County Championship 2024. Division 1. Surrey v Somerset 12^th, 13^th, 14^th  and 15^th April The Oval.

Jack Leach, (knee injury) and Tom Abell (hamstring) were unavailable.

Surrey. R.J. Burns (c), D.P. Sibley, O.J.D. Pope, D.W. Lawrence, J.L. Smith, B.T. Foakes (w), C.T. Steel, J. Clark, J. Overton, A.A.P. Atkinson, K.A.J Roach.

Somerset, M.T. Renshaw, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, L.P. Goldsworthy, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory (c), C. Overton, K.L. Aldridge, M. Pretorius, S. Bashir.

Overnight. Somerset 285 and 204 for 6. Surrey 428.  Surrey lead by 61 runs with four first innings wicket standing.

Final day. 15^th April – “It ain’t gonna happen“

“It ain’t gonna happen,” were the words of the Somerset supporter with me at the end of the third day when I suggested that Somerset would have to bat at least until tea on the final day to have a chance of saving the match. It seemed a reasonable statement for him to make at the time. Somerset were six wickets down and only 61 runs ahead. Even on a flat pitch with the Kookaburra ball, the thought that Somerset’s last four wickets could bat for four hours or more on the final day was, as they say, for the birds. Perhaps it was. The pigeons which pick at the grass at the edges of the practice pitches in front of the Galadari Stand gave their wings a rest and stayed the entire final day as a slow-motion drama unfolded in front of them. As to spectators, most had voted with their feet. Leaving aside those sensibly hidden behind glass as winter had another swipe, by my count there were about two hundred in the ground, a far cry from the near four thousand of the first day. The match was, after all, essentially dead as a contest and if Somerset were to save it, it would be by dint of a substantial intervention by the weather. In the event, play began at ten minutes past twelve with 18 overs lost and the rain barely threatened again, but still, my Someret brain thought, it ain’t gonna happen.

With rain promised, I sat under cover at the bottom of the huge conference centre stand at the Vauxhall End. Initially, the sun bathed my seat, battling with that bitter wind while Surrey waited a dozen overs for the new ball, filling the wait with Jamie Overton and the spin of Cameron Steel and Dan Lawrence. In Overton’s first over, Lewis Gregory cut and drove him to the boundary twice and was twice beaten. It was typical of the play which followed. Initially, Somerset did not seem content to defend their way to safety and, despite the age of the Kookaburra ball, the Surrey bowlers seemed intent on reminding them of their batting mortality as they occasionally found the edge of or passed the bat. Without taking undue risk, Somerset pushed forward. There was only one maiden in the 14 overs possible before lunch, Gregory found the boundary more than once and Kasey Aldridge kept the score moving with controlled pushes and guides. More often than is common, the ball was pushed for two into the vast expanse of The Oval outfield.  

For the watching Somerset supporter, every ball was a trial, for any ball might bring a wicket and Somerset had no wickets to spare. Even with the expectation of an early finish and a Surrey victory, that sliver of cricketing hope which dreams of the impossible being made possible burned in Somerset hearts. Perhaps, just perhaps, those last four wickets might hold out, but each time the hope pushed itself to the front of the Somerset mind it was dashed by a burst of reason which said, “It ain’t gonna happen.”

Then, “C’mon Surrey!” the cry from someone hoping from the Surrey side of the equation.  It was a hope no doubt bolstered by Kemar Roach taking the new ball three overs before lunch. Gasps of disappointment from one side and of relief from the other followed as Roach beat Gregory to no effect. In the over before lunch, an edge from Gregory which fell just short of first slip and an appeal which resulted in no more than a leg bye had hearts racing or missing a beat depending on who possessed the heart. Before that over, tension had just begun to bite as Somerset reached for lunch still six down. By the end of it, the ground was silent with tension. Then, hearts beat freely again as the lunchtime chatter took hold among the scattered watchers.

In those 14 overs before lunch, Somerset added 48 runs and took their lead to 109. But more important than runs, they had not lost a wicket. With 64 overs left in the day wickets were still the primary concern and, as the players returned to the field, I doubt many Somerset supporters held out hopes of saving the game. Five minutes later, any remaining hopes felt the crush of Aldridge’s wicket. He had just pushed Roach through point for two, hurried into the second run by a shout of, “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Then Roach found the edge of a defensive bat and Aldridge was caught behind. Somerset 256 for 7. Aldridge 42. Lead 113. “Surrey!” the immediate response from a home supporter. A lump in the pit of the stomach, the likely response of most Somerset supporters

Now, Craig Overton joined Gregory. A back foot square drive off Jordan Clark from Overton was soon crossing the Galadari Stand boundary in defiance of the apparently inevitable, but it was ten overs before the ball crossed the boundary again. Overton and Gregory, vice-captain and captain, had clearly set themselves to grind through the afternoon if they could. “If only they could,” the tantalising Somerset thought in response to, “It ain’t gonna happen.” A late cut for two from Gregory off Roach came in the over after the boundary, but then followed eight overs with nothing more than a single. Just ten defiant runs coming in those eight overs. Somerset were marking time, wearing down the new ball. And as Somerset marked time in the middle, the Pavilion clock marked time with them. Slowly. The more often I looked, the more excruciatingly slow seemed the movement of the hands of the clock towards 3.40, the time fixed for tea on the final day.

Along the way Gregory opened the face to Clark and the resulting single brought up his fifty, but it didn’t seem to matter. All that mattered was that he was still there. Somerset’s lead was 126 but there were at least 58 overs left in the day and the equation still brought the same answer. “It ain’t gonna happen.” With Somerset still scoring in spasmodic singles, Lawrence forced an inside edge from Overton which fell short of leg slip. Now time stood still for a moment while the brain processed Somerset’s narrow escape. Then two straight drives and an on drive from Overton, all off Lawrence. All three reached the boundary, suggesting Somerset might be making a break for safety. But then the occasional gathering of singles resumed as Steel joined Lawrence and the tense quiet and the slow-moving clock returned.

For Surrey there was hope as Overton was twice struck on the pad, once by Lawrence and once by Steel, once playing no stroke. Both times, the ground held its breath, but the umpire remained as motionless as the hands of the clock on the Pavilion. “One was missing leg. Probably, “ said the text from the online watcher, “And the other was just missing off. Both probably umpire’s call.” It was not a message to settle the Somerset heart. Neither was, “That was out if it had hit,” after Overton had pushed a ball from brother Jamie to midwicket, turned halfway through the run and dived for the crease as Jamie intercepted the ball at short midwicket and threw at the stumps. The two brothers ended their exertions in separate heaps replicating the intensity of the contest.

As Craig Overton and Gregory continued to push their way forward, single by occasional single, towards tea, Somerset minds began to think, “Perhaps it might happen,” and to begin to relax as each single added to the pressure on Surrey. Gregory pulled Gus Atkinson straight towards Roach on the midwicket boundary. It was the same spot that Matt Renshaw had occupied on the second day when he had spilled a similar chance from Rory Burns. Roach caught the ball, but it bounced out of his hands, hit him on the forehead and fell to earth as the batters poached another single. Two balls later, Gregory edged through third slip when there wasn’t one and another single accrued. Two maidens later, Somerset walked off to tea with the score on 320 for 7 and a lead of 177. Not enough yet for safety given the pace at which modern batters can score, but hope continued to grow in the Somerset mind as Gregory and Overton continued to stand firm.

With the hope came superstition. Superstition has no force, and most cricket supporters know it. But no one wants to be the one who took a chance if their team then suffers a setback. So, when I left my seat for my teatime circumnavigation of the outfield, I noted my seat number, Row 18, Seat 339, to ensure I returned to the same seat after tea. The supporters who perambulated the outfield at tea were few and far between, but most of the two hundred or so who had been in the ground at lunchtime remained, such was the grip of a match which, despite the ball and the pitch, had refused to die.

For a while after tea the tension relaxed. Perhaps the interval had led to a resetting of expectations among supporters with Surrey having taken only one wicket in the preceding three hours and needing to take three more in fairly short order if they were to have a chance of winning. Somerset will have made the same calculation. Perhaps that led, after half a dozen more overs of spasmodic singles and a single boundary, to Overton launching another brief assault on the bowling. This time he drove Atkinson square for four and, in attempting to hook him, top edged him to fine leg for another four. Now Somerset led by 190 with 28 overs remaining, 26 after a change of innings. Still not quite enough to make the match safe.

Pushing on, Gregory drove Steel for four, but when he attempted to cut him, the ball flew straight to Atkinson at backward point and Surrey had taken their wicket. There was a huge cheer from the Surrey supporters followed by a return of the tension as Surrey pushed the door to victory ajar. Somerset 345 for 8. Gregory 80 in four and a quarter hours. Lead 202. Overs remaining 26. Surrey would need to remove Somerset’s final two wickets quickly.

And remove them quickly they did. Migael Pretorius, on debut for Somerset, tried to slog sweep a ball from well outside off stump to somewhere over midwicket. The ball steepled towards the heavens from where it was caught by Dom Sibley pedalling backwards from short mid-off. Somerset 349 for 9. Lead 206. Pretorius nought. Shoaib Bashir turned Steel to fine leg for two but succumbed when he failed to get his bat down to the next, full, ball from Steel and was leg before wicket. Somerset 351 all out. Bashir 2. Overton 52 not out in over two and a half hours of solid defence and controlled run scoring. “Surrey!” and, “Come on Surrey!” the shouts from the crowd. There was no time to ponder whether Surrey would make the attempt, for they immediately made their intention clear by sprinting from the field.

After all the tension of the day, the weather twisted the screw another quarter turn, threatening to take the returning players off just as they reached the boundary rope. The umpires were already in the middle and removed the bails they had just put on. Hope for Somerset. Then, no sooner had the Somerset players climbed the stairs to their dressing room than the bails were back on. Hope for Surrey. Surrey would need 209 to win in 19 overs. It was a tantalising target. Eleven runs an over with no prospect of losing. Just within range in T20 but with no fielding or bowling restrictions. The tension was back now with a vengeance. For the few Somerset supporters who had stayed on for the fourth day, a match that had been on the brink of being saved, however unlikely that had seemed at the start of the day, was back in balance again. There was no pressure on Surrey, there was little prospect of them losing, caution could be thrown to the winds in an adrenaline-fuelled rush for victory. All the pressure was on Somerset. Row 18, Seat 339 suddenly felt very uncomfortable, whilst the few Surrey supporters in the seats near me were as suddenly sitting bolt upright.

Somerset began with six on the boundary, which soon became nine. Overton and Pretorius opened and mixed the bowling up, full, short, wide and straight, but it all came the same to the Surrey openers, Smith and Lawrence. If the bowlers bowled short, they were cut or pulled, if they pitched full they were driven, if they pitched full and wide in the T20 way, the batters reached low and cut. They chanced their arms repeatedly, they had no choice if they were to get near their target, and the ball flew. Fourteen came from the first over, Somerset’s fielders, scattered around the edges of The Oval’s wide acres, found it impossible to prevent at least a single from every ball, and twice the ball crossed the boundary. Pretorius was a little more successful in his first over conceding only one boundary, a glance from Lawrence, but again every ball was scored from. “Come on Surrey!” came from one of the crowd as scattered as Somerset’s fielders.

Overton’s second over saw Smith drive him over long off into the Pavilion and Lawrence enjoy some of that fortune that favours the brave as an attempted drive flew over the deserted slips to the Vauxhall End for four. The ball seemed to fly off the bat with Somerset unable to exert any control and twelve runs came from the over, and after three, Surrey were 36 for no wicket, three ahead of the required rate with the cheers beginning to multiply in volume and in numbers. To a Somerset supporter, 209 was beginning to look uncomfortably vulnerable.

Briefly, Overton and Pretorius staunched the flow of boundaries. None came from the next three overs and Surrey failed to score off four balls. It was not much consolation, but it was something to cling onto as ‘only’ 22 runs came from those three overs in ones and twos and the Surrey run rate fell below ten. It left them to score at nearly 12 an over for the remaining 13. The match was tightening again after the early Surrey onslaught, seven runs an over for three overs had simply not been enough, and the Surrey cheers had been replaced by another tense quiet while a rainbow appeared suggesting there might yet be a shower about.

If they were to retain their chances of winning, Surrey needed to regain their early momentum. Smith and Lawrence must have known that for now they launched an assault on Overton and Pretorius even more ferocious than that with which they had begun the innings. Fifteen off an over from Overton, a six driven to the Pavilion and a four driven to the Galadari Stand from the first two balls. Then a six off Pretorius pulled over deep midwicket by Smith and a four driven through the covers by Lawrence with every ball in the over scored from, 17 in total. After eight overs, Surrey were 90 for 0 with 119 runs needed from the final 11 overs. Back to 11 an over. On target and the crowd sensed it. “Surrey!” and “Come on Surrey!” cries seemed to be breaking out from all around despite the paucity of the crowd and Row 18, Seat 339 was feeling more uncomfortable than ever.

And then, a change. In the bowling and in Somerset’s fortunes. Gregory had played what used to be called a captain’s innings and now he bowled a captain’s over. His first ball was well wide of off stump, demanding that Smith reach wide and low for it if he wished to score. He did reach for it and pulled hard over straight midwicket. Renshaw ran in equally hard towards it, landing flat on his back as he took the ball but ended up holding it aloft. There was a huge sigh of relief from Row 18 Seat 339 and from any seats in the ground accommodating the few remaining Somerset supporters. There was extended applause for Smith, out for 45 from 25 balls. Gregory compounded the blow to Surrey’s fortunes the loss of a wicket brought by finishing his over for six runs. Then, Aldridge, having first suffered a top edged cut for six over point from the new batter, Ollie Pope, bowled a leg stump yorker as Pope stepped to leg to try to cut and bowled him.

Next in was Jamie Overton. He managed three runs from his first four balls as Gregory and Aldridge tightened their squeeze on the batting. With 12 runs an over needed from the final eight, the cheering had ceased and the tense quiet returned. Only Tom Lammonby’s voice broke through the tension with, “C’mon lads!” When Overton attempted to pull Aldridge, he connected with the top edge and the ball flew high and back over the bowler’s head. Aldridge turned and ran back beyond the stumps before taking the catch. Now Aldridge, perhaps with his extra pace, perhaps following advice from a coach who ran out to talk to the huddle as Overton walked off, tightened Somerset’s sudden grip further. Rory Burns failed to score from his first three balls and then pulled his fourth to deep midwicket where Lewis Goldsworthy took the catch.

Now Gregory, whose first over had begun the squeeze on Surrey, caught and bowled Dom Sibley off a miscued pull. Then, with Surrey’s charge petering out, only four runs came from an over from Aldridge, all in singles. It left Surrey needing 86 runs from five overs. “It ain’t gonna happen,” the thought that sprang to mind. Surrey knew it as well as I did, for their batters offered to shake Gregory’s hand. He accepted and the tension that had gripped the ground in one form or another for most of the day evaporated as those of us who had experienced a wonderful, if unexpectedly so, day of cricket sidled slowly out of the ground, the Somerset supporters among us breathing the largest sigh of relief we had in a long time.

Result. Somerset 285 (T.A. Lammonby 100, M.T. Renshaw 87, L. Gregory 50, C.T. Steel 4-50, A.A.P. Atkinson 3-57) and 351 (L. Gregory 80, L.P. Goldsworthy 58, C. Overton 52*, C.T. Steel 5-96, D.W. Lawrence 3-76). Surrey 428 (D.P. Sibley 100, R.J. Burns 75, B.T. Foakes 57, K.L. Aldridge 5-64) and 123 for 5 (D.W. Lawrence 53*, J.L. Smith 45, K.L. Aldridge 3-14). Match drawn. Surrey 14 points. Somerset 11 points.