County Championship 2023. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset. 13th,14th, 15th and 16th 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.
Overnight. Nottinghamshire 256 and 187 for 6. Somerset 173. Nottinghamshire lead by 270 runs with four second innings wickets standing.Final day 16th April – A comprehensive defeat
“Come on, skittle ‘em out so we can all go home and watch the football,” was the comment, said only half in jest from one of the Nottinghamshire supporters sitting behind me in the lower level of the Radcliffe Road Stand. The football referred to was the match due to start at half past four ‘just across the road’ at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground where Manchester United were the visitors. At Trent Bridge, Tom Lammonby had just been dismissed by Brett Hutton in the fourth over of Somerset’s second innings as a police siren wailed past the ground. “Already,” the voice from behind said, “and it’s still five hours to kick off.” In fact, it was the only police siren I heard all day. Lammonby was hit on the front foot, but there was no question. “It just did enough to beat the inside edge,” said the text from the online watcher. A fair cop it seems, but it was a dismissal indicative of Somerset’s day, and of their match. Not quite at the races might have been an appropriate summary, this being Grand National weekend.
The Somerset bowling, Lewis Gregory apart, had lacked the penetration of the Nottinghamshire attack. Particularly worrying for Somerset supporters, Craig Overton ‘has not fired’ as one lifelong Somerset supporter put it to me. In recent seasons, Somerset have looked a different team, at least the bowling attack has, when he has played. In the first two matches of this season the bowling has looked ordinary. The batting meanwhile has looked brittle, especially in this match, with insufficient discretion, playing attacking strokes when the ball is still new. Tom Abell’s dismissal in the first innings here epitomised that. Two exquisite drives followed by a bat attempting to drive a wider ball which perhaps moved away some more before Ben Duckett dived low at slip to take a spectacular catch. It reduced Somerset’s first innings to 50 for 4, still over 200 behind Nottinghamshire. They never properly recovered.
There was a good last-day crowd, at least in the context of the crowds earlier in the match, people perhaps braving the cold in anticipation of a Nottinghamshire victory. The stands gave the impression of an arctic wasteland dotted about with encampments of heavily winter-clad people determined to see off a coming blizzard. In fact, they were cricket supporters hoping to see their side home in England’s summer game as the last vestiges of winter clung on with some determination. The business end of the match would not start until Nottinghamshire had completed their second innings and Somerset were batting again. Early proceedings consisted of Nottinghamshire’s last three effective wickets, no one expected Tom Moores to bat after his injury, attempting to produce some quick runs with little apparent concern about the risk. Given Somerset would already need to make the highest score of the match in difficult batting conditions and against an attack that had traded in accuracy in the first innings no one expected a Somerset victory.
With no pressure on the batters, Brett Hutton began the day with a leisurely back foot drive through extra cover off Craig Overton for four. When Stephen Mullaney tried to drive Peter Siddle, bowling from the Pavilion End, through the off side the ball ended in the hands of Lewis Gregory at mid-off and Nottinghamshire were 197 for 7. That became 210 for 8 when Stuart Broad swung massively across the line against Gregory and lost his off stump. It was Gregory’s tenth wicket of the match. It was greeted with the same smile as his first and all those in between. Gregory gives every impression of enjoying every moment of his cricket. Broad was his 330th first-class wicket and his third ten-wicket match haul. He has taken five wickets in an innings 16 times. When Sean Dickson ran to catch Brett Hutton off another swing on the deep midwicket boundary, it was Gregory’s career-best match analysis to go with his career-best innings analysis from the first innings. It left Somerset needing 295 to win in 88 overs.
Despite a well-struck boundary from each of Tom Lammonby and Dickson, the size of Somerset’s task became evident as the batters struggled in Broad’s second over. Lammonby edged the first ball low towards the slips. There was a dive but no appeal. “I don’t think that carried,” said one of the Nottinghamshire supporters behind me. The quick recovery of the fielder probably confirmed that. Lammonby took two runs from Broad’s third ball, but they came from a thick outside edge which went wide of the slips. A single brought Dickson on strike but a firm drive was beaten by a ball which moved away. Lammonby’s wicket soon followed and came as no surprise. It brought tension too, for the prospects of a Nottinghamshire victory seemed all too real.
Cameron Bancroft came to the wicket to a hushed comment from behind me of, “Bancroft is crucial. If we can get him, we really do have a chance.” Apart from the occasional quiet conversation, silence reigned, and the virtually endless chatter that had rippled around the ground thus far in the match was banished as eyes focused hard on every ball.Bancroft at least looked the part. He was strong on the offside and was soon guiding the ball past the slips and pushing it into the covers for ones and twos. Dickson seemed less sure, was beaten to applause by Hutton and was forced to fend a lifting ball from Broad towards gully. It fell well short of the fielder, but the stroke was reactive and uncontrolled and as the ball fell, 295 seemed a long way off. A cover drive from Bancroft off Hutton which crossed the boundary in front of the Fox Road Stand brought some relief to Somerset supporters as it took the runs required below 260 with Somerset consistently matching the required run rate of 3.4 an over.
It seemed almost inevitable though, when in the next over, Bancroft played forward in defence to Broad and the ball sent his off stump tumbling to cheers from around the ground, the importance of the wicket lost on no one. “Bancroft played just inside the line of a more or less straight ball,” said the text from the online watcher, perhaps anticipating some movement that did not materialise. The ball was full too, almost yorker length. It left Somerset 37 for 2. Bancroft 16. If that was not enough to depress Somerset hearts, Abell was beaten by his first ball from Broad, and Dickson was beaten again and subjected to two leg before wicket appeals, one vociferous, all in Hutton’s next over. Even when Dickson found the boundary the ball flew wide of the slips with more than a hint of an edge. Two balls later he pushed outside off stump at another ball, edged it low and wide of first slip where Duckett, diving sharply from second, took an excellent catch. It did not surprise. Dickson 14. Somerset 44 for 3, 251 short of victory, 75 overs away from safety and the cheers of Nottinghamshire supporters becoming expectant.
Abell’s wicket soon followed. A straight bat was defeated by a straight ball from Hutton which struck the pads full in front of the stumps. The appeal was instantaneous, the raising of the finger emphatic. Somerset 48 for 4. Abell two. The end of the day still 74 overs away. The 251 runs needed for a Somerset victory now seemed irrelevant, for the innings was reeling and the Nottinghamshire bowlers were remorselessly asking questions with balls either homing in on the stumps or testing the batters’ patience outside off stump. Lunch was taken at 57 for 4 with little sign of hope that Somerset might save the match.
No sooner was lunch over than Somerset sank further. Tom Kohler-Cadmore succumbed to another essentially straight ball, this time from Dean Paterson. He played straight in defence, but the ball tickled the edge and Joe Clarke, deputising for Moores behind the stumps, took a straightforward catch. Somerset 58 for 5. Kohler-Cadmore six. As in the first innings James Rew attempted to bring some stability to the innings, but the tide was rushing so heavily against Somerset it was a hopeless task. The Nottinghamshire bowlers never relented, never shrank from their task and the Somerset batters were given no space to settle to theirs. Rew batted for just over an hour, longer than anyone else. He struck five boundaries and 25 runs in total, more than anyone else. He and Gregory added 31 runs in eight overs, more than any other partnership. They were beginning to show signs of steadying the Somerset ship, but the continuing focus of the Nottinghamshire bowling and a look at the scoreboard, there were still over 60 overs remaining in the day, acted like an ice bucket of reality for Somerset watchers.
A clip off his toes by Rew off Paterson and a straight drive off Lyndon James, both for four, were as good as any you will see. A sharp jab through midwicket off Paterson ran very quickly to the boundary and must have been timed to perfection while a glance off the same bowler came perfectly off the middle and crossed the boundary in front of the Radcliffe Road Stand just fine of me. They were perfect strokes which on another day might have raised the spirits, but against the Nottinghamshire tide, they seemed but sandcastles against the waves.
Gregory meanwhile played a typically Gregorian innings. He attacked early with a drive for four through the covers off Paterson, followed that with a well-placed and perfectly safe guide past the slips for three, looked to be in little trouble, and then, like several before him, played forward to an apparently straight ball from Hutton and was leg before wicket for 12. Somerset 89 for 6. Off the next ball, bowled from the Pavilion End by Paterson, Rew was surprised by some lift and was caught at third slip by the substitute fielder, Calvin Harrison for 25. Rew’s efforts at least received warm applause from the spectators on the Pavilion terrace as he left the field but Somerset were in complete disarray. Overton came to the wicket on a king pair and was swept away with the others. Off his fourth ball, still not having scored, he edged, and Harrison took an exceptional catch diving from third slip across the front of second. In the space of six balls, Somerset had gone from 89 for 5 to 89 for 8 and the match was virtually over.
Josh Davey and Jack Leach fought on for half an hour as those behind me now focused on the half-past four kick-off for the football, still two hours away. Davey played much as he had in the first innings and against Warwickshire, defending solidly and, where the ball presented itself, finding the boundary. Showing no obvious signs of the injury that had removed him from the field in the middle of an over, he neatly steered Hutton wide of the slips and drove him through the on and the off side, all for four. He looked composure itself. Leach was more frenetic, playing and missing extravagantly as he tried to repeat a lofted straight drive for four against Hutton. Eventually, he was out trying to cut a ball too high for the stroke. The ball flew towards the heavens and was caught by Broad circling between point and backward point as the crowd held its breath. Somerset 115 for 9. Leach 11.
“Come on, get a wriggle on,” came the shout from behind me as Peter Siddle made his way down the Pavilion steps in his unhurried, measured way, “I want to watch the football.” Siddle did not delay him long, and he did get a wriggle on with the bat, scoring 12 in a quarter of an hour and helping Davey, who finished on 17 not out, take Somerset to 129 before he mistimed an off drive off Paterson which flew straight into the hands of Mullaney at mid-off. It had been a comprehensive defeat for Somerset against a side that had just been promoted from the Second Division and who had registered only a single point in the first match of 2023. Somerset had lost in two and a half days of actual playing time, the Nottinghamshire supporters would have reached their homes in good time to watch the football and Somerset had some serious thinking to do just two matches into the season.
As I left the ground and made my way to the bus stop, I found myself walking against a continuous tide of Nottingham Forest supporters on their way to the City Ground. Their necks were bound in the red and white of Brian Clough’s old club and their faces were lit with anticipation. They must have left, three hours later, as disappointed as I was when I left Trent Bridge. Somerset had lost by 165 runs, Forest lost 2-0 and both clubs ended their matches in the relegation zone of their respective leagues.
Result. Nottinghamshire 256 (B.M. Duckett 75, H. Hameed 65, L. Gregory 7-84) and 211 (L. Gregory 4-64, P.M. Siddle 3-34). Somerset 173 (J.H. Davey 60, B.A. Hutton 6-45, D. Paterson 3-50) and 129 (D. Paterson 5-46, B.A. Hutton 3-44). Nottinghamshire won by 165 runs. Nottinghamshire 20 points. Somerset 3 points.
Elsewhere in Division 1.
Chelmsford. Lancashire 207 (S.J. Cook 5-42) and 351 for 7 dec. Essex 219 and 128 for 4. Match drawn. Essex 8 points. Lancashire 8 points.
Edgbaston. Warwickshire 453 for 4 dec (S.R. Hain 165*, R.M. Yates 128). Kent 158 and 281 f/o. Warwickshire won by an innings and 14 runs. Warwickshire 24 points. Kent 1 point.
Northampton. Middlesex 149 and 167. Northamptonshire 198 and 120 for 3. Northamptonshire won by seven wickets. Northamptonshire 19 points. Middlesex 3 points.
The Oval. Hampshire 254 and 258 (D.J. Worrall 5-40). Surrey 270 (Mohammad Abbas 6-64) and 247 for 1 (O.J.D. Pope 122*). Surrey won my nine wickets. Surrey 20 points. Hampshire 4 points.
Division 1 Table
P Pl W L D Ded* Pts
1. 2 1 0 1 0 35 Warwickshire
2. 2 1 0 1 0 32 Surrey
3. 2 1 0 1 0 28 Essex
4. 2 1 1 0 0 23 Hampshire
4. 2 1 1 0 0 23 Nottinghamshire
6. 2 1 1 0 0 22 Northamptonshire
7. 2 1 1 0 0 20 Kent
8. 2 0 0 2 0 17 Lancashire
9. 2 0 1 1 0 12 Somerset
10. 2 0 2 0 0 6 Middlesex
'Farmer White' Somerset Cricket Writing 