County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire. 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th July. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (back), Roelof van der Merwe (hand), Ned Leonard (concussion) and Sonny Baker (back) were all unavailable. A number of players were also rested ahead of Vitality Blast T20 Finals Day. Dom Bess was on a short-term loan from Yorkshire.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, A.R.I. Umeed, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, D.M. Bess, J.A. Brooks, A.R.J. Ogborne, S. Bashir.

Hampshire. J.J. Weatherley, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, J.M. Vince (c), B.C. Brown (w), L.A. Dawson, J.K. Fuller, K.H.D. Barker, F.S. Organ, K.J. Abbott, Mohammad Abbas.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day 10^th July – Rew and Aldridge turn the day

I made my normal entry to the ground through the Brian Rose Gates. No sooner had the, now ubiquitous, bag search been completed than I was asked my view on Somerset fielding a weakened team for this match, a seriously weakened team in terms of the pace attack. Craig Overton, Lewis Gregory and Matt Henry had all been rested ahead of T20 Finals Day which was due to take place two days after the end of the match. I was asked again as I walked along the front of Gimblett’s Hill and again several times through the day. Views varied. “The Championship is supposed to be the Club’s priority,” said one, “I don’t like it, but it’s understandable given we have the same three bowlers at the heart of our pace attack in both formats,” said another. “I think it’s the right thing to do. It’s important for the Club to win a trophy,” commented a third. I tended towards the view that winning a trophy was important because it might embed an aura of achievement and confidence throughout the Club which would have wider benefits, not least in the Championship.

There was another talking point too. That Dom Bess, late of Somerset, now of Yorkshire, was in the Somerset team having been the subject of a last-minute loan deal. Some would like to see him back permanently. Others wondered how his position at the Club would be any different to that when he left. Once fit, and not with England, Jack Leach would still be the lead spinner with Somerset, most considering his position unassailable. Moreover, the young signing, Shoaib Bashir, an off spinner like Bess, was already, at nineteen, looking the part and showing considerable promise, the future trumping the past in the eyes of most, although there was considerable goodwill towards Bess following his time at Somerset.

Sitting at the top of the Trescothick Pavilion you get a very clear view of all the other stands. The small number of paying spectators and members in the ground, by Somerset standards at least, was immediately obvious. I would be surprised if the total reached a thousand, barely half a first-day crowd in pre-pandemic times. The poor forecast will not have helped, and neither will the absence of key players. That thousand though was bolstered by another thousand. School children sat in neatly ordered blocks and rows in the Ondaatje and Priory Bridge Road Stands. Orderly but ecstatically and endlessly noisy. For the next three hours or so, the air was filled with a high-pitched roar which ebbed and flowed, although it was never silenced even by a healthy shower of rain against which the massed ranks of Hi-Viz tabard-dressed children and their teachers stood firmly at their posts. The pitch, looking totally devoid of grass, was set well towards the Somerset Stand, making for a very long boundary towards the Caddick Pavilion, although that seemed in no way to affect the children’s enjoyment of their day.

As to the cricket, Somerset made a bright start, 25 for 0 in the first six overs. There were one or two of those statutory early innings thick edges and Lammonby chased a wide ball, angled across him from Mohammad Abbas which he edged perilously close to but wide of the keeper as he dived towards first slip. Even so, Lammonby looked to be establishing himself, a cut and straight drive off Abbas, bowling from the River End, both flowing off the bat to the boundary with the ease which is the hallmark of his batting. But, from there, Somerset suffered one of their, almost habitual, it seems, early innings collapses. An attempted straight drive from Lammonby off Kyle Abbott resulted in a straightforward catch to the keeper and Somerset were 26 for 1. Lammonby 15. “He always plays one or two nice strokes and then gets out,” someone said. That was not entirely true. Lammonby was averaging 31 with four fifties for the season, but there was an element of truth in the comment. James Rew and Kasey Aldridge apart, an average of 31 is on a par with the rest of the Somerset batting. But Lammonby’s flowing style creates an expectation of more and if Somerset are ever to aspire to winning the Championship the top order batters will need to achieve an average higher than the low thirties.

Hampshire, with a first-choice Championship pace attack, unlike Somerset’s, not involved in their T20 campaign and available for this match, built on their breakthrough. Tom Abell, so often the rock at the heart of the Somerset innings in 2022, was quickly caught and bowled by Abbott off a leading edge while trying to turn the ball to leg, too early in his innings perhaps. Somerset 36 for 2. Abell five. Sean Dickson, still struggling to establish himself in the eyes of supporters and averaging less than 20 as an opener in the Championship, had begun solidly enough. A back foot cover drive to the Caddick Pavilion off Abbas and an exquisite late cut to the Ondaatje boundary off Keith Barker suggested there might be more to come. A coruscating straight drive would have done the same had not the bowler, Abbott, not got the faintest of fingertips to it, diverting the ball into the non-striker’s stumps with Bartlett, backing up, stranded a yard out of his ground. There was an instant of stunned silence, and Somerset were 41 for 3. Bartlett nought. Dixon, undeterred, drove at Abbott again. This time, the ball struck his pad and Somerset were 41 for 4 with the ageless clock at the top of the Colin Atkinson Pavilion yet to mark noon. Dixon had made 21 at nearly a run a ball, but his run of undeveloped starts continued. Only his 82 not out at Chelmsford, where he carried his bat, broke it and his average for the season was still less than 20.

With Somerset’s innings at risk of disintegration, it was steadied, firstly by James Rew and Andy Umeed, and then rescued, at least to the point from which a defensible total might be achieved, by Rew and Kasey Aldridge. Rew, already with four centuries to his name since the start of the season, had firmly established himself after forcing his way into the side at Southport in 2022. There he made 70, scored over nearly three hours, when Somerset were under intense pressure. Umeed, in only his second Championship match for Somerset, the first was against Kent in 2022, still needed to establish himself.

Umeed, true to his reputation for solid defence, did not score until his 19^th ball, playing mostly with an exaggerated defence, straight bat stretched well down the wicket. When finally he did score, off Abbas, the bat again came through the stroke straight, but was angled to guide the ball past the two slips to the Hildreth Stand for four. Rew was as painstaking, building his innings with intense scrutiny of every ball interspersed with the occasional, carefully directed scoring stroke. His first over though, from Liam Dawson’s slow left arm spin, brought into the attack for the 18^th over of the day, caused people to sit up in their seats. Three times Rew was beaten, Dawson’s first ball turning sharply into him and narrowly missing his off stump. The response of Rew and Umeed to an over from James Fuller, bowling from the Trescothick Pavilion End, was perhaps indicative of their pre-lunch play. Rew pulled Fuller, arguably the weakest link in Hampshire’s pace attack, gently towards the Somerset Stand for an easy single before Umeed turned him as gently to backward square leg before Rew did the same to deep square leg, both for singles. The other three balls were played with equal caution. “These two have played quite sensibly,” the impromptu assessment of a voice behind me.

When, two balls later, rain began to fall, perhaps more heavily in the middle than some sceptical spectators under the protective wing of the Trescothick Pavilion thought, the players departed the field for an early lunch with Somerset on 74 for 4. Rew 19 from 51 balls and Umeed 12 from 41. A cold assessment put Hampshire well ahead, but the early Somerset gloom had lifted a little in the face of the developing fifth wicket partnership. It had only reached 34 runs and had taken 15 overs, but the calm with which Rew and Umeed had played brought a sense of relief after the relative pandemonium of four wickets falling before the clock on the Colin Atkinson Pavilion had reached twelve.

The rain soon fizzled out, although it hung menacingly over the Quantocks threatening the promised post-lunch resumption. While the crowd waited to see if more rain or the players would reach the middle first, some entertainment for the school children was arranged in front of the Priory Bridge Road Stand. It consisted of what was announced as a space hopper challenge. Namely, a space hopper thrown as high as possible in the air to be caught by a representative teacher from each school with children attending the match. Throwing something the size of an inflated space hopper in the air is a challenge in itself. Further, space hoppers are not aerodynamically shaped, and they describe a wayward path through the air before crashing back towards earth. Sometimes the errant missile would veer towards the teacher threatening to knock them off their feet, sometimes away from the teacher maintaining a constant distance as the unfortunate teacher launched a forlorn pursuit. The teachers were met with cheers or groans from their group of children depending on whether the space hopper was caught or not. All proceeded to plan to the delight of the children, the discomfort of the teachers and the laughter of the crowd until the space hopper brought an early end to proceedings by bursting in mid-flight and flopping unceremoniously to the ground.

The cricket restarted with no loss of time, before, after seven balls, the threat hanging over the Quantocks fell on the ground and the players were off again, this time for the best part of two hours. It was enough to significantly shrink the crowd, lose all the schoolchildren, and leave a sedate chatter among those remaining. One discussion around me focused on Bazball as the new, high-octane, style of play adopted by the England Test team under the direction of its New Zealand Coach, Brendan ‘Baz’ McCullum, has been labelled. It is the antithesis of the traditional, more attritional way of playing Test Cricket and the subject of much controversy. The controversy continued during the break in the top of the Trescothick Pavilion, although at a more sedate level of discussion than some online controversies.

When play eventually restarted, 20 overs had been lost and tea delayed by just over an hour. Somerset began well enough with Umeed driving Abbott through the off side to Gimblett’s Hill for four but, in Abbott’s next over he pulled him limply to Felix Organ at midwicket and Somerset were 80 for 5. All four wickets to fall to bowlers had fallen to Abbott, and the run out wa also due to a sharp piece of fielding from him. Umeed had made a carefully crafted 16 from 56 balls but Somerset were now deep in familiar territory with Aldridge, the first of the bowlers, walking to the wicket. And yet, from here, the day turned.

Rew began the recovery by driving Abbas square to the Somerset Stand. “Shot James,” the comment from the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. A thick edge from Rew off Abbott brought the comment, “Abbott had a word with him there,” but when Barker was driven through the covers towards the Caddick Pavilion by Aldridge, the shout was, “Come on the ball!” as the crowd willed the pair on. The ball did not respond, being stopped just short of the boundary by a diving stop, limiting the batters to three. When Rew drove the next ball through midwicket to the Priory Bridge Road Stand there was loud applause from the remaining crowd and a noticeable silence from the Priory Bridge Road Stand, looking stark without its schoolchildren.

Now, Somerset threatened to wobble. Aldridge attempted to drive Abbott and edged the ball, waist high, straight into the hands of first slip. It looked as straightforward a slip catch as you will see but it fell to earth, evading a desperate second attempt to catch it as it fell. An over later Rew played defensively to Barker and edged the ball short and just wide of second slip from where it ran for four. In Barker’s next over, Aldridge, pulling, was cramped for space by some lift and top edged a pull which only just cleared the midwicket fielder who turned and chased the ball down just short of the Somerset Stand, limiting Aldridge to two. Those two runs took Somerset to a still very shaky 113 for 5 in the 40^th over.

In the next nine overs Rew and Aldridge began the recovery proper, adding 52 runs. It marked a sea change in Somerset’s approach, their run rate accelerating from 2.8 to 5.8 an over. Aldridge led the charge, against Barker, with a drive through extra cover to the Priory Bridge Road Stand and a square drive to the Caddick Pavilion. There was risk in such an approach against an attack of the quality and experience of Hampshire’s and a pull off a short ball from James Fuller took the top edge and flew over the keeper to the Lord Ian Botham Stand boundary. A neat, controlled steer well beyond slip for four to the Hildreth Stand was followed by an attempt at another which instead was edged just over a leaping fine gully fielder before running to the boundary. Rew meanwhile, to mounting applause, twice found the boundary securely, once off Liam Dawson, lofted over mid-on to the Lord Ian Botham Stand and once steered beyond gully off Fuller to the Hildreth Stand before Somerset eased to the delayed tea interval on 165 for 5.

By the time the players returned, the floodlights were on and the chatter in the stands had become more relaxed. For seven overs, the batters continued as if the tea interval had never been. Rew pulled the second ball after the interval from Abbas dismissively to the Somerset Stand for four before edging him inches short of a diving second slip for four more while Aldridge edged a pull off Abbas which cleared the keeper to the Lord Ian Botham Stand. Somerset were riding their luck and had more handed to them by Hampshire when Aldridge benefited from four overthrows when a slip fielder threw at and missed the stumps.

As Rew and Aldridge took Somerset forward, as the floodlights had perhaps presaged, dark, forbidding clouds massed over the flats behind the Somerset Stand. Eventually an umbrella was raised and the umpires looked anxiously at the clouds before taking the players off. There was still only the one umbrella, no one remaining in the already much diminished crowd left their seat and many were shaking their heads at the umpires apparently ending play for just the occasional spot of rain. Who would be an umpire? The speed with which the covers were run on as the players began their retreat suggested the concern was probably about how much rain, and how quickly, a sudden deluge from those clouds might deposit on the pitch before the covers were in place.

In the event, a few minutes later, the players were on their way back to the middle, the fielders looking somewhat reluctant and the batters uncertain. Rew and Aldridge touched gloves as they approached their creases and the umbrellas began going up again. This time, the players left the field for the third and final time. Somerset were in a far better place than they had been when the first departure had caused an early lunch at 74 for 4, but at 196 for 5, especially with Somerset’s weakened bowling attack, a detached assessment would probably still have had Hampshire with the advantage. An early wicket on the second morning would certainly have them ahead, but Somerset at least now had an opportunity to establish a total which they could defend.

Close. Somerset 196 for 5.