County Championship 2024. Division 1. Somerset v Warwickshire 30^th June and 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd July. Taunton.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, A.R.I. Umeed, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton (c), M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, J.T. Ball.

Warwickshire. R.M. Yates, A.L. Davies (c), W.M.H. Rhodes, S.R. Hain, D.R. Mousley, E.G. Barnard, J.G. Bethell, M.G.K. Burgess (w), C.R. Woakes, M.G. Booth, O.J. Hannon-Dalby.

Overnight – Warwickshire 412 and 281 for 8. Somerset 284. Warwickshire lead by 409.

Final day 3^rd July – The watcher on the Trescothick Pavilion terrace

With Somerset in sight of a stunning victory, but with nothing certain, one watcher in particular caught my eye. As over followed over, he stood intently and motionlessly at the safety rail of the Trescothick Pavilion terrace, high above the play, eyes fixed firmly on the cricket. I wondered what was going through his mind. The tension in the ground was such that every ball was bowled in silence, every run applauded or cheered with most watchers as motionless and watching as intensely as the one on the terrace. No one moved from their seat or from where they stood, nor him from the rail. No one dared. One of the age-old superstitions of cricket saw to that. When a side is on the cusp of winning a tight match, their supporters do not move. It is the eleventh commandment.

As I took my normal seat in the top of the Trescothick Pavilion, the question hanging over the evening before about whether and when Warwickshire might declare had been answered. They had declared before the start of play and set Somerset 410 to win in the day’s full allotment of a minimum of 96 overs. I doubt anyone around me seriously thought Somerset would win, although the hope floated tantalisingly in the air. For most of the match, runs had proved difficult to score and wickets had proved difficult to take unless the batting side was on the attack. Any rational calculation based on the evidence of the first three days, an average of 326 runs a day at 3.4 an over with wickets falling at an average of just over nine a day, pointed towards Somerset attempting to bat for a draw. If they were to attempt to win, they would need to score at 4.2 runs an over, nearly a run an over faster than the average for the match, for 96 overs.

Somerset’s start focused the mind. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, in the opener’s spot for the second match in succession, drove at Chris Woakes three times in the first over with his usual mixture of heart-stopping and heart-lifting results. The first, he missed. The second he edged at catchable height past fourth slip for four, the third he drove through the on side to the Garner Gates for four more. In the second over, Andy Umeed twice drove Oliver Hannon-Dalby through the off side, the first for two, the second to the Brian Rose Gates for four. A maiden played out by Kohler-Cadmore to Woakes was followed by Umeed pulling Hannon-Dalby and driving him off the back foot through extra cover, both for four. There were boundaries in each of the next three overs too, all driven as Warwickshire searched for movement with the new ball.

Given the the history of the first three days, Somerset’s quick advance felt like a bubble waiting to burst. And burst it did. Umeed attempted to drive a shorter length ball from Hannon-Dalby, edged it and was caught by Mark Burgess moving neatly to his right. Somerset 44 for 1. Umeed 30 from 26 balls. Runs still needed, 366 from 88 overs. But Somerset’s intent was now clear. An attempt on the target was at least to be explored. It had been a pulsating if foreshortened start from Umeed, his free-flowing drives in particular, which brought him generous applause as he left the field, but it had cost him his wicket, too early in the piece it felt.

Tom Lammonby was more circumspect but still looked for runs, although he never looked secure. He soon passed Kohler-Cadmore who, after that opening over, had seen little of the strike, and when he did, scored mainly in singles. Lammonby did find the boundary, although once, against Woakes, the ball came off the inside edge and passed excruciatingly close to the stumps. Another boundary came from a top edged hook against Michael Booth which fell safe just short of the rope. With the keeper up, Lammonby played and missed too but also scored with those smooth guides which are one of the hallmarks of his batting. Somerset were still forcing the pace, if not at the rate of the opening partnership, but Lammonby’s narrow escapes following Umeed’s dismissal laid bare the risk for all to see.

Another top edged hook from Lammonby, off Michael Booth, flew high towards the Trescothick Pavilion. It began to fall short. Just visible from my seat, running beneath the front row of heads, along the boundary from the covers store towards the sight screen came Ed Barnard, full pelt. Then a full-length dive, arms outstretched, before the ball was clasped, brilliantly. Lammonby gone. The only consolation from a Somerset perspective was the perfect view of a spectacular catch from almost vertically above. “Yes! You bears!” shouted one joyous Warwickshire supporter. Somerset 77 for 2. Lammonby 26. Runs needed 333. Overs remaining 77. The required rate was just beginning to edge up, 4.3 runs an over compared to the original 4.2. Not much of a gap, but Somerset had lost two wickets in getting that far, and with a very long way still to go it was an uneasy watch for a Somerset supporter.

Tom Abell to the wicket. Abell is Somerset’s most flexible top order batter, able to defend or attack with equal proficiency. He is also outstanding at pacing an innings and reading a match situation. If ever Somerset needed an Abell innings it was now. Hearts missed a beat when, defending, he edged his first ball past the slips for four. A lofted on drive only just cleared midwicket to a gasp or two from around me but Somerset benefited from two more runs. From there to lunch, Abell and Kohler-Cadmore played with a disjointed mixture of attack and defence, responding to the bowling no doubt, but it gave the impression of neither attacking the target nor playing for a draw. Abell found the boundary twice with drives while Kohler-Cadmore hooked a four and lofted Jacob Bethell over long on straight into the back of the lower level of the Trescothick Pavilion. They played with less risk than Umeed or Lammonby, but as the players left the field for lunch with the score on 117 for 2, Somerset had scored at 3.9 runs an over and the required rate had risen to 4.4. Not much of a rise perhaps, and still within bounds, but with both wickets lost to attacking strokes, Somerset needed a substantial partnership, and some luck.

Half an hour after lunch, it seemed that Somerset might have settled for a draw. In eight overs, only 15 runs were scored with only a single boundary, a cut for four to Abell off Bethell. Three maidens in succession had been bowled at one point and the required run rate had risen to 4.8. Somerset’s momentum seemed to be slipping. And yet, and yet, a doubt nagged, a doubt generated by hope. Hope born in the remembrance of another match, 15 years before. In 2009, Yorkshire had set Somerset 476 to win in 90 overs, 4.6 runs an over on the flattest imaginable pitch. Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah had opened. They had begun with the sort of intensely measured care that Abell and Kohler-Cadmore were now displaying before gradually picking up the rate to launch an extended attempt on the target. In 2024, were Somerset, 117 runs to the good with eight wickets standing, trying to consolidate before launching another extended assault? As Abell and Kohler-Cadmore worked through those eight overs, there was a certainty about their approach which generated a feeling reminiscent of that generated at the start of that Trescothick-Suppiah partnership. Hope born of batting intent.

Hope generates tension, but the hope, and the tension, was about to receive a double twist from Kohler-Cadmore. First, he broke the dearth of runs by driving Woakes straight back to the Lord Ian Botham Stand and cutting him through backward point to the Ondaatje boundary. Then, emphasising the risk experienced on this pitch when attacking, he drove at Hannon-Dalby, miscued and the ball steepled wide of mid-on from where Barnard ran to take another good catch, this time over his left shoulder. Somerset 144 for 3. Kohler-Cadmore 49, accumulated in over two and a half hours. The remaining target was 266 in 56 overs. Still 4.8 an over needed. Somerset still needed a partnership of substance, but Kohler-Cadmore and Abell had taken them 67 runs closer and the hope still held.

Tom Banton, who had made the number five slot in the Championship his own in the first half of 2024, joined Abell. Again, Somerset consolidated, 23 runs coming in the first ten overs of the partnership with only a single boundary, four clipped off his legs off Hannon-Dalby by Banton. After those ten overs, Somerset had reached 167 for 3. They still needed 243 in 46 overs, but as the overs remaining reduced the rise in the required rate accelerated. It was now 5.7 an over, but crucially Abell and Banton were still there with, a thick edge from Banton apart, little sign of threat from the bowlers. The ball was softer now, and the slow scoring notwithstanding, the intent with which the pair batted, no opportunity for a single was missed, continued to drive the tension.

Now, they drove the scoring rate up. Abell began with an on drive off Hannon-Dalby to the Hildreth Stand to register his fifty in nearly two hours. Off Barnard, he edged a cut through third slip, but with Warwickshire having to commit more to defence, there was no third slip. A straight drive from Banton off Robert Yates was struck with real intent and brought the standard accolade for a good stroke of, “Shot!” As tea approached, singles began to reap applause, the focus of the crowd intense, its encouragement of Abell and Banton feeding on hope. When Banton attempted to hook Booth, he top-edged the ball to the Lord Ian Botham Stand for four. When he attempted and missed an uppercut off the next ball someone in the crowd added stricture to encouragement with an anxious shout of, “Hey, cut it out!”

Booth was now pitching short, and accurately short, in an attempt to slow the scoring or force the batter into risk. Virtually every ball went through chest high. In response, Abell pulled to the Priory Bridge Road Stand for four while Banton pulled between the long and fine leg fielders for six, 12 runs coming from the over. Booth persisted and Banton hooked and top edged straight back over his head for the second time to the Lord Ian Botham Stand for four. The cheers were now coming whether the runs came off the middle or the edge of the bat, for it was clear Somerset were not only intent on winning the match, but that they might just do it. In the over before tea, Banton turned Bethell behind square for a single to register his fifty from 76 balls in 81 minutes. Risks he had taken and some luck he had had, but at tea the target had been reduced to 180 from 33 overs, 5.5 an over. Somerset were now scoring steadily at the required rate, at times exceeding it, and Abell and Banton were applauded off.

After tea, they continued as if there had been no break, there was no post-lunch style regrouping now. They did not quite maintain the required rate, but the boundaries still came, mainly from pulls, although Banton glanced Bethell and lofted him straight back over his head for six to the Trescothick Pavilion. In response, Warwickshire placed four on the boundary including a long leg and deep square leg, and to Banton, two shortish midwickets. Eventually, Banton pulled Barnard once too often and was caught by one of the midwickets falling to his right. Banton was visibly devastated. Somerset 282 for 4. Banton 81 in a minute over two hours and the applause followed him all the way to the Pavilion. Target now 130 in 22 overs. Required rate still 5.5 an over.

In that epic 2009 run chase, at the fall of the second wicket, Somerset had sent in the tall pace bowler, David Stiff, to boost the scoring rate after the foundation had been laid. He scored 49 from 32 balls including four sixes, mainly targeting the roof of the Lord Ian Botham Stand. In 2024, with four wickets down, Migael Pretorius was sent in on a similar mission. His 14 runs from 10 balls did not take Somerset much closer but the required rate was maintained and at 282 for 5 Somerset needed 128 from three balls over 23 overs, still 5.5 an over.

In 2009, with Somerset needing 138 from 20 overs at the fall of the fifth wicket, Peter Trego marched out. There is no other way to describe Trego’s walk to the wicket on that day, or probably any other. He proceeded to play the innings of his life, 103 not out from 54 balls in 68 minutes and Somerset won by four wickets with four and a half overs to spare. In fact, it may have been much closer than that, for as Zander de Bruyn struck the winning boundary through straight midwicket rain was beginning to fall heavily from clouds that had threatened for a while. In 2024, it was James Rew who walked to the wicket to join Abell with no Lewis Gregory to follow. Rew had had an annus mirabilis in 2023. In 2024 he had had, with the bat, a season not far short of what the late Queen called an annus horribilis. On his shoulders, and those of Abell might depend the outcome of the match.

What followed was a partnership of dreams. As if to continue the theme of 2009, as Rew came to the wicket the sky was darkening, perhaps not yet threatening, but glowering enough to add a doubt about the weather to the tension. Rew announced himself by cutting through the tension with a drive past mid-off off Will Rhodes. It came resoundingly off the middle of the bat and crossed the rope in front of the covers store. Resounding was a word which would exemplify Rew’s driving from which most of his boundaries came in this innings. Almost unnoticed in the tension, Abell had been approaching his century. He reached it with a single off Barnard in 12 minutes short of four hours. It had been a century of determination, restraint and attacking opportunity taken. It richly deserved the extended applause and standing ovation it received. An over later, Rew slog swept Bethell for four and drove him straight back over his head to the Trescothick Pavilion for six, 14 coming from the over. That reduced the target to 85 from 16 overs, 5.3 runs an over and Somerset hope was turning to anticipation, if still laced with the ingrained anxiety of the lifelong sports supporter.

Suddenly it felt like Somerset were favourites. To the detached observer it had probably felt like that for a while, but to the hardened supporter doubt keeps its grip for longer. To the hardened supporter something akin to the Boycott doctrine applies, and if two wickets were added to Somerset’s score, the balance would shift markedly. Four hundred and ten was a huge target too, only once passed in Somerset’s history, in that match in 2009. The size of the target and the rarity of targets of that size being achieved brought pressures of their own. But, on Abell and Rew went, Abell pulling and cutting the off spin of Dan Mousley for four and Rew lofting Barnard over mid-on to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion for four more. The cheering for very boundary and the applause for every single intensified by the over. The fifty partnership was reached when Abell turned Woakes to deep midwicket for a single with the target reduced to 61 in 12 overs, five runs an over. With five wickets standing, overs were no longer an issue. If Warwickshire were to win or save the match they would need to take wickets, perhaps all five.

And yet, tension still gripped. The crowd were hunched forward in their seats, faces taut, silent as each ball was bowled. It was around now that I noticed the watcher at the terrace rail, alone, consumed in thought, as motionless as everyone else beyond the boundary, eyes fixed with trance-like intensity on the cricket. And as he watched, the cricket moved remorselessly on. As the target fell below fifty only one boundary came in four overs, but still 22 runs came as Rew and Abell pushed easy singles or scampered quick ones to applause. Warwickshire’s last hope, the ever-persistent Hannon-Dalby, was bowling now but the situation was beyond even his powers. Rew struck him as cleanly as a lofted drive can be struck back to the Trescothick Pavilion for four. Two balls later a rare full toss was driven spectacularly through the covers for four more and Rew had reached fifty from 49 balls. It had been so emphatic, so unexpected an innings given his form earlier in the season, so perfect for Somerset’s needs when he walked to the wicket, that some stood in applause, a rare accolade for a fifty in a Championship match. Not only had it met Somerset’s need of the moment, it had been a fifty of immense class in its own right.

While Rew was making his mark, Abell continued to make his at the other end. While Rew had made 50 he had made 31 of his own, quietly adding to the pressure applied by Rew. Now came a quieter over from Woakes, but even so five singles were taken, every one applauded to the echo, every one followed intently by the still motionless watcher on the terrace, every one followed by every pair of eyes in the ground. Somerset now needed 17. That six overs remained was irrelevant. Even more irrelevant when, from the first four balls of the next over, bowled by Booth from the Trescothick Pavilion End, Abell drove, pulled, drove again and hooked for four, four, six and six, the last of which I lost sight of as it flew towards the region where the Priory Bridge Road Stand and the Caddick Pavilion meet. The final six took Abell past 150 and to his highest first-class score. I doubt anyone noticed the landmarks, for Somerset had just won by five wickets and the crowd had erupted.

People were applauding, with arms stretched high above heads, all around the ground. At 410, it was Somerset’s second highest successful Championship run chase. I was lucky enough to have been present at the first, third and fourth highest too. The highest, in 2009, was also at Taunton. The third highest, 401, was at Taunton against Nottinghamshire in 2015, and the fourth highest, 396, against Sussex at Hove in 2012. On all three of those previous occasions, Peter Trego had marched to the wicket with the match in balance or edging against Somerset. On all three occasions, his innings had been crucial to getting Somerset over the line. Now, retired from playing, I wondered what thoughts and memories had gone through his mind amidst the tension of the closing stages of this match as he had stood so intently at the terrace safety rail, 20 yards to my left, eyes fixed on the middle, until Abell’s final six was safely over the rope.

Result. Warwickshire 412 (M.G.K. Burgess, E.G. Barnard 92, W.M.H. Rhodes 63, M. Pretorius 5-104) and 281 for 8 dec (J.G. Bethell 66, R.M. Yates 57, A.L. Davis 50, C. Overton 4-57, M.J. Leach 3-97). Somerset 284 (T. Banton 78, T.B. Abell 61, O.J. Hannon-Dalby 6-56, M.G. Booth 3-68) and 413 for 5 (T.B. Abell 152*, T. Banton 81, J.E.K. Rew 57*). Somerset won by five wickets. Somerset 20 points. Warwickshire 7 points.