County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Surrey. 25^th, 26^th and 27^th July. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (back), Roelof van der Merwe (hand), Josh Davey 9rib) and Sonny Baker (back) were all unavailable.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, T. Kohler-Cadmore, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, B.G.F. Green, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, S. Bashir.

Surrey. R.J. Burns (c), D.P. Sibley, T.W.M. Latham, J.L. Smith, B.T. Foakes (w), W.G. Jacks, J. Clark, J. Overton, T. E. Lawes, A.A.P. Atkinson, D.J. Worral.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day 25^th July – A sorry tale

I arrived at the Brian Rose Gates a quarter of an hour before the start and joined an ever-lengthening queue. Out to the road by The Brewhouse when I arrived. Along the road some way by the time my bag had been searched and I was in the ground. It is the first day of the school summer holidays and Surrey are the visitors. The weather was nicely inviting too after a poor forecast. High tufts of cotton wool cloud drifted across the sky accompanied by large patches of azure blue. The sun was warm, the breeze cool. In short: perfect cricket weather. There did not appear to be a significant number of spectators in the ground, but by midday it was clear this was the largest County Championship crowd since before the pandemic. A County Championship match in the school holidays against Surrey, with whom Somerset have had some memorable recent tussles, is still a major draw.

The pitch was set in the centre with the whole outfield in use. At the top of the Trescothick Pavilion, where the lack of sun gave full rein to the breeze, many wore light coats. Beneath a tinge of green, the pitch looked the colour of the dubbin used to clean football boots when Roy Virgin and Graham Atkinson opened the innings for Somerset. Some life must have been expected of it for when Surrey won the toss, they asked Somerset to bat. A frisson of anxiety rippled through the crowd when Dan Worrall bowled the first over from the River End and beat both Tom Lammonby and Sean Dickson, although Dickson replied with a crisp drive through the covers to the Temporary Stand.

From there, the Somerset innings, like so many in recent years, faltered, but unlike many of those others, it failed to revive as the middle and lower order went the way of those at the top. Only Tom Kohler-Cadmore, with his blend of clean hitting flecked with an occasional fortuitous thick edge prospered to any degree. Lammonby set the tone by clipping Worrall neatly through midwicket for four, and then, in his next over, chipping him limply to Jamie Smith at midwicket. Somerset were 12 for 1 in the fifth over. Lammonby eight. “Here we go again,” someone said gloomily.

Tom Abell has looked out of form in recent matches and Surrey welcomed him with four slips. It was off the inside edge though that Abell found the boundary, Worrall again the bowler. Abell was beaten by him too, more than once, before being caught down the leg side by a perfectly positioned Ben Foakes moving neatly to his left as Abell attempted to glance 20-year-old, Tom Lawes. It was a classic Abell dismissal and was met with a groan. The nature of Foakes’ positioning left the question hanging in the air of whether Lawes had deliberately bowled down the leg side to tempt Abell into his nemesis stroke. Somerset 31 for 2. Abell seven.

At the other end, Sean Dickson was trying to establish himself as Surrey toook out the fourth slip. He drove Jordan Clark emphatically back to the Trescothick Pavilion to cries of, “Shot!” and glanced Clark past fine leg to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion but the discipline of the Surrey pace attack restricted Somerset to 32 for 2 in the first 15 overs. Before Somerset could release the pressure, Lawes added to the positive impression he was creating with a spell of neat but probing bowling. Twice in two balls, once defensively and once attempting a cover drive, the ball found the thick edge of Dickson’s bat and ran to the same section of the Hildreth Stand boundary. To the third ball, Dickson offered a defensive prod wide of his body, the ball found the edge again. This time he was well caught at second slip by Tom Latham, reaching up and falling to his right. Somerset were 40 for 3, Dickson 25 and Surrey added a fourth slip to the pressure they were so adroitly applying.

Kohler-Cadmore plays his own game and was soon on the attack, driving Lawes through the covers to the Somerset Stand. Surrey, with five front-line pace bowlers in their side, and despite their early successes, had already turned to the off breaks of Will Jacks in just the 13^th over. Kohler-Cadmore drove him back over his head, the ball crashing into the Lord Ian Botham Stand sight screen for six. George Bartlett, with a reputation among supporters for having poor starts, but for batting long when he does get in, suffered one of his innings where the bowling seems an unfathomable mystery to him. Soon the ball was flying off the edge to Jacks, dropping to his right at third slip to take the catch. Lawes again the bowler. Somerset 57 for 4. Bartlett six. Lawes had taken three of the first four wickets to fall and people were consulting their Playfairs and their phones, I wonder how long it will be before the latter replaces the former, to find out who this young bowler was.

James Rew, not yet 20, was next on the conveyor belt bringing Somerset batters out of the Pavilion. His arrival was marked by a warmth of applause which reflected his contributions with the bat this season, including five Championship centuries. In terms of how they construct a Championship innings, Rew and Kohler-Cadmore could not be more different. Rew would have found himself at home in the Championship of the days of Wight and Alley. The foundations of a Rew innings are laid with meticulous care before the innings is allowed to develop. He came to the wicket in the 20^th over. By lunch, 33 overs had been bowled. Rew had scored four in that time as he worked to establish his innings and shore up the Somerset one.

Kohler-Cadmore is a buccaneer, although he was a little more constrained than his usual swasbuckling self. Even so, he outscored Rew by five to one and arrived at lunch on 32 with 21 of those scored since Rew’s arrival at the wicket. His relative constraint didn’t prevent him from attempting to slog-sweep Jacks into the Somerset Stand and instead getting only enough bat on the ball for it to run to the Gimblett’s Hill boundary. He led a charmed life too as he tried to defend Jamie Overton’s second ball and was dropped by Jacks at third slip. He atoned with a cover drive to the Somerset Stand off Gus Atkinson, but at lunch Surrey stood astride the morning with Somerset on 85 for 4.

Talk at lunchtime turned to Jamie Overton. He apparently left Somerset in part because he wished to open the bowling. Here he was the sixth bowler Surrey used. That was not due to any lack of pace. “He’s still quick,” someone said with feeling and Rew and Kohler-Cadmore played him with care. What impressed though was the discipline, not always present in his Somerset days, with which his pace was used. He conceded only five runs in four overs. About the Surrey attack generally, what impressed was the quality of their five pace bowlers. All looked capable of opening the bowling and all bowled with an intensity capable of forcing errors. 

Lunch also brought the announcement, “During the lunch interval, spectators will be granted access to the outfield.” The old “Spectators are welcome to come onto the outfield during the lunch interval,” seemed more welcoming. Sometimes little things make a difference. Hundreds took up the offer nonetheless, emphasising the integral part that walking on the outfield has played for so many visits to County Championship matches down the years. Wry comments, and some stronger, emphasised the underlying anger about the denial of access hitherto, despite the Club saying the grass had not sufficiently recovered from its winter seeding. Some school-aged children played cricket with tennis balls, five minutes of sheer joy which they will carry throughout their lives and which will help bind them to the Club. And feeling the lushness of the grass underfoot again was a joy.

The ‘perambulation’, as the announcer chose to term it, was over all too soon for many and the players returned. Before I had ambled back to my seat, Rew, perhaps succumbing to the incessant pressure from the Surrey bowlers, attempted to pull Clark, was tucked up, the ball took the top edge and steepled towards the heavens. It was up there long enough to have exchanged greetings with the cricketing gods and was eventually caught by Ben Foakes, eyes focused hard on the ball as he walked slowly towards the stumps. The backbone of so many recent Somerset’s innings was gone. The momentary silence at that thought was audible. Somerset 91 for 5. Rew five. And Surrey’s never-ending supply of pace looked as fresh as ever. The Quantocks looked on, crystal clear with colours as sharp as the Surrey bowling, but they would need some assistance from the cricket to lift the mood.

Kasey Aldridge, taking the injured Lewis Gregory’s place in the order, came in with four slips and the Quantocks behind him. In addition to taking five wickets, Surrey had held Somerset to two and a half runs an over. Kohler-Cadmore momentarily confronted fire with fire, taking ten from an over from Worrall. An angled bat defied the three slips to guide the ball across the rope where the huge portrait of Marcus Trescothick gazed down as it disappeared under the covers. A drive through the off side was kept to two only by a diving fielder. Finally, an on drive to the Hildreth Stand brought four more, but a glance at the scoreboard showing Somerset at 115 for 5 brought a blast of reality.

Now Kohler-Cadmore and Aldridge tried to push Somerset forward with carefully placed singles and twos, Kohler-Cadmore reaching his fifty along the way with a push to midwicket off Clark while Aldridge made good use of the angled bat. A rifle shot of a straight drive to the Trescothick Pavilion boundary from Kohler-Cadmore brought a cry of, “Shot!” and some hope to Somerset supporters. It didn’t last. Aldridge pushed at a ball from Overton. It was perhaps a foot wide of off stump and moved away a little further. It caught the edge and flew to Latham at second slip. Somerset 138 for 6. Aldridge 20. Within an over it was 140 for 7 as Kohler-Cadmore’s innings reached its term when he cut Lawes hard and chopped the ball onto his stumps. Kohler-Cadmore 59. There was generous applause for Kohler-Cadmore but it belied the underlying mood.

Then, a buzz suddenly erupted out of the gloom, electrified by the sight of Craig Overton walking out to face his brother. He had been hit on the head by him at Taunton in 2022 and that added to the fizz of anticipation. Jamie’s first ball, the last of his over, was short. Craig leaned back and guided it to long leg for a single. The fizz re-emerged in Jamie’s next over. For the first ball, the deep leg side catchers were in position. As Jamie ran in, the buzz in the crowd deadened into an expectant hush. The ball was full and on the legs. Craig attempted to glance and found the Gimblett’s Hill boundary with a thick inside edge. Cheers. The second ball was short, in line with off stump. Craig swayed back as the ball whistled past within inches of his chest, supercharging the buzz in the crowd. The third ball was quick, caught the glove as Craig attempted to withdraw the bat and Ben Foakes took a straightforward catch. It had been a short, sharp encounter which held the crowd transfixed. “It didn’t last long,” said a father to his son as they got up to leave, “But it is what we came to see, and it was worth it.” Somerset 145 for 8. Overton five.

There was no recovery from there, although Matt Henry raised a cheer with three drives through the covers off Overton and Lawes. Ben Green found the boundary too, but Atkinson hit Henry twice before having him caught behind trying to hook, while Worrall bowled Green leaving Somerset on 170. Henry 16. Green 9. It had been a sorry tale in the face of an impenetrable wall of Surrey pace bowling and a subdued mumble hung over the ground while stunned faces looked at one another.

My teatime circumnavigation was as leisurely as ever. One of the joys of walking around a cricket ground is you never know who you might bump into. As I passed under the Lord Ian Botham Stand I saw someone I had not seen at the cricket in over a year although he was a regular attendee before the pandemic. “The pandemic broke the habit,” he said, “And it seems a more regulated place than the free and easy place we used to come to.” As we chatted, a huge cheer could be heard from beyond the stand. “A wicket!” I said. The sound of a home crowd when an opposition wicket falls is unmistakable even from the smaller post-pandemic crowds. I looked up at the television set over the bar. On that the Surrey openers were still playing serenely on. The live stream was running behind the action. Two balls later, on the screen, Rory Burns, defending against Henry, edged straight to Overton at second slip and Surrey were 0 for 1.

From that discussion I got as far as the gap between the Lord Ian Botham and Hildreth Stands, a favourite place for people to stop and watch the cricket. There I met another pre-pandemic regular who now comes to the cricket less often. As we caught up and watched, Henry found another edge, this time Dominic Sibley’s. Again, the ball flew straight to Overton at slip and Surrey were 15 for 2. Sibley three. There were huge cheers now, for Somerset were back in the game. “I wonder what a good score is on this pitch?” asked the person I was chatting to. It was more an expression of hope than a question.

I continued my walk, ending behind the covers store talking to someone with whom I had watched Somerset in the years of Richards, Botham and Garner. We had travelled to many away cup matches together in those days and now see each other at Championship matches, home and away. As we talked, Surrey’s Tom Latham and Jamie Smith worked to shore up the innings. After 14 overs they had ground their way to 33 for 2. Few runs, but crucially, no more wickets. There was a tense quiet in the ground and eyes were focused hard on the middle, for with Somerset’s bowlers holding Surrey in check there was hope that the pressure might bring another wicket. I made my way through the quiet and back to my seat.

Within an over, Surrey had broken free. Smith took four successive boundaries from a Craig Overton over bowled from the River End. All came off the middle of the bat, driven through the covers and midwicket, pulled hard in front of square to the somerset Stand and steered neatly past the slip cordon. As each of those boundaries crossed the rope, it hammered a nail into the hopes of Somerset supporters. “Come on Kasey,” shouted Lammonby but the top edge from the left-handed Latham which followed flew harmlessly to the fine leg boundary. Smith attacked Overton again with another on drive which scythed across the outfield to the Garner Gates. He then took eight from an Aldridge over with a straight drive back to the Trescothick Pavilion and a late cut to the Hildreth Stand. That took Somerset’s lead below 100, and with Surrey’s run rate now passing three and a half an over, hope could be felt draining from the ground.

The Surrey onslaught was temporarily halted by some tight overs of off spin from Bashir and two wickets, one from Ben Green and one from Matt Henry. Smith chipped Green straight of midwicket and Lammonby, fielding at shortish midwicket ran sharply to his left and picked the ball one-handed out of the air a foot or so above the ground. It was smoothly done but it was an exceptional catch and just kept Somerset in touch with Surrey who were 78 for 3. Smith, who had looked to be in imperious form, 44. Foakes followed for eight at 94. Henry, bowling quickly to four slips, beat a forward push from Foakes who edged straight to Rew behind the stumps.

Somerset still held a lead of 76. Surrey still had six wickets. Somerset had again gained some purchase on the game. “Another wicket now …” the thought visible on every Somerset supporter’s face. But, before the thought could take root, Surrey’s Latham, with 74 New Zealand Test caps to his name, snatched the initiative back for Surrey. Somerset’s talisman, Overton, returned after the pummelling he had suffered from Smith, and was promptly struck for three more fours in his first over by Latham. The first, pulled straight of midwicket to the Somerset Stand boundary brought the comment, “Too short.” The second surprised Latham with some extra pace and bounce but his late cut just evaded third slip on its way to the Colin Atkinson boundary, and an on drive to Gimblett’s Hill brought up his fifty from 83 balls.

When Aldridge replaced Overton at the Trescothick Pavilion End, Latham attacked him too. An on drive disappeared under the covers next to the Trescothick Pavilion and twice balls drifting onto his legs were guided fine to the Lord Ian Botham Stand. Twelve runs from the over. That took Surrey to 131 for 4, 138 for 4 at the close with Will Jacks slotting in nicely alongside Latham. Surrey were just 32 behind Somerset with those six wickets still in hand. The hopes of 95 for 4 now seemed forlorn and Somerset’s 170 as inadequate as it had seemed when it was made. And yet, supporters still hope. I watched the final over of the innings from next to the ice cream van behind the covers store. In front of me stood an assorted group of twenty or so supporters, like me hanging on until the last in the hope of another wicket but primed to make a beeline for the J.C. White gates the second the final ball of the day had been played.

Close. Somerset 170 (T. Kohler-Cadmore 59, T.E. Lawes 4-41). Surrey 138 for 4. Surrey trail by 32 runs with six first innings wickets standing.