County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. 25^th,26^th and 27^th June. Taunton.

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

Nottinghamshire. B.T. Slater, H. Hameed, M. Montgomery, J.M. Clarke, L.W. James, S.J. Mullaney (c), T.J. Moores (w), M. Carter, B.A. Hutton, J.T. Ball, D. Paterson.

Overnight. Somerset 163. Nottinghamshire 145 for 4. Nottinghamshire trail by 18 runs with six first innings wickets standing.

Second day 26th June – A match turned on its head

Somerset began the second day already facing the possibility of defeat. They ended it in a position from which they might force victory. A morning of sustained, attacking Somerset bowling was followed by an afternoon and evening of sustained Somerset innings building. The cricket was accompanied by a good crowd, large by post-pandemic standards and larger than the first-day Sunday crowd. It was a crowd which engaged with the play, willed, and in the morning and at the end of the day cheered its side on. It was a day of virtually unremitting Somerset joy. By the end of the day, Nottinghamshire, rampant on the first day, looked ragged. That may change after a night’s rest but at the very least they now have a fight on their hands.

The day began with Shoaib Bashir bowling an over to enable Craig Overton and Matt Henry to change ends, a manoeuvre which proved inspired. Overton, from the River End, on song from the start, bowled quickly and obtained lift and movement. He was accurate too and gave the batters no respite. From the Trescothick Pavilion End, Henry was devastating. Shorter than Overton, and with a flatter trajectory, his pace was a constant menace to the art of batting. He repeatedly penetrated defences and, if body language is any measure, left batters bemused as to how the ball had got through.

Nottinghamshire began well enough, taking seven runs from the first four overs, but then lost three wickets in the next four. First, Overton beat Steven Mullaney twice in successive balls, the edge failing to connect by a hairsbreadth on both occasions. Overton looked astounded after the second as to how Mullaney had survived, “How unlucky is that?” the comment from behind me. But Overton tends to make his own luck. Two balls later, he angled the next ball in, bowling a line which targeted the area a stump’s width outside off. Mullaney played the ball, as he had to and as he had those two near misses, and edged it low but straight into the barely moving hands of Kasey Aldridge at second slip. Nottinghamshire 152 for 5. Mullaney 29. Somerset lead 11. Now Henry, bowling around the wicket to the left-handed Slater, homed in on where a fourth stump would stand. Slater repeated Mullaney’s defensive stroke and the ball again flew off the edge, a little higher than off Mullaney’s bat, but straight to Overton, also at second slip. Nottinghamshire 154 for 6. Slater 70 in three and a quarter hours. Somerset lead nine, with the two main Nottinghamshire threats gone and the crowd, sensing Somerset on the charge, let forth a colossal, ear-shattering, cheer.

Although the cheers eventually subsided, an unrelenting buzz had the ground in its grip. Somerset were in sight of levelling the game and the crowd had come alive. Henry began his next over by forcing an edge from Brett Hutton, but it fell short of the slip cordon. Gasps. Three balls later fourth slip was moved to deep square leg. Henry bowled full, Hutton, staying back, was a shade late coming down on the ball. The ball passed inside the bat as it tried to plug the gap between bat and pad and flattened the middle stump. The cheer that went up as the stump went down was as deafening as its predecessor, and was followed by extended animated chatter. Nottinghamshire 158 for 7. Hutton four. Somerset lead five.

Nottinghamshire attempted to respond, the left-handed Tom Moores pulling Overton in front of square to the Priory Bridge Road Stand for four and behind Square to the Ondaatje Stand for six while Matt Carter drove Henry through the off side to Gimblett’s Hill. But Henry, in the middle of his most intensley destructive spell yet for Somerset, was not to be denied. Carter attempted to come down on a ball with a defensive stroke. He too was a little late and was bowled through a rather large gate to more cheers. Nottinghamshire 176 for 8. Moores 10. Nottinghamshire lead 13. “That jagged in a bit,” the comment from the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. Two balls later, Moores drove Henry just wide of mid-off but failed to keep the ball down. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, fielding at mid-off, dived full length as the ball flew past him and ended up lying flat on the ground, facing the boundary with the ball safely in his hand. “What a catch!” the stunned response from behind me as cheers broke out again. Nottinghamshire 177 for 9. Carter 8. Lead 14. It was Henry’s sixth wicket of the innings.

And finally, “Come on Craig O!” from Abell. Craig O responded with a ball to Dane Paterson which might have removed the off bail had not Paterson’s drive edged it to Rew who caught the ball quietly moving his hands a few inches to his right and then converted the movement into throwing the ball up in celebration whilst simultaneously walking to the Pavilion. Efficiency behind the stumps you might say. Nottinghamshire 186 all out. Paterson five. Jake Ball five not out. Lead 23. The crowd, as efficient at Rew, cheered at the catch as they stood to applaud the Somerset team off. Six wickets had fallen for 41 runs in 15 overs in just over an hour. It had been a stunning Somerset response to their tribulations of the first day, and Henry had made the sort of impact everyone hopes for from an overseas Test player. He was the toast of the chatter buzzing around the Trescothick upper tier in the break between innings. With crucial, at times incisive, support from the other end from Overton he had transformed a day which had begun under the threat of a large Nottinghamshire lead into one of opportunity for Somerset.

The second half of the Nottinghamshire innings had been swept away and the ground was still abuzz as Tom Lammonby and Sean Dickson came out to bat. By lunch, Dickson and Tom Abell were back in the Pavilion with Somerset on 41 for 2, a lead of 18. The Somerset innings had begun well enough, although Lammonby had some good fortune when, on six, he edged Ball to the right of Hutton at third slip. Hutton dived, got his hand to the ball, but it went down to relieved sighs. Dickson attacked from the start. His third ball, from Ball, was clipped through midwicket to the Somerset Stand for four. Hutton was lofted over long on to the Ondaatje Stand for six and then driven through long on to the covers store to take Somerset into the lead. At the other end, Ball was driven to the Lord Ian Botham Stand and edged over the slips, both for four, before Dickson’s sojourn at the crease came to an end when he came forward to Paterson and was leg before wicket for 26 from 33 balls. “That looked plumb,” the comment of finality from the Trescothick Pavilion.

An over later, Tom Abell was following Dickson off the field. Lammonby had steered Ball neatly across the face of the slip cordon from where the ball ran towards the Legends Square boundary. Abell and Lammonby ran the first two runs quickly as the keeper ambled in to take the throw. It was a straightforward two runs which the batters attempted to turn into three. Suddenly, the keeper looked animated and Abell was running desperately. The throw, instead of heading for their general vicinity, was fast homing in on the stumps. With Abell’s dive still short of the crease the ball either crashed into the stumps or bounced off the keeper’s gloves which were cupped three inches behind them. It was impossible to tell from the Trescothick Pavilion which, but it had been a brilliant throw. Somerset 43 for 2. Abell nought. Somerset lead 20 and Nottinghamshire threatening to recover the advantage.

Somerset began the afternoon session still under pressure and ended it in a position of strength. Lammonby made Nottinghamshire pay for his early escape and George Bartlett played one of those innings which he sometimes produces when Somerset are under pressure. Nottinghamshire, perhaps in response to Bartlett’s propensity to play across his pads and to attempt the glance early in his innings, began with a leg slip in addition to two of the more traditional kind. A square drive off Ball to the Ondaatje Stand was effortless though and the leg slip had retreated by the time Bartlett glanced him to the Trescothick Pavilion.

Lammonby meanwhile, had begun the afternoon with two stunning straight drives, one each off Paterson and Ball both of which brought the standard accolade of, “Shot!” amidst the applause. One ball from Paterson did rear off a length and Bartlett edged it just wide of the slips to the Hildreth Stand boundary, but generally batting was now as easy as it had been at any time in the match to date and Lammonby and Bartlett took advantage to systematically build Somerset’s position. If an over warranted it, as a number from Carter did, they would quietly play it out, reserving their scoring strokes for when opportunity next came. Lammonby was dropped again, this time at second slip by Carter off Ball when on 52. The ball went waist high to Carter’s left. He reached out, got both hands around the ball, and dropped it.

There were one or two fortuitous edges too, but no more than might normally be expected in an afternoon of cricket. There were some boundaries of real quality which brought loud applause from a Somerset crowd beginning to relax at the sight of their team making progress. As they built Somerset’s lead, Lammonby and Bartlett produced some outstanding stroke play to further cheer the home crowd. A square cut to the Somerset Stand from Lammonby off Carter took Somerset’s lead past fifty. An exquisite back foot drive off Hutton, played with an open face by Bartlett, sent the ball racing through backward point to the Garner Gates boundary and a single off the next ball registered the fifty partnership to more applause. Lammonby then topped all the strokes to date with a straight drive off Hutton to the Trescothick Pavilion boundary which brought the comment, “What a stroke!” and applause louder and longer than the common for a well-struck boundary.

With Bartlett was now well past his habitual shaky start, he cut Hutton through backward point to the Somerset Stand, the smoothness of stroke belying its ability to send the ball to the boundary and drawing comments awe-struck at its execution. A quiet spell, mainly against the nagging accuracy of Carter and Mullaney, was eventually broken by Lammonby glancing Lyndon James to the Lord Ian Botham Stand to the comment of, “Nice!” Bartlett and Lammonby, playing as they were, transcended the game in which they were playing. This was heavenly batting pure and simple. They waited for the ball to attack, there was no pressure to do anything more, but when the strokes came, the power which transported the ball to the boundary came from position, style and timing rather than obvious power in the stroke. The final boundary of the afternoon, from Lammonby off James encapsulated what had gone before. The ball reached Lammonby stump high, outside off. He rose to his toes, the bat finding its position as he rose, then gently flicked the ball, no more, with the softest of touches to send it racing across the turf to the Caddick Pavilion boundary. It took Somerset to 155 for 2. Lammonby 72. Bartlett 50. Lead 132 with seven sessions of the match remaining and a session for the golden section of the memory bank just ended.

I walked on air in the tea interval, at least as far as the ice cream van where I celebrated that session with an equally heavenly vanilla cone, scoop of course, with a flake. What would cricket be without scoop vanilla ice cream? I had no intention of finding out. The ground was still abuzz, and I did not seem to be the only one walking on air. This was the Somerset we wanted to see. There were small groups dotted about, chatting away, but many still had their eyes cast towards the middle, perhaps re-running what they had seen, or dreaming of what they would like to see. But, in the tea interval, dreaming time is limited, about long enough to buy and consume an ice cream, soak up a couple of minutes of atmosphere, and get back to your seat.

The evening session, in an effectively quiet way, belonged to Bartlett. But before that, Lammonby was bowled by Carter before the session really got going. Carter bowled a little faster, speared the ball in, and Lammonby attempted to pull. He looked tucked up as he went through the stroke and the ball defeated the bat. “Oh! That bounced a bit,” someone said. It was similar to one of the strokes to which Lammonby was out at Chelmsford. He had though made 73 and added 119 with Bartlett. Somerset 162 for 3. Lead 139. Carter’s first ball to Kohler-Cadmore almost dismissed him too. Kohler-Cadmore came forward to defend and edged the ball just short and wide of slip. Mullaney, at slip, dived but the ball landed a foot short of his outstretched hand. Kohler-Cadmore ran through for a sharp single when Mullaney did not quite hold onto the ball, although he gathered it quickly enough to almost run Kohler-Cadmore out as the bat ran through the crease at the non-striker’s end.

Kohler-Cadmore now played one of his short, sharp cameo innings beginning with an off drive off Paterson towards Gimblett’s Hill for which he ran three. “Shot! Lovely shot,” the reaction along the stand from me. He did not perhaps score at quite his usual rate, but his partnership of 69 in 19 overs with Bartlett was tailored to Somerset’s need and took their lead beyond 200 which would have been judged a fanciful proposition when they were bowled out for 163 halfway through the first afternoon. Kohler-Cadmore rarely stayed on strike for long, repeatedly rotating the strike by pushing or steering the ball for, often sharp, singles, or playing to deep fielders. A sweep off Carter to the Brian Rose Gates boundary and a lofted straight drive to the Trescothick Pavilion boundary on the first bounce re-ignited the cheers of the morning. Only when he attempted to clear the Ondaatje boundary off Ball was he out, Haseeb Hameed taking the ball on the line. Hameed’s momentum took him over the rope but not before he had thrown the ball up far enough to catch it as he ran back in. Somerset 231 for 4. Kohler-Cadmore 33. Lead 208.

Bartlett meanwhile was playing an innings which also perfectly fitted Somerset’s need. While Kohler-Cadmore was there, he played a crucial supportive role, mainly trading in singles, and keeping Somerset long at the crease. Off Carter, an off drive to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary was hit particularly powerfully and a square cut to the Ondaatje Stand brought plaudits. The loudest cheer though came for a three driven through to off side to Gimblett’s Hill off Ball. There is something about the quality of a classical stroke from Bartlett that puts it above the common run and that stroke was in that class. With the close approaching, he lofted the persistent Carter over long on to the Lord Ian Botham Stand for six. Whether by design or serendipity, the stroke brought up Bartlett’s century to an instant standing ovation which extended beyond the norm, for a Bartlett century leaves an impression of quality and a warm glow at having witnessed it.

Rew replaced Kohler-Cadmore and suffered a shaky start. He was dropped off his first ball, bowled short outside leg stump by Ball. Rew tried to pull but was tucked up, the ball perhaps passing closer to him than he had thought, and edged it low down the leg side. The keeper dived and got both gloves to it a foot above the ground, but the ball went through and ran to the River End boundary. One of those things perhaps, but by now Nottinghamshire were silent and looking off the pace in the field. Against Hutton, Rew again edged, this time short of slip, and Nottinghamshire gave Carter three close catchers before Rew finally found the middle. He drove Carter off the back foot through the covers for four. “Shot Rewey!” the comment from the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. Rew followed with another drive to the boundary, again through the covers, this time off Hutton, “Shot!” again, before ending the day on 17 with Bartlett on 109 and Somerset, having turned the match on its head, with a lead of 245 and six wickets and two days remaining. It was a day which saw the crowd leave with a bounce in its step, a buzz in its voice and more to talk about than could be fitted into a conversation between ground and bus stop, car park or station.

Close. Somerset 163 and 268 for 4. Nottinghamshire 186 (B.T. Slater 70, M.J. Henry 6-59). Somerset lead by 245 runs with six second innings wickets standing.