County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Northamptonshire. 4^th,5^th, 6^th and 7^th May. Taunton.

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, K.L. Aldridge, M.J. Leach, P.M. Siddle.

Northamptonshire. R.S. Vasconcelos, Hasan Azad, S.M. Whiteman (c), Z.A. Zaib, R.I. Keogh, J.J.G. Sales, H.O.M. Gouldstone (w), T.A.I. Taylor, J.S.D. Buckingham, B.W. Sanderson, C. White.

Overnight. Northamptonshire 255 and 66 for 1. Somerset 412. Northamptonshire trail by 91 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.

Final day 7^th May – A tremendous day of cricket

This was a day of tension in the stands, effort from the bowlers, encouragement from the fielders and concentration from the batters. Cricket at its best. After three days of difficult weather, the Quantocks were visible all day as if they had booked their place with confidence, the bright yellow of the oilseed in pride of place. Craig Overton bowled the second over to the nightwatch, Jordan Buckingham. It set the tone for the day. Twice he beat Buckingham to gasps and once forced an edge which fell just short of the short leg fielder, but Buckingham survived the over. There was applause for the balls which beat the bat and for the over, a maiden, but Buckingham was still at the crease. More applause for Overton’s next over too, another maiden during which there was a vociferous leg before wicket appeal against Sam Whiteman.

There were four slips, then five, for Lewis Gregory when he bowled to and beat Buckingham. Overton did not concede a run until his fourth over, two singles, one of those from an inside edge when he again troubled Buckingham but again Buckingham survived. Somerset did not let up. The first boundary did not come until the 11^th over, Jack Leach’s first, when Whiteman woke the morning up by striking Leach over the Priory Bridge Road Stand and into the car park beyond. From there, Whiteman looked increasingly settled, despite the occasional appeal. Meanwhile, Buckingham continued to look insecure and continued to survive. His bat was still being beaten, but he was always still there at the end of the over. He seemed to be leading a charmed life when Leach beat him as he advanced down the pitch with some extra bounce, but the bounce beat James Rew too. The ball bounced off his gloves and Buckingham made his ground. “Missed stumping,” someone winced. In the next over, from Siddle, the ball flew low off Buckingham’s bat to the right of Cameron Bancroft at short leg. Bancroft dived but failed to take a very difficult catch. More winces. There was still tension in the air, but as the overs slipped by without wickets, even with the scoring limited mainly to singles and the occasional two, doubts began to creep in.

“This is all beginning to look pretty turgid,” someone observed with an air of resignation as the minute hand on the Colin Atkinson Pavilion clock descended through the first half of the second hour of the morning. To the next ball, Buckingham skipped forward to turn Leach to fine leg, Beaten by the flight, he tried to shorten his step and found himself yorked out of the rough outside his leg stump. The ball turned enough to clip the leg stump and send the bails flying towards point. Cue laughter from those around the spectator who had called the cricket turgid. He will doubtless claim credit for the wicket, as would anyone else who had said it at that point. Northamptonshire 117 for 2. Buckingham 17 in an hour and a half. “He’s done his job,” someone added with grudging admiration. Northamptonshire 40 behind.

Despite the time it had taken, the wicket had the crowd buzzing. A door had been opened. Hasan Azad came to the wicket, presumably having had a sufficient repair to the hand hit by Gregory on the first morning. He never looked happy, and three overs later chipped the ball back down the pitch where it was caught by Leach, bowling with four close catchers, diving to his right. “Well done, Jack!” someone said with feeling. Northamptonshire 125 for 3. Azad four. Northamptonshire 32 behind. Whiteman was joined by Saif Zaib and they steered Northamptonshire to lunch. Whiteman was playing without risk and looking unnervingly permanent to Somerset supporters and a precision drive through point to the Somerset Stand looked ominous. Zaif was more positive, defying four close catchers to loft Leach over midwicket and pull him square for two fours. Lunch was reached with Northamptonshire on 147 for 3. Whiteman 67. Zaif 13. Ten behind. Somerset had made progress, but so had Northamptonshire, and the task of bowling them out on a wicket that looked none too challenging was never far from the mind.

Lunch was a gentle meander ending at the covers store. Once there, first things first. An ice cream van beneath that end of the Trescothick Pavilion has replaced the kiosk next to the Garner Gates. It sells vanilla scoop ice cream in cones with flakes, which ought to be a pre-requisite for any ice cream van but increasingly is not. It was my first ice cream of the season. The weather, at last, had the feel of spring and the ice cream tasted all the better for that. Lunch is also an opportunity for lifelong supporters to gather and talk endlessly about not very much provided the focus is cricket. This time the focus, such as it was, was on out grounds. Long term supporters generally love them. I used to have an aversion to them because of the lack of covered seating, but after a very enjoyable four days at Guildford in 2018, a large umbrella providing the opportunity to sit out the rain on my seat cured me of that. The issue for 2023 was that Somerset had no matches at out grounds having played at Guildford, Southport or Scarborough during recent seasons. There was continuing regret too about the loss of the Bath Festival despite the last first-class fixture there being more than a decade and a half before.

The discussion, of course, ran into the afternoon session with the cricket a backdrop to be kept an eye on rather than the centre of attention. It was clear though that Northamptonshire were making progress. Whiteman continued to look solid, Zaib to be more aggressive, finding the boundary several times. One off drive off Overton came hurtling towards our chattering group. When a boundary is struck to the rope immediately in front of you, you get a sense of just how hard first-class cricketers strike the ball when they time it.

When I returned to my seat Northamptonshire had reached 169 for 3, 12 runs ahead. Where a side is batting to save a game the feelings of supporters change once the batting side moves into the lead if enough wickets remain in hand. If they are eventually bowled out, every run after they move into the lead will have to be scored by the fielding side and that sharpens the calculation of how much time remains in which to take the remaining wickets. When Northamptonshire moved into the lead seven wickets remained on a pitch favouring batting with Northamptonshire busily eating into the penultimate session of the match. The pressure on Somerset was mounting.

No sooner had I sat down than Zaif uppercut Overton to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary and was nearly caught in the process by the only slip running across to gully and jumping for the ball. It was a narrow escape. It did not constrain Zaif. Two balls later he whipped a ball from Overton up and behind square. Leach, on the boundary in front of the Hildreth Stand, jumped and caught it. Overton punched the air in celebration while Zaif swished it with his bat in frustration. Overton was applauded as he walked back to his mark and responded by raising his arms in encouragement to the crowd to get behind the team. Northamptonshire 174 for 4. Zaif 33 in three-quarters of an hour. Lead 17. Overs remaining 58.

The crowd was buzzing now, although a moment’s thought reminded that wickets would need to keep coming at some pace if Somerset were to have a chance. Rob Keogh joined Whiteman. Without taking the risks Zaif had, they pushed the score along at four an over, pushing hard for singles. When Keogh cut Leach through backward point to the Ondaatje boundary someone shouted plaintively, “Come on, Jack.” Whiteman was pushing harder too, and Somerset were down to two slips as the need to attack was tempered by the need to limit runs. Abell replaced Leach with Gregory, but Whiteman hooked Aldridge and pulled Gregory to the boundary in successive overs. There were 13 runs in all from those two overs and eyes looked increasingly anxiously at the scoreboard: lead 46, wickets needed 6, overs remaining 52. Heads went back in anguish when Whiteman cut Aldridge low to the left of Bancroft at point. Bancroft dived and got a hand to the ball but it was left on the grass. Whether or not it was a catch was a moot point, but Whiteman had resisted Somerset all day and there were gasps of disappointment all around.

Within two overs the ground was alive. Keogh, attacking again, had clipped a ball from Aldridge hard off his toes but straight to Gregory at leg gully. Northamptonshire 210 for 5. Keogh 14. Lead 53. Overs remaining 49. There was loud applause too for Aldridge as he walked back to his mark. Cheers of delight when, an over later, James Sales glanced a ball from Gregory. It was slanted just outside leg stump and flew low and wide off the bat. Rew took off full stretch to his left and caught an astonishing leg side catch, one-handed just above the ground. Northamptonshire 211 for 6. Sales 1. Lead 54. Overs remaining 48.

The ground was alive now. First, the cheers, then the applause, then the animated chatter and faces wreathed in smiles. Somerset had a chance! They were bowling with real vim and the team was fizzing. The hope was evident in their celebration of Sales’ wicket. It was more than the usual exuberance. Every limb was alive with anticipation as they ran into the celebratory huddle. Just four more wickets. They would be needed in quick order it was true, but Somerset had just taken two in two overs. In truth, there was still a mountain to climb, but it felt like Somerset were on their way.

As Aldridge prepared to bowl the next over, the field sounded like a school playground. Encouragement came from all around. “ Come on boys!” the age-old cry but it had belief in it. Aldridge turned at the top of his run and the crowd began to applaud their encouragement as the field moved in. But at the other end stood Whiteman. Northamptonshire’s rock, in this innings at least. He was on 94 from 176 balls and looking immovable. If anyone stood between Somerset and victory it felt like it was him. Aldridge bowled, short, leg side, four runs, pulled, fine to the Lord Ian Botham Stand. Aldridge back to his mark, ran in, bowled again, short, straighter, pulled, to the Hildreth Stand. Whiteman 102. Applause and a slightly dented atmosphere. Re-ignited when Aldridge struck Whiteman on the pad, but the ball had come off the inside edge.

Now Gregory. Gouldstone facing, on nought. Two slips and a short mid-on and mid-off, both alongside the pitch. Gouldstone edged between first and second slip. Overton at first, dived to his right. Kohler-Cadmore at second, dived low behind Overton to his left and came up with the ball to mountainous applause. It was the third stunning catch of the innings. The ground, and the field, were alive with celebration again. Northamptonshire 219 for 7. Gouldstone nought. Lead 62. Overs remaining 45. The runs, wickets, and overs remaining calculation gave Somerset a chance. One spectator was making the ‘in the balance’ sign with his hands and very few were leaving. The floodlights coming on at the fall of the wicket added to the tension with the realisation that the full allocation of overs might not be bowled. Cricket is often described in terms of runs and wickets, but without limited time it would be a more insipid game

The wicket brought Tom Taylor to the crease. With Somerset’s bowlers still pressing hard as they had all day and visibly invigorated by the fall of three wickets in four overs, but with Whiteman still standing like a rock at the other end, Taylor began to hit out. He cut Gregory through backward point, pulled Siddle backward of square, and played an open-faced nudge across the face of the slips, all for four, before hooking Siddle high over the Caddick Pavilion boundary for six. Twenty-eight runs were added in Taylor’s first five overs at the crease of which he scored 22. The equation was now Northamptonshire 90 runs ahead with three wickets in hand and 40 overs remaining – if the light held. By tea the lead was 99 with 36 overs and three wickets remaining, but one of those was the rampant Taylor and another the seemingly immovable Whiteman. There was still tension and belief that Somerset could win, the new ball was due one over after tea, but faces were becoming as anxious as they were tense and the lights were beginning to cast shadows, if faint ones.

“Come on, Craig,” the shout as Overton stood at the top of his run at the Trescothick Pavilion End with the new ball in his hand. The field was shouting encouragement too. Gregory took the new ball from the River End. In his first over Taylor edged, breaths were held, the ball flew between first and second slip, both dived low, Bancroft, the ball following him around, got a hand to it but it fell to earth. Taylor was on 30. “He could have dropped the match,” the only comment among the groans. It is an old comment, almost a cliché now, but it caught the mood. And with Taylor still picking the balls to hit, a hook, fine to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion off Overton registered the fifty partnership, 37 of them to Taylor. Northamptonshire were fast squeezing the hope out of Somerset’s victory equation. “They are still trying,” someone said when Gregory beat Taylor twice in two balls. The sun came out and brought some hope that the full quota of overs might be bowled and there was an appeal for a leg side catch behind the wicket off Overton, but Taylor survived. When Taylor took successive boundaries off Aldridge, the lead was 137 with, after deducting two overs for the change of innings, 20 overs remaining. All but seven an over. Achievable over a short chase, but still those three stubborn wickets remained to be taken.

Then, as if on some group instinct, people began to leave their seats and move towards the gates, and the fizz that had been sustained all day by Somerset’s relentless attempts to win the match finally dissipated. The match rolled on for another 11 overs and Taylor, trying to flick another boundary, finally succumbed to Siddle, caught down the leg side by Rew. It brought a flicker of hope, but the equation was now: lead 141 with 18 overs remaining after the change of innings. Whiteman soon extinguished the flicker with some careful farming of the strike and hands were shaken with no further wickets lost. There was some talk about dropped catches and the missed stumping, but it had been an excellent game of cricket crowned by a tremendous final day marked by the endless perseverance of the Somerset attack on a pitch conducive to batting and a monumental piece of resistance from Whiteman and, at the crunch, a cavalier assault from Taylor. And so, a draw in the end. There was some small consolation for Somerset in that they had, if narrowly, lifted themselves off the bottom of the table.

Result. Northamptonshire 255 (R.S Vasconcelos 70, J.J.G. Sales 57, M.J. Leach 3-15, L. Gregory 3-66)  and 311 for 8 (S.M. Whiteman 130*, T.A.I. Taylor 53, M.J. Leach 3-77) . Somerset 412 (T.Kohler-Cadmore 130, J.E.K. Rew 89, C. White 5-103). Match drawn. Somerset 12 points. Northamptonshire 9 points.