – On a knife-edge

When Ollie Pope hooked Craig Overton high towards deep square leg it seemed that it was merely a continuation of the burgeoning Foakes-Pope partnership which had already added 80 runs to Surrey’s shaky 48 for 3 start in response to Somerset’s first innings 337. Tom Banton was running flat out along the boundary from deep midwicket towards the gasometer, but it looked like a hopelessly forlorn attempt to stop a boundary. Then, he took off, dived full length towards the falling ball, stretched out his hand and, unbelievably it seemed from my seat beyond the Vauxhall End sight screen, caught it one-handed, inches above the grass. Video replays do not do the catch justice. It looked far more spectacular in the flesh and, frankly, uncatchable.

From a spectator perspective it was the catch of a lifetime. There was an audible gasp around the ground when it was taken and a spontaneous outbreak of applause before the applause for Pope’s suddenly truncated innings broke out. The Somerset team, led by Overton, charged across the ground as if they had just seen a comrade unexpectedly returning from a period of extended banishment. As champagne moments go it was a veritable Balthazar. It may not have changed the match, and it did not return it to where it would have been if, with Ben Foakes on two and Surrey on 59 for 3, Banton had held onto one of the simplest catches you will see go down in another lifetime of watching first-class cricket. Foakes had chipped a ball from Josh Davey straight into Banton’s hands, knee high at midwicket from where it dropped to the ground. At that point Banton might have applied for instant banishment, but that impossible catch to remove Pope breathtakingly and instantly rehabilitated him.  

The impact on the swaying balance of the match of those two incidents was indicative of a day of nip and tuck cricket from which neither side emerged with a clear advantage. In fact, the match lived on a knife-edge all day. At the start, Somerset might have hoped their final four wickets would add more than 54 runs after Surrey had fought their way back into the match in the latter part of the first day. The supporter sporting a Somerset tie, brightly striped jacket and Panama hat who held up two hands with fingers crossed as he walked by before the start certainly did. But, perhaps, the covering of forbidding grey cloud and the floodlights being on before the start offered a more realistic slant on Somerset’s prospects. As it was, only Tom Abell, continuing his overnight century, was able to make headway. Otherwise, a pair of back foot drives through the covers to the boundary from Davey brought initial hope, but he was leaving the field soon after the second for 27. Defending, he edged Jordan Clark, arrow straight, chest high and straight into Will Jacks’ hands at second slip. There was no mistake from Jacks and Somerset’s first innings had faltered to 296 for 7.

From there, Somerset batted another 16 overs in which Surrey kept them to 41runs, 25 of those coming from Abell. Ten of the 41 came in one over from Reece Topley, the final of his opening spell, including on and straight drives to the Vauxhall End, both from Abell. Seventeen of those final 41 runs came in singles as Surrey pushed the field back each time Abell came on strike and brought it in if he was facing as the end of an over approached. Jamie Overton even emitted a shriek of frustration when Abell squeezed a single from the final ball of one of his overs. Working within the constraints imposed by Surrey, Abell edged Somerset forward, reaching 150 not out, his highest first-class score. Only Jack Leach among the tail, defending alongside Abell for nearly an hour for six, offered extended resistance before popping a ball from Overton to Rory Burns running in from mid-on. Peter Siddle was brilliantly run out by Sam Curran after cutting James Taylor through backward point towards the Galadari Stand boundary from where the throw either hit the stumps or was taken by Foakes too close to differentiate from my seat at the opposite end of the ground. The quick end of Brooks was easier to see, caught at first slip for a six-ball duck by Overton moving to his right off the returning Topley. Surrey’s innings would now determine the value of Somerset’s 337. It was perhaps a par score for the pitch, but from the heights of 223 for 3 it left a tinge of disappointment.

Rory Burns and Ryan Patel faced six overs from Overton and Siddle before lunch, each side testing the other. In these early exchanges, Patel was beaten once and suffered a leg before wicket appeal, both off Siddle, Burns drove Overton through the covers to the Galadari boundary and Overton replied with a pair of short-pitched deliveries to a cry of, “Come on Craig O,” from Abell. In the end though the players walked off for lunch with Surrey on 14 for 0 and honours even, both in the match and in that short period of play before the interval.

As always at the Oval, spectators were welcomed onto the outfield at lunchtime and again took up the offer in large numbers. Seasoned County Championship attendees dawdled their way around as is their wont at grounds across the country in a tradition as old as county cricket itself. They go about their business in ones, twos and threes discussing cricket ancient and modern and meeting old friends who they perhaps only see at the cricket, in some instances once a year. Looked at from the back of a stand it gives the impression of a mass ballet performing like a slowly gyrating kaleidoscope. It is a practice as much part of county cricket as leg before wicket appeals and spectators completing their own scorecards.  

On this day though this group of primarily white, ageing men in mostly casual clothes was joined by another group invited onto the outfield. For most of the morning a couple of classes of young Asian schoolchildren as well turned out as the Somerset supporter with the crossed fingers, their uniforms as smart as his jacket, had been sitting in a block not too far along from me at the Vauxhall End. They applauded the cricket, cheered the Surrey bowling successes and chanted, “Surrey! Surrey! Surrey!” when Surrey batted. Once the players had left the field they were formed into an orderly crocodile and led to a perimeter gate. Once through it they were immediately transformed into an exuberant cavalry charge and ran pell mell and cheering onto the outfield wreathed in smiles. It was as perfect an exhibition of sheer joy as you could hope to see, and it brought instant smiles to the faces of the more traditional lunchtime occupants of the outfield. Some of English cricket’s living history meeting some of English cricket’s future. In terms of the joy of being at a cricket match, there seemed to be a meeting of minds even if it was expressed in wildly different ways.

And then, the return of the players. Within two overs, Overton had beaten Burns with successive deliveries and Patel had cut Siddle uppishly towards Jack Leach at backward point. The ball travelled like the proverbial bullet and was clearing Leach’s head when he reached up, parried it and caught it as it fell. It was an outstanding catch. Surrey 16 for 1. Patel 5. That brough Hashim Amla to the wicket and some lively bowling from Overton. Twice Amla responded with boundaries, one driven square through the on side to the Galadari Stand and one turned behind square. Twice Overton let rip colossal leg before wicket appeals and twice the umpire was unmoved. “That second one looked very out to me,” the view from South America where a travelling club cricketer was watching the live stream. Championship cricket has a long reach.

Burns meanwhile had taken root, scoring 12 in an hour. “Come on lads!” implored Abell as Overton powered in from the Pavilion End. Before the over was out, Burns, slightly tied up by a fast, full ball, edged low and straight towards Hildreth at first slip, too low to have carried. Davies dived full-length across Hildreth, arms outstretched in front of him, and took the ball shin high. It was another exceptional catch and Surrey were 34 for 2 in the 15^th over. At the Vauxhall End, Siddle gave way to Jack Brooks, and after being driven and clipped to the boundary in his first over by Ollie Pope, in his second, headband to the fore, he charged in and found the edge of Amla’s bat, Overton taking the catch in the slips. The effect was instantaneous. It was as if some earth-shattering event had just taken place. Brooks ran headlong into and through the slips and on towards the boundary as if bearing the momentous news. The rest of the Somerset team set off in tumultuous pursuit and Somerset supporters cheered.. The Surrey crowd, looking on open mouthed, were stunned into silence as Amla walked off for 15. The two ends of the emotional seesaw at which opposing supporters sit in sport was never more eloquently illustrated.

With Surrey 48 for 3, Ben Foakes walked out into the numbing silence to join Pope. The latter though continued to show threat with a cover drive to the Galadari Stand off Brooks. And then, with Somerset pushing hard, came that Banton drop of Foakes. Had it been taken, Surrey would have been 59 for 4, still 278 behind. Two of the slip fielders covered their eyes with their hands as if they could not bear to look. Davey, the bowler, expressed no obvious emotion, and simply turned and walked back to his mark, but the disappointment must have been intense for it released the pressure Somerset had so assiduously built since the start of the Surrey innings.

From there, Pope and Foakes took Surrey forward, slowly at first, 29 runs in the next 13 overs. Siddle and Davey were particularly parsimonious, and Surrey took no risks against them. Abell and the rest of the infield constantly shouted encouragement. When their spells were spent, Leach continued to hold Surrey in check with a virtually runless short spell, a stunning on drive and clip for four from Foakes apart. Only Brooks, from the Pavilion End, released any pressure, conceding 18 runs in the final four overs before tea, not least a pair of on side boundaries from Foakes. Surrey had had to battle, but crucially they had lost no more wickets and reached tea on 118 for 3. Pope on 43 and Foakes on 39. Both looked well set and the balance of the match was threatening to move towards Surrey.

From there, immediately after tea, a strikingly powerful off drive from Pope off Davey to the boundary in front of the gasometer threw down a gauntlet to Somerset. Three overs later the gauntlet was snatched up by Banton with that once in a lifetime catch. He could not have run along the boundary faster or farther to take that catch, he could not have dived an inch further, he could not have stretched his arm an inch further, and his hand had no more than inches to spare between it and the grass. The entire crowd gasped its astonishment and burst into spontaneous applause, Surrey and Somerset supporters alike. It was a piece of fielding that stood above partisanship. As if in celebration, the lights came on and a contest which had been fought toe-to-toe from the start of the first day resumed with Pope gone for 47, Surrey on 128 for 4, and Somerset holding a 209-run lead with, it felt, just the advantage.

In response, Sam Curran, who joined Foakes, took a few overs to recalibrate before Surrey charged forward again. Curran drove Davey straight to the Vauxhall End and pulled Overton to the boundary in front of the Archbishop Tenison school. Foakes drove Brooks off the back foot through the covers to the gasometer raising his fifty in the process and, two balls later, cut him hard to the Galadari boundary before Curran cut Overton hard and square for four more. At 164 for 4 Surrey had added 31 runs in five overs and the ground-wide hushed chatter suggested a match again back in balance .

Under pressure, Abell turned to Siddle and Leach. They bowled five successive maidens, each one ratcheting up the tension another notch. Somerset were holding the Surrey charge, but they could not break through. The tension bit harder with each passing over. “Something has to give,” someone mumbled. As if in response, Foakes drove Leach through the off side for four and Curran drove Siddle straight to the Pavilion. Whether that was another gauntlet thrown down or simply an attempt to break the stranglehold was impossible to tell from beyond the boundary.

Now, Siddle threw down a gauntlet of his own with an excellent piece of bowling. First, he beat the defensive stroke of Foakes with a ball which moved away. Then, he pitched full, angled in on the stumps. Foakes moved to defend and edged straight into the midriff of Matthew Renshaw at second slip. Had Foakes missed the ball, a replay shows, it would have been as certain a leg before wicket dismissal as you could hope to see. Siddle’s arm was raised aloft in absolute joy as he rushed off to meet the slips coming the other way and Surrey were 173 for 5. 154 behind. Foakes 63. With the lights looking like being on for the rest of the day, the match had edged a stump’s width Somerset’s way again.

Enter Will Jacks. With a batter of Jacks’ quality walking to the wicket at number seven, the strength of the Surrey batting begins to make itself felt. The Somerset bowlers still pressed, and the fielding was electric, the fielders on the ball in an instant if there was the prospect of stopping a run. But Surrey pushed back. Curran found the boundary three times. Although once, off Brooks, it was off the edge and not far wide of second slip. The atmosphere was electric too, neither set of supporters able to relax, taut faces were everywhere, some sections of the crowd excepted where the occupants had perhaps taken advantage of their Friday night freedoms to visit the bars.

In the end, Curran and Jacks held firm and saw Surrey to the close. At 204 for 5, 133 behind, a neutral might have had the match even again, but with Curran and Jacks at the wicket, from an anxious Somerset perspective, it felt like Surrey held the thinnest of edges. What is certain, this is not a match which you can take your eye off, for neither team has been ahead for long. And just one final word. In such a contest, individual performances make crucial differences. On the second day, for Surrey, the Pope-Foakes partnership was crucial. For Somerset, Banton’s drop and his catch both made crucial contributions in their different ways. But for quiet persistence, Peter Siddle’s bowling analysis of 17-2-23-2, was crucial in keeping this game on a knife-edge ahead of the resumption on the morrow.

Close. Somerset 337 (T.B. Abell 150*, J.C. Hildreth 54, M.T. Renshaw 48, R.J.W. Topley 3-62, J. Clark 3-66). Surrey 204 for 5. Surrey trail by 133 runs with five first innings wickets standing.