County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Warwickshire. 6^th,7^th, 8^th and 9^th April. Taunton.

The author was unable to attend the final day of this match due to travelling to London for a non-cricket-related event which takes place once every five years over the Easter weekend. The first two days on which play was possible were attended normally. The final day was followed online as the day unfolded and with subsequent access to the Somerset CCC live stream.

Tom Abell had not fully recovered from a winter injury but played for the second team as part of his recovery whilst this match was in progress.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, C.T. Bancroft, T.Kohler-Cadmore, G.A. Bartlett, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory (c), C. Overton, J.H. Davey,  M.J. Leach, P.M. Siddle.

Warwickshire. W.M.H. Rhodes (c), E.G. Barnard, M.G.K. Burgess (c), S.R. Hain, A.L. Davies, J.G. Bethell, D.R. Mousley, R.M. Yates, O.J. Hannon-Dalby, Hasan Ali, C. Rushworth.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

Second day 6^th April – Carpe Diem – Gregory and Davey seize the day

Easter was early this year, and the cricket season began before the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, if only just. At least it did in most of the country. At Taunton, it was delayed a day, until Good Friday. The outfield had had more than its fill of rain and the areas in front of the Trescothick and Colin Atkinson Pavilions were too wet to accommodate the scurrying feet of cricketers. There had been work on the outfield in the winter, March rainfall was more than one and a half times its normal allocation and it had taken its toll. Black sheeting covered the area in front of the Colin Atkinson Pavilion and the boundary rope had been brought in 15 metres or so to accommodate it. Sand too had been distributed over much of the outfield, was clearly visible in front of the Trescothick Pavilion and in many parts of the ground erupted in explosive puffs when a ball hit through the air touched ground. Just enough space and dryness remained to squeeze in a first-class cricket match and a pair of can-do umpires called a start with only eight overs lost from the second day.

The sky was blue save for a few wispy clouds, the sun was bright, and the oilseed on the Quantocks glowed in all its spring glory. A good crowd buzzed with expectation and the bright, new white seats of the refurbished Somerset Stand were well-populated as was the top of the Trescothick Pavilion where I had taken my seat. The Ondaatje seats were popular too even though they were a very long way from the pitch which, of necessity, was well over towards the Somerset Stand. The Ondaatje does though benefit from any warmth in the sun all day, something denied the Somerset Stand as the day wears on and the Trescothick Pavilion until the early evening.

Somerset won the toss and, following the advice of W.G. Grace, opted to bat despite the conditions and the late start to the match. Sean Dickson, newly arrived from Durham, made a positive start, by opening the face to drive Chris Rushworth through backward point to the Ondaatje boundary for four. But, when he tried to repeat the stroke at the other end against a, perhaps deliberately, for it was well-placed to tempt the drive, widish ball from Oliver Hannon-Dalby he drove straight to Ed Barnard at point and Somerset were 13 for 1. Dickson five. Déjà vu it seemed for long-suffering Somerset supporters used to poor starts.

Tom Lammonby had worked hard throughout 2022 to establish himself as an opener despite not looking a natural for the role. With Somerset’s new overseas signing, Cameron Bancroft, he fought to establish the Somerset innings against some probing bowling. Just five runs came from the next six overs as they defended or avoided the ball. It was a tense watch despite the healthy new-season chatter in the stands where the detritus of winter and hopes for the summer intermingled in the conversation. In those six overs Warwickshire employed four slips, bats were beaten three times, leg before wicket was heavily appealed for twice, two of the five runs came off the edge and one off the pads. Cricket in embryonic April.

Bancroft plays straight and correctly and eventually cajoled the scoreboard into action with a neat glance to Gimblett’s Hill off Hasan Ali. If there is a single word to describe Bancroft’s style it is ‘neat’. He and Lammonby pushed Somerset towards lunch with an uncommonly high proportion of twos, the underlying dampness in the outfield perhaps acting as a brake on the ball. Bancroft looked confident and his stroke play drew cheers from the crowd despite the ball’s reluctance to cross the boundary. When Lammonby struck Hasan straight back to the Lord Ian Botham Stand boundary it brought a shout of, “Go on lads!” and more cheers. When he clipped Barnard emphatically square to the short Somerset Stand boundary someone asked, “Shot of the morning?” “No,” the reply, “The shot of the morning was the straight drive.” Differentiating between the two was a harsh call, but Somerset were beginning to move.

The crowd was buoyant beyond the normal first day of the season elation, and a late cut off Rushworth from Bancroft which brought yet another two and Somerset’s fifty generated another outbreak of cheers. It had been one of Somerset’s better starts until, to the first ball of the final over before lunch, Lammonby pushed at a ball from Barnard and edged to Michael Burgess behind the stumps. Somerset 52 for 2. Lammonby 22. Disappointment dragged down on home supporters, but, after the washout of the first day, there had been cricket, the sun was shining, and the Quantocks stood proud in their spring glory. It was good to be back.

I began the afternoon session with my first foray of the season to the terrace at the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. It normally affords a view from over the umpire’s head, but on this occasion, the pitch was so far over towards the Somerset Stand the nearest I could get was a view over the head of the non-striking batter. Ed Barnard, newly arrived at Warwickshire from Worcestershire, was bowling from beneath me. Twice in the over, which had begun before the interval with Lammonby’s wicket, Bancroft cut the ball, once through backward point and once through point, both to the Somerset Stand for four. “That was nice, wasn’t it?” someone said to me referring to the strokes and perhaps to the neat precision with which they were played.

From there though the bowlers re-established control and it was another eight overs before the ball found its way back to the boundary. Then, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, newly arrived from Yorkshire, announced himself to the Somerset crowd by pulling Hasan ferociously to the Somerset Stand for four. So ferocious was the stroke, the deep square leg fielder would not have needed to move far to intercept the ball, but any attempt would have been futile. Lest there be any doubt about the quality of stroke of which Kohler-Cadmore is capable, before the over was out, a drive through extra cover to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary was struck with equal precision and force. If Bancroft’s style is neat, Kohler-Cadmore’s is brutal. With Somerset on 77 for 2, the new-season chatter was rich in anticipation.

When Bancroft drove Rushworth through extra cover to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion and Hannon-Dalby, off successive balls, square to the Somerset Stand and again through extra cover to awaken the ghosts from the old Stragglers bar with a stroke they would have happily waited all winter to see, the applause was ringing ever more loudly. “Bancroft has come alive,” someone said. Too soon. Another drive, off Rushworth, flew off the edge and was caught by Robert Yates at first slip. “He was just getting going too,” someone said as Bancroft rapped his pads with his bat in frustration. Somerset were 98 for 3. Bancroft 44. An indeterminate score as the cricketer who sometimes attends matches with me would have said.

Then George Bartlett, after his successful end to the 2022 season, flattered to deceive. A square drive to the Ondaatje boundary off Rushworth was struck with all the apparent ease of a classic Bartlett stroke, but the sluggish outfield and the long boundary at that end of the ground conspired to slow the ball. Encouraged by a shout of, “Come on the ball,” in the end it just outpaced the pursuing fielder. When Ed Barnard replaced Rushworth, an attempted cut at a ball too wide for the stroke to be judicious resulted in Bartlett being caught at the wicket. “That was a bad shot,” the disappointed comment. Somerset 120 for 4. Bartlett 13 in half an hour.

Kohler-Cadmore meanwhile was impressing supporters, although some wondered if he was a little too aggressive for early April. A cut through backward point to the Ondaatje boundary off Barnard brought applause. Then, attempting to defend the next ball, he was tucked up and edged low between keeper and first slip from where Yates reached down and took the catch. Somerset 120 for 5. Kohler-Cadmore 34 in an hour and a half. The rush of wickets brought Lewis Gregory and James Rew to the crease somewhat earlier than they would have liked and they took Somerset to tea in defensive mode, four runs coming in six and a half overs. Even so, the ball continuing to move and Rew edged Barnard waist height, straight to Burgess behind the stumps. The small deflection was clear from the top of the Trescothick Pavilion, but the ball dropped straight to earth. “Look at the bowler’s body language,” someone said as his celebration descended into a head-in-hands pose. Tea followed at 128 for 5, somewhat less than an indeterminate score for Somerset.

By the time the evening session began, most of the occupants of the shade-shrouded Somerset Stand had decanted themselves, either back to their homes, or into other stands where the sun still held sway, most notably the Ondaatje Stand. In the middle, having steered Hasan past the slips to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion for four, the left-handed Rew was bowled. “How did that get through?” the bemused question as Rew stood solidly in front of his stumps with his bat close alongside his pads. The answer, later revealed by a replay, was that the ball had passed through before the bat came down. Somerset 136 for 6. Rew six.

It was an all too familiar start to the season, and the chatter diminished with the fall of each wicket as the anticipation that had filled the start of the day descended into the realisation that this might be another tough season. Somerset were now dependent upon the lower order to compile a defensible score. When Craig Overton was bowled, half-forward, for nought by Barnard, Somerset were 136 for 7 and even a lower order bail-out seemed doubtful. But Lewis Gregory can surprise with innings of stature, and Josh Davey is a better batter than his number nine position in the order suggests. He is inclined to be out once he has established the foundations of an innings when looking good enough to go on, but he can score enough runs to repair some of the early damage.

Now, with Gregory, he helped halt Somerset’s decline. After five wickets had fallen for 38 runs, they added 105 for the eighth wicket in 25 overs. It might not have entirely repaired the damage, but at the top of the Trescothick Stand, it felt like they had given Somerset a chance. They began with a typically Gregorian counterattack, pulsating and incisive. In two overs, Gregory pulled Hasan and Barnard for four and twice steered Barnard through backward point for two. When Warwickshire brought Hannon-Dalby and Rushworth into the attack the batters did not wait to catch breath but continued their assault. Seven came from Hannon-Dalby’s first over, including a drive through extra cover to the old Stragglers area for four. Rushworth conceded 12 in his first over, two fours driven by Davey to the Somerset Stand at deep midwicket and one cut powerfully square to the long boundary.

The crowd had steadily diminished as the afternoon wore on and the temperature fell. In the shaded areas, it was decidedly chilly, unpleasantly so in the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. And yet, as the partnership between Gregory and Davey grew, the applause became ever louder as the pair lifted the crowd from the despond that had descended at 136 for 7. When Gregory leaned into an on drive off Hannon-Dalby towards the Ondaatje Stand the partnership reached fifty, the applause was loud and long and in the next over, Will Rhodes, who had replaced Rushworth began to bowl consistently well wide of off stump and a steer wide of the slips to the Trescothick Pavilion for four apart, Davey left him well alone. Gregory struck two back foot cover drives off Barnard to the Somerset Stand, the second taking Somerset past 200 still seven down and the ground buzzing.

The day was well into the final hour now, but still Gregory and Davey attacked. There was a back foot straight drive from Davey off Rhodes who had begun to bring the ball closer to the stumps, and a reverse sweep which brought particularly enthusiastic cheers off the occasional slow left arm spin of Jacob Bethell. When Davey paused, Gregory took up the attack against the new ball taken by Hannon-Dalby and Hasan, cutting and glancing Hasan to the Caddick Pavilion and Trescothick Pavilion boundaries, the second stroke bringing extended applause for the century partnership. “They’ve turned the game,” someone said. Not quite perhaps, but they had certainly given Somerset some purchase on it after 136 for 7.

The ball from the ever-persevering Hannon-Dalby that struck Davey on the pad and persuaded the umpire to raise his finger came as a shock to the system, for it had come to feel as if the partnership might go on forever. Nothing does of course, not least on a cricket field, and Davey found himself walking off with 42 runs to his name and Somerset on 241 for 8. Davey was applauded all the way from the stumps to the T20 dugouts beyond the long boundary in front of the Caddick Pavilion. “Well batted,” someone shouted as he crossed the rope. It felt like Somerset were in a different world from the one they had been in two hours before, but a cold cricketing brain knew that on a wicket on which such a partnership was possible between a number seven and a number nine was a wicket on which 241 for 8 was some way short of a par score.

Jack Leach is not new to such situations and plays to the state of the match. “He has been here in Test matches,” someone said. Before the close, he had driven Hasan square and through the covers to the Somerset Stand and cut Hannon-Dalby to the Priory Bridge Road boundary before lofting him for four to Gimblett’s Hill to a comment of, “That’s a good shot,” and a shout of, “Well done Jack,” as the now frozen remnants of the crowd continued to shout its encouragement to the end and the, now perhaps a little hazy, Quantocks continued to look down. Somerset were not where they would have wanted to be at the start, but they were better placed than their supporters would have dared hoped at 136 for 7, and they had the momentum.

Close. Somerset 269 for 8.