County Championship 2023. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset. 13^th,14^th, 15^th and 16^th April. Trent Bridge.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed, B.M. Duckett, B.T. Slater, J.M. Clarke, L.W. James, S.J. Mullaney (c),T.J. Moores (w), L.A. Patterson-White, B.A. Hutton, S.C.J. Broad, D. Paterson.

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

Toss. Somerset. Elected to field.

First day 13^th April – A tough examination

In mid-afternoon, At 171 for 2, having been put in by Somerset, Nottinghamshire were cruising towards a commanding, perhaps match-winning, total on a pitch that looked to be offering more to bowlers than to batters. Gregory had just dismissed Haseeb Hameed, the second of Nottinghamshire’s openers, after he and Ben Duckett had put on a century opening partnership. Now, Ben Slater pulled Gregory towards the Fox Road boundary. The ball took the top edge and flew high, too high to carry the boundary, over Tom Abell at midwicket. Abell back-pedalled, feet taking short, fast steps, adjusting and re-adjusting to the flight of the ball. Abell’s eyes were locked on the ascending projectile as assuredly as any air defence radar would an incoming missile. His brain must have calculated, re-calculated, and calculated again – distance, velocity, height, rate of climb, shape of trajectory, then rate of fall. As the ball hurtled earthwards, Abell, feet making their final adjustments, leaned back, hands above head, took the ball, fell backwards in a controlled roll, emerged triumphant and was engulfed by smiling Somerset players. It was a spectacularly well-judged catch and Nottinghamshire were 171 for 3.

Lyndon James, eyes and brain perhaps still adjusting to the task in hand shaped to defend Gregory’s next ball. The ball looped easily to first slip, but James was already out. The ball had missed the bat and clipped the top of off stump. Nottinghamshire 171 for 4. In those two balls the feel of the Nottinghamshire innings changed. Suddenly, after the Duckett-led charge of the morning and early afternoon, they looked vulnerable, and a half hour of belligerent resistance from Tom Moores apart, their innings subsided, but not before the last six wickets had added 85 runs. They took Nottinghamshire to 256, which looked a more than competitive total in the conditions. It could have been so much worse from a Somerset perspective.

It was Somerset’s first away match of the season. In Nottingham. My hotel was in Derby. Long journeys are all part of the trials and tribulations of travelling Somerset supporters, based as they are geographically, at one end of the first-class circuit. The Derby hotel price was less than half that of the one in Nottingham. Even with a taxi to the station at Derby, the saving was more than enough to make the additional half-hour train journey each day worthwhile. And so, on the eve of the match, I found myself on a train from the West Country so crowded with students and other assorted returning Easter holiday travellers that the aisles were packed with suitcases, backpacks and various assortments of humanity, moving and stationary. People climbing over and through the resulting obstacle course became a fact of life with the aisle more crowded, cluttered and busy than the climb to the summit of Mount Everest is supposed to be in April.

By some miracle of endurance and skill at traversing obstacle courses on my part and kindness on the part of a student “only going to Bristol,” I found myself in the seat I had reserved. From there I was able to observe the endless two-way traffic which passed up and down the aisle. Where the participants were traversing to and from, I know not. Not one complained about having to negotiate their way around my suitcase. Another used it as a storage rack for her backpack. It was all a testament to the good humour and tolerance of at least one segment of the travelling public. And when I arrived, Derby proved to be as wet as the West Country I had left behind. Oh, the things I do to support Somerset.

Travelling on trains is one of those things. Sitting in stands at either end of the cricket season is another. Cricket is a summer game. The middle of April is not summer. At least it wasn’t in Nottingham on the first day of this match. Arctic winds blew and, as the day went on, the temperature gauge fell faster than that ball which Abell had judged so well. The crowd sat mummified in heavy anoraks, voluminous scarves and bobble hats or hoods while in the middle, 15 men stood, walked or ran about the field pretending it was midsummer. By the end of the day, I was shivering uncontrollably as I and the other hundred or so souls who had stuck to our posts to the bitter end left the ground. The official reason for an early end of play was bad light. It might as easily have been a simple gesture of humanity towards the crowd from the umpires.

As to the cricket, that was worth the trip and the feat of endurance required to watch it. In the end, Nottinghamshire had the better of the day due to the opening partnership between Duckett and Hameed and some less than inspiring pre-lunch bowling from Somerset. But Somerset fought back hard from mid-afternoon and Nottinghamshire responded by removing the Somerset openers before the close of play. Tough conditions, tough cricket, and a form of the game with enough space for a match to swing first one way, then the other and enough time left for a few more twists and turns to bring frozen spectators back through the gates.

Hameed and Duckett began the morning in very different styles. Hameed, playing as if the ball was a suspicious package, did not get off the mark until the 12th over. By then, Duckett had 29 scored mainly square of the wicket, with three cover drives, one off the back foot, and a cut off Josh Davey, all to the Fox Road boundary, to the fore. Somerset’s four slips acted as no deterrent. The crowd, still slowly filtering in, perhaps reached a thousand in number, although it is difficult to estimate in a Test ground. It watched in a silence that suggested it was holding its breath for fear Nottinghamshire might falter. It was so quiet that the rustle of someone’s lunch being unwrapped was the only sound, other than the perpetual traffic from the Radcliffe Road, to break the silence. The Somerset bowling, its strong suit in recent seasons, looked strangely innocuous to the anxious Somerset eye, conscious that Abell had offered Nottinghamshire first use of the wicket. The bat was beaten occasionally but the bowling carried no conviction.

A single off Peter Siddle finally got Hameed off the mark to applause. From there he began to find his scoring feet. He drove Gregory square to the Fox Road boundary in response to which Abell implored, “Come on boys!” A drive off the back foot through the covers in Gregory’s next over confirmed his intent. The stroke which most caught the eye though was the neatest, gentlest of late cuts, bat held low and the ball flowing from it past the slips, although it only ran fast enough for three runs. It was the 17^th over before Hameed drove Gregory straight and powerfully to the Radcliffe Road End boundary, the first stroke of note in the innings to be struck remotely straight. It took Nottinghamshire to 60 for 0. A bottom edge from Duckett which ran to the Radcliffe Road boundary brought the comment from another Somerset supporter, “That could so easily have been played on. We need a wicket rather badly.” Gregory, it is true, was beginning to beat the bat, Hameed’s in particular, but overall, it had been Nottinghamshire’s first hour by some distance. As the score rose, the crowd found its voice and some cheers joined the applause to greet boundaries and quickly taken runs. 

With the runs flowing I decided to take a gentle walk around the boundary, or where that was not possible, behind the stands. It made no difference to Somerset’s travails. I have no notes for those 20 minutes or so of dilatory ambling, but I do have an image of the ball flowing, especially off Duckett’s bat, with rather more ease than was comfortable from a Somerset perspective. Jack Leach was tried from the Pavilion End but was punished to the tune of six an over. Twice in five balls, Duckett swept him for four, taking Nottinghamshire to 106 for 0 in the 26^th over. Then, eleven minutes from lunch, a brief shower drove the players from the field with Somerset in full retreat.

Lunchtime at the cricket. A time to chat about whatever springs to mind. A Nottinghamshire supporter said he was looking forward to the 50-over games at Welbeck. Dredging my memory from days working in Nottinghamshire in the 1970s, I said, “Didn’t there used to be a colliery there? I did a bit of work in Bilsthorpe.” “Yes,” the reply. “I worked down Ollerton pit for ten years.” There followed some talk about the work he did at the coal face where he tended one of the cutting machines. “The most useful tools were a hammer, a chisel and an adjustable spanner.” I wondered about the effect on local communities of the closure of the pits, referring to the closeness and strength of the community spirit I had witnessed in Bilsthorpe. “It must have been devastating,” I said. His only response, said with a sharp intensity of feeling which seemed to resurrect deep emotions from forty or more years before was, “They were terrible places to work. No one should have to work down the pit.”

The cricket resumed with Hameed picking up the pace of his innings. He cut Leach and Craig Overton to the boundary three times, but Duckett never regained his rhythm and Somerset broke through, Duckett leg before wicket to Overton as he played across his pads for 75 from 91 balls. Nottinghamshire 125 for 1. Now Hameed began to play and miss and a drive off Gregory was edged over the slips, although it reached the Pavilion End boundary and took him to 52 from 120 balls. A brief interruption for rain did not break Hameed’s rhythm. He continued to press forward, playing and missing as he went. In an over from Gregory, he played and missed twice, pulled to the deep square leg boundary and played a late cut for two. It was another of the neatest and most delicately executed of late cuts. There were several in his innings, each as delicate as the others. Hameed, when he begins to score is a pleasure to watch and a cover drive to the Fox Road Stand where I sat brought forth a cry of, “Shot!” from in front of me.

Despite the freedom of Hameed’s scoring, the frequency of his playing and missing, particularly against Gregory, invoked that feeling of a wicket coming that anyone who regularly watches cricket will know. Almost immediately, Hameed was well caught by Rew diving down the leg side off an attempted pull. He had batted over three hours for his 65 runs, only beginning to accelerate towards the end. He had though helped take Nottinghamshire to 164 for 2, scored despite the frequent playing and missing which left Somerset supporters wondering how their batters would cope.   

And then came that back-pedalling Abell catch, Gregory’s two wickets in two balls, and Nottinghamshire were 171 for 4. Peter Siddle is a persistently challenging bowler, constantly probing and pressurising the batter. With the first ball of a new spell, he surprised Joe Clark who jabbed down with no foot movement and edged straight to Cameron Bancroft at second slip. The ball hit Bancroft in the chest, fell earthward, bounced off his thigh from where Bancroft caught it as he fell backwards. It was, as much as any are, a straightforward slip catch made spectacular. Nottinghamshire 185 for 5. Next, Stephen Mullaney was late into another rushed defensive stroke against a very full ball from Siddle which struck his pad directly in front of the stumps. Mullaney did not wait for the umpire’s finger but tucked his bat under his arm and walked. Nottinghamshire 186 for 6.

Somerset had taken four wickets in seven overs. Two overs later it rained, and the players walked off for tea. It felt like Somerset were back in the game, although those 106 runs scored so freely before lunch sat heavily in the mind. This was still mid-April when runs tend to be at a premium. Somerset would need to strike quickly after tea if they were to bring the match into equilibrium.

By tea, spectators were huddled in their anoraks, bobble hats and gloves against temperatures so cold it was impossible to sit in the open air in comfort. The building beneath the scoreboard at the Radcliffe Road End houses at its rear a small drinks and snacks outlet. In such conditions, it is a sight as welcome as it is small. By tea, the crowd had become sparse and well-spread but still, a queue formed, mainly for hot chocolate. I joined it. Hot chocolate brought some small if passing relief. Returning to my seat, it was clear the crowd had shrunk even more than it had before tea. Cricket watching was almost a secondary consideration as the mind focused on the piercing cold.

On the field, Overton returned opposite Siddle. He was being used only in short spells, three overs on this occasion. He looked less effective than he normally is and I wondered if he had picked up a slight niggle. In the five overs he and Siddle bowled, Nottinghamshire added 26 runs as Tom Moores attacked the bowling. Overton was glanced and driven through the off side for four and clipped over deep square leg for six while Siddle was driven through the covers for four and then cut for four more. It was a telling response to the four wickets before tea and re turned the momentum to Nottinghamshire.

They lost their seventh wicket at 217 when Liam Patterson-White was leg before wicket for 12 playing across his pads to Gregory. The Fox Road Stand is square of the wicket, but Patterson-White was well back, the appeal from Gregory and the slips was instant and oozed certainty. The umpire was measured and deliberate in his response. His finger began to rise slowly and unhesitatingly until it rested, rock-still. A hanging judge could have done it no better.

Gregory was a constant threat, but Nottinghamshire were scoring quickly. Although Gregory took the last three wickets in seven overs, Nottinghamshire added 39 runs. Moores was finally out for 32, leg before wicket. Gregory added Stuart Broad to his tally in the same over, caught at the wicket by Rew, before Hutton and Paterson added 26 for the last wicket. Paterson was finally caught by Dickson scything Gregory to deep backward point having just taken four from the same stroke. At 256 all out it felt to the seasoned supporter that Nottinghamshire held the advantage. For Somerset, Gregory’s outstanding bowling had earned him career-best figures of 18.5-1-84-7. When Somerset batted, depending on the drift clouds, the light varied from bright with shadows cast by a low winter sun to dark with the lights casting multiple shadows. The cold was now so intense it penetrated to the bone as I shivered in my seat. The stands, the crowd voting with feet, were now populated by a skeleton crew of scattered, motionless souls. Into this winter wonderland walked the Somerset batters as intent on survival as the crowd. Batting was immediately a struggle, Broad beating Tom Lammonby in the first over. In the third, Lammonby edged to the diving keeper but the ball dropped to earth. It connected with Moores’ gloves next to the ground. “He’s dropped it!” someone said but from the distant Fox Road Stand it was impossible to be sure. Off the second ball of the fourth over Dickson was leg before wicket to Hutton and Somerset were 2 for 1. Two balls later Bancroft was hit on the pads to a huge appeal and someone from the depths of their frozen seat shouted, “Come on Notts!” He might as easily have added, “Hurry up. I want to go home.”

Bancroft tried to make some headway for Somerset with three boundaries, although one was fortuitous from an inside edge off Hutton. A cover drive gave more confidence. He was though beaten several times as Somerset battled on. Then Lammonby, getting behind a ball from Hutton, edged it straight to Moores and Somerset were 19 for 2. Abell was met by three slips, a leg slip, his propensity to glance doubtless much in mind, and a short leg. As the light closed in, he was beaten twice in succession by Paterson and struck on the pad to a loud appeal off the next ball. Then after a runless two overs with the light deteriorating fast, the umpires put everyone, except possibly the Nottinghamshire bowlers, out of their misery and called play off for the day. It had been a tough examination for Somerset and a different one for the crowd.

Close. Nottinghamshire 256 (B.M. Duckett 75, H. Hameed 65, L. Gregory 7-84). Somerset 28 for 2. Somerset trail by 228 runs with eight first innings wickets in hand.