County Championship 2023. Division 1. Lancashire v Somerset. 11^th,12^th, 13^th and 14^th May. Old Trafford.

Lancashire. L.W.P. Wells, G.P. Balderson, J.J. Bohannon, S.J. Croft, D.J. Vilas (c), D.J. Mitchell, G.J. Bell (w), T.W. Hartley, W.S.A Williams, S. Mahmood, J.M. Anderson.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.M. Davies, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, T. Kohler-Cadmore, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Somerset 361 and 114 for 3. Lancashire 326. Somerset lead by 149 runs with seven second innings wickets in hand.

Final day 14th May – Working to rule

This was a match that never really got going. Only half a day’s play was possible on the first day in the dingiest of conditions, and that was played at barely two runs an over. On a pitch which was of little assistance to bowlers and on which, for the most part, batters proceeded at three runs an over it left little time to force a result. There were occasional flourishes from one batter or another, Matt Henry’s fifty in particular, and some outstanding bowling from James Anderson, Craig Overton and Henry, but a match played at three runs an over was always going to struggle in the time available on a docile pitch after the first day rain.

That did not of course prevent speculation, and hopes, on the final day about possible targets. Or recrimination from some about Somerset’s lack of ambition in not setting one. In the days of three-day cricket and no promotion and relegation, in all probability a target would have been set, or manufactured, with some declaration bowling delivering fours and sixes on a plate. It was called ‘making a match of it’. Four-day cricket has, to a significant degree, removed the need for manufactured targets. And the two-division structure has made the consequences of losing a match too great for it to be risked in most circumstances. The wider picture of the Championship table normally trumps the opportunity to devise a competitive finish to a game where one does not come naturally.

Hopes of a declaration persisted for a while, but it soon became clear that Somerset did not have a declaration, other than perhaps a token one, in mind, and without Anderson there was little prospect of Lancashire bowling them out. In fact, the match drifted on at the same pace as it had from the start apart from a brief period of acceleration on the third afternoon. It is the type of cricket which is anathema to many. The person who had joined me for the day took a different view. He had a high-powered, stressful job and the prospect of watching a day of stress-free cricket appealed to him. He could relax and soak up the ambience of an age-old custom, without worrying about the outcome. Conjure up memories of days watching cricket down the years. Of seeing Viv Richards’ 322 in a day against Warwickshire at Taunton when he was six years old, just as I remembered seeing Peter Wight score 222 not out against Kent at Taunton when I was seven. Of seeing Marcus Trescothick, decades later, in a match just like this one, score a century in a dead draw at Edgbaston, “Just because he could,” as he put it. Of course, in those matches, the sun shone endlessly, or that is how we choose to remember them.

At Old Trafford in 2023, winter’s coat tails could still be felt on the air, although one day someone will doubtless remember something from this match taking place in that perpetual sunshine of the long-distance cricket memory. Not many will have the opportunity of remembering the final day, for the crowd never grew beyond a few hundred. Perhaps some who stayed at home had read the match and concluded that a positive result was unlikely. Those that were there, like the two of us, must have found something to talk about for the chatter, though thinly spread because of the small crowd, was relaxed with the occasional chuckle of laughter.

The cricket in the first 40 minutes reflected the chatter. Somerset moved easily along at no great pace with the occasional flurry of activity. A straight drive off Will Williams to the Anderson End boundary from Lammonby woke up the morning and drew some applause. Kohler-Cadmore cut Saquib Mahmood between gully and backward point. That there was only one slip for Kohler-Cadmore in the third over of the day perhaps reflected the mood. The bat was occasionally beaten but no more than might be expected in the early overs of the day when the batters are adjusting to the conditions. For Somerset, Tom Lammonby glanced Mahmood for four and Kohler-Cadmore drove him to the Statham End sight screen in the same over, but for the most part the match settled into the quiet three runs an over tempo of the first three days.

And then, out of the blue, Kohler-Cadmore came forward to Williams, played defensively, if not with a straight bat, and was bowled. After a moment’s reflection, he walked off as if he were on his way to the shops and Lancashire celebration was just as undemonstrative. There were three slips though for Rew. For Lammonby, a single slip and a gully. When the catch came, three overs later, it flew off the edge of Lammonby’s bat and would have gone straight to second slip had there been one. As it was, Lammonby pocketed four runs. Tom Hartley tried to tempt Rew by tossing the ball up, beat him and conceded four byes before being swept through backward square leg for another four.

And then, it was back to the three an over drift as the chatter and the match rolled on. There was an occasional flurry of activity from Rew. Once, from successive balls from George Balderson he drove to the long on boundary at the Statham End. Lammonby came down the wicket to speak to him after the second, whether in admonition for taking risk, or commendation for two excellent strokes is probably now lost to posterity. Whichever it was, Rew offered only a correction. Two balls later the drive was straight, the result the same. In the next over, against Hartley, there were two more fours, one through the covers off Rew’s back foot to add to his collection of drives, the other, by way of variety, a slog sweep. Those five boundaries took Rew to 32 from 44 balls and Somerset to 193 for 4. It was a lead of 228 but lunch was already fast approaching, and the match fell back into its default state of drift with 13 runs, all singles, coming from the next five overs and the attention sometimes wandered to the aircraft which floated across the sky, impossibly it seemed so slowly did they appear to move, as they descended to John Lennon Airport.

Perhaps he was distracted by the aircraft, for Lammonby, who had not scored a boundary for 15 overs, suddenly launched himself down the pitch to Hartley, tied himself in knots trying to drive, and was stumped a yard out of his ground. He had though made 78 in all but four hours of intense concentration. Somerset 206 for 5. Lead 241. By lunch that had become 211 for 5 after Rew had edged a hook off Mitchell just past the keeper.

The afternoon began as the morning had passed, with Rew and Kasey Aldridge, who had replaced Lammonby, ploughing doggedly along like John Masefield’s dirty British coaster. In the first hour, only three boundaries came, all to the leg side, and 41 runs in all. With three hours or so remaining, Somerset were 252 for 5. Lead 287. There was no hint of a declaration, and no suggestion of acceleration. Some in the Lancashire crowd were becoming restless at what they saw as Somerset’s lack of ambition, and some Somerset supporters were asking questions too. But, as the person with me put it, if Somerset with five wickets down could bat out an hour with little hint of trouble, so could Lancashire if they lost wickets in a run chase.

By midway through the afternoon, any sense of competition had evaporated. Lancashire resorted first to the spin of Hartley and Wells, although without much sense that they would make progress. From there they resorted to the part-time spin of Croft and the unclassified bowling of Vilas. On the odd occasion when the ball passed the bat, ironic cheers broke out. At one point, the two wicketkeepers in the side, Bell and Vilas, bowled in  tandem, and in the final over of the match, to a few tired chuckles, Lancashire gave Vilas three slips and a gully. And yet, as is the way of the diehard cricket supporter, a couple of hundred of us stuck it out to the end.

Rew and Aldridge kept going, mainly in gently pushed and guided singles, on one occasion 14 spread over four overs punctuated by a couple of glanced fours from Aldridge. As the afternoon wore on, boundaries became a little more frequent, usually lazily struck, as if the batters had caught the somnolence of most of the crowd. Once, Aldridge broke from the by now almost robotic striking of fours and launched Bell over deep midwicket for six while Rew pulled Vilas over long on for four to reach his century from 196 balls. Polite applause barely rippled along the stands for all sense of competition had long since departed the scene. Aldridge went to his maiden century virtually by invitation as Vilas looped a delivery comically high resulting in it being pulled over deep midwicket for six.

After that the last few overs became slower and slower while the batters took their time to tap the pitch with the toes of their bats as if Brian Statham himself had just risen from the grave and fizzed a ball past their ears. “They are working to rule,” said one spectator. As if in response, the players suddenly shook hands and the match, which had long since fallen asleep, finally stopped breathing. As we left, some expressed their dissatisfaction at the nature of the day, some direct to Somerset supporters, blaming Somerset for not setting a target. The person with me stood up refreshed by the most undemanding day of cricket it is possible to imagine and I had just enjoyed our extended chat while the men in white went about a day which, in the end, was as undemanding for them as it had been for us.

Result. Somerset 36 (J.E.K. Rew 105, M.J. Henry 50*, K.A. Aldridge 46, D.J. Mitchell 3-32, W.S.A. Williams 3-71) and 398 for 5 dec (J.E.K. Rew 118*, K.A. Aldridge 101*, T.A. Lammonby 78. Lancashire 326 (D.J. Mitchell 105, G.P. Balderson 71, T.W. Hartley 47, C. Overton 4-52, M.J. Henry 4-73). Match drawn. Somerset 10 points. Lancashire 9 points.