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.

Toss. Surrey. Elected to field.

First day 12^th April – “It’ll be over in three days”

Surrey had been County Champions in 2022 and 2023 and were favourites to win the title again in 2024. They had greatly increased their membership in the years leading up to 2024 and have a huge population catchment area. Those three things, plus the fact that they have always been a well-supported club may have been factors in the size of the crowd on the first day. I first became aware of the potential size of the crowd as my Tube train pulled into Oval station. Virtually everyone on the train stood up. Then, an endless stream of people trailed up the road towards the Hobbs Gates. Once there, they formed a continuous crush waiting for tickets or membership cards to be scanned. I remember, not so long ago, paying cash to go through a turnstile at The Oval. Now, my digital ticket was scanned on my smartphone in an instant and still the crush continued. Four years ago, I didn’t have a smartphone. The world moves on and, eventually, I catch up with it.

At The Oval, I always sit in the Galadari Stand. The Galadari Stand, another indication of the world moving on. Until 2021, most of it was the Peter May Stand. A famous cricketer had been replaced by a dedicated long-term financial supporter as cricket consumes increasing amounts of money. The Pavilion seating and the seating in the section of the Galadari Stand adjoining the Pavilion, the old Laker and Lock Stands, was packed. There was a good covering of spectators too in the rest of the Galadari Stand stretching all the way along the side of the ground in front of the gasometer, that iconic sentinel, timelessly watching over The Oval. There were more in the seating under the conference centre at the Vauxhall End and a few more still in the stand in front of the Archbishop Tenison School. By lunch the numbers, by my estimate, must have exceeded four thousand, perhaps twice a first day crowd at Taunton.

The crowd was made up differently to crowds at Taunton too, and differently to County Championship crowds everywhere else in the country. Unlike the predominantly retired and near-retired age group elsewhere there was a much wider spread in age at The Oval. Other than in the seats in front of the Pavilion, about half the crowd were aged under fifty, many in their twenties and thirties. It would be interesting to know what brought them to Championship cricket in South London that doesn’t elsewhere, at least not remotely on the scale I saw at The Oval. London’s younger demographic? Crossover from the Vitality Blast and The Hundred? Concerted attempts to grow the Surrey membership? It would be an interesting research project.

I took my seat, as always at The Oval, high up in the Galadari Stand and square of the wicket. My watching of Somerset Championship matches there stretches back four decades to the beginning of my three-decade long Eastern exile and has continued ever since. I find it strangely reassuring to sit with the gasometer over my right shoulder and the steady stream of aircraft making their way to Heathrow floating over my left. From the ground, they seem to fly so slowly as to defy the laws of aerodynamics. In my mind, the sun always shines at The Oval and those planes always have blue sky as a backdrop. They don’t always of course, but the memory is allowed to have flights of fancy. But on the first day of this match the sky really was blue, the aircraft did float, and the sun did shine. There was a chill breeze, but for early April it was as perfect a day for watching cricket as could be imagined, apart from the ice cream. Only whipped available. “Oh, for my scoop ice cream of not so long ago,” Francis Thompson might have written had he still been around to write it.

As to the point of my visit, the cricket, the pitch was green, the toss went to Surrey, and they asked Somerset to bat. Somerset began briskly, Matt Renshaw and Sean Dickson each finding the boundary twice in the first three overs with one boundary from each coming off the edge. Then, against Joe Clark, Dickson edged past the slips for two and then edged again, defending, to Jamie Overton at second slip. Overton took the ball in front of his chest, fumbled, swivelled as he tried to hold onto it, and dropped it behind him where Dom Sibley, falling to the ground from first slip, caught it. “We got a bit lucky there,” the instant comment from a Surrey supporter. It was, as slip catches go, a simple drop and an exceptional catch and, given Dickson’s start, it did not come as a surprise. Somerset in immediate trouble at 18 for 1. Dickson 10.

Then came Somerset’s partnership of the day, between Renshaw and Tom Lammonby who continued the excellent start at number three he had made at Canterbury. He was in by the fourth over, but his batting looked more assured than it often had as an opener in 2022 and 2023. A careful start, especially against Kemar Roach, soon gave way to an innings of flowing drives and smoothly played steers and guides. As the sun climbed higher and the atmosphere became warmer, the field was driven back. By the end of the first hour there were three fielders on the boundary. “Shot” someone said as Lammonby drove Clark square to the Archbishop Tenison School boundary. A ball later, the smoothest of on drives penetrated the leg side field and reached the Galadari boundary below me. When Gus Atkinson replaced Roach, Lammonby drove him straight, just to the on side of the Pavilion sight screen. Twice in an over Atkinson was driven through the covers to the old Laker and Lock Stand boundary. Three times in an over Lammonby found the boundary off Jamie Overton, once with the deftest of late cuts which sent the ball to the Galadari Stand scoreboard and twice with straight drives to the Pavilion. The second drive registered his fifty to extended applause from a Surrey crowd which acknowledges good cricket from whoever it comes, and this had been an innings of precision and beauty. By lunch, Lammonby had reached the boundary 12 times and his score stood at 70.

Renshaw meanwhile had continued in the mode which he had adopted at Canterbury, playing with solid defence, rotating the strike, keeping one end secure while Lammonby found the boundary at the other. The contrasting approaches built an effective partnership. Renshaw picked up the pace as lunch approached with Lammonby perhaps taking stock as his scoring slowed. After three initial boundaries, Renshaw went 20 overs without the ball crossing the rope. Now he moved towards lunch with a drive for four through extra cover towards the Vauxhall End off Dan Lawrence, a straight drive to the Pavilion End sight screen off Clark and a lofted on drive for six which landed just to the side of the Vauxhall End sight screen. The six took Renshaw to fifty. Four balls later, the players walked off with Somerset on 131 for 1, Lammonby 70, Renshaw 51. The match, or at least its immediate future, was now firmly in Somerset’s hands.

It had been a glorious morning for Somerset supporters who could have been forgiven for walking their way around the ground or across the outfield at the Pavilion End as if on air. It had been not just another good start to Somerset’s innings after the one at Canterbury, but a spectacular one courtesy of Lammonby’s bat. To be walking on the outfield too was heaven after two years of relatively rare permissions to pass through the boundary gates at Taunton. One Somerset supporter thought the batting was ‘stiffer’ than in recent seasons. There was a huge crowd on the outfield enjoying an age-old freedom valued by so many, around 1,200 by my rough count. Surrey’s decision to ask Somerset to bat was a common discussion point and, apart from a tinge of green in the pitch, few could understand the rationale. A quarter of an hour soaking up the atmosphere on the outfield and a circumnavigation of the ground later I was back in my seat for the afternoon session.

For an hour, the afternoon was, for Somerset supporters, as heavenly as the morning. It began as the morning had ended with Renshaw attacking hard. Roach was driven and cut through the covers for four, “Look at that!” a Surrey supporter said in response to the cut, and edged to the Vauxhall End for another four, the edge an inevitable occasional consequence of the way in which Renshaw, and Lammonby before him, were playing. An over later, Renshaw drove again, this time through the on side, “Four more,” the resigned comment of another Surrey supporter as the ball crossed the boundary in front of the scoreboard at the end of the Galadari Stand. That drive took Somerset past 150 less than twenty minutes after lunch and Surrey were down to a single slip. It was the high point of Somerset’s day.

There were still more runs to come from Renshaw and Lammonby, but they began to come mainly in singles with the occasional two, Surrey now having four fielders on the boundary. A four from Lammonby, cut off Roach, brought a comment of, “Well done,” but as the scoring slackened, someone, sensing a shift, shouted, “Come on Surrey!” When the batters pushed for two, Renshaw only made his ground with a desperate dive as the keeper broke the stumps. The first leg before wicket appeal for some time followed. Then, Lammonby drove straight. Renshaw, ball watching as the ball was part-stopped, hesitated as Lammonby charged towards him, then set off late for a quick single and was run out by a direct hit as he dived full stretch. Somerset 196 for 2. Renshaw 87. Like all run outs it left an empty feeling in the pit of the stomach if you were a supporter of the batting side, but after such a partnership, the pit of the stomach felt particularly empty.

It left a buzz among Surrey supporters which was added to when Lammonby played and missed twice in the next over, from Clark. “Come on Surrey!” “Come on boys!” the shouts that followed. Then Lammonby turned Jamie Overton square for the single that took him to his century, “Come on Somerset!” the shout amid the applause. Three balls later, Lammonby was leg before wicket to Clark. “Surrey! Surrey! Surrey!” the chant from one group of supporters. Somerset 198 for 3. Lammonby 100. Tom Banton joined Lewis Goldsworthy, edged his first ball past slip for a single before being caught behind defending against Atkinson. Somerset 199 for 4. Banton 1, and Somerset faces consumed in frozen stares.

“Has it started moving?” someone asked, but Surrey turned to Cameron Steel’s leg spin. Goldsworthy came forward in defence and was beaten. He came forward in defence again and edged to Jamie Overton at slip. Somerset 211 for 5. Goldsworthy 10. As Surrey supporters chanted, “Surrey! Surrey! Surrey!” the Somerset mind was in a whirl and the pit of the stomach ached. Lewis Gregory joined James Rew who had come to the wicket almost unnoticed in the midst of the mayhem. Almost immediately, Rew attempted to drive Atkinson and was caught behind, the Somerset mind struggling to keep up with the mayhem still unfolding in front of them. “The game turned on the run out,” was the comment drifting through the cheers and applause, a point which it would be difficult to counter. The buzz following the applause for Rew’s wicket had not died down when Kasey Aldridge, next ball, was caught at slip by Jamie Overton. Somerset 211 for 7. Rew 3. Aldridge 0, the whole Somerset body now numb. Atkinson looked decidedly quick, and I wondered if that had contributed to his wickets. Lewis Gregory attempted to fight back with a pair of twos driven through the covers off Steel, but when it was his turn to face, Craig Overton, defending, was bowled by Steel, “Bowled ’im,” someone said, aping the late Richie Benaud. Somerset 216 for 8. Overton 0, Somerset’s innings completely upended.

As the Somerset wickets tumbled, a Dakota aircraft, much used by paratroopers in the Second World War, flew over the ground. I wondered if it might be about to parachute in some Somerset reinforcements. It had been an hour of utter mayhem ending in a rout of the Somerset batting. “Someone must have had a word at lunch,” the Surrey comment. What made the rout difficult to comprehend was the near serenity with which Renshaw and Lammonby had taken the score to within four runs of 200. Migael Pretorius, on his Somerset debut, was the next to walk to the middle. A listen to his thoughts as he watched the preceding hour would have been worth a penny or two. Once in the middle, his mind appeared to be on his batting. He drove his first ball straight for a single, cut Atkinson over the backward point fielder, if only just, for four and with Gregory took Somerset to tea on 231 for 8.

Another circumnavigation, very determinedly anti-clockwise, anything that might turn things around, left me chatting to someone who sometimes attends The Hundred at The Oval. As we sat, he reported huge crowds in support of the home team, many wearing its merchandise. Perhaps there is a link between that and the large element of younger people in the Championship crowd. As is the way with these chats, it carried on into the evening session with the cricket in the background, although given Somerset’s parlous position my eye was more determinedly focused on the cricket than it usually is when I chat.

What it saw, and what drew it in more, was a spirited counterattack from Gregory, but not before Pretorius had been caught at the wicket attempting to cut Steel. Somerset 236 for 9. Pretorius 12. Gregory’s immediate response was to flat bat Clark through mid-off for four. Gregory’s main target though was Steel who had just taken three wickets, although barely turning the ball. Twice he drove him over straight midwicket for six, the second clattering into some seats just behind me as I talked on, a warning to keep my eye on the cricket. In Steel’s next over, Gregory slog swept to the Galadari boundary for four and cut him backward of backward point to the Vauxhall End for four more. By Steel’s next over, I was back in my seat. Someone shouted, “Come on Surrey,” and Gregory promptly deposited a ball from Steel into the sixth row of the stand, a dozen or more rows in front of me. A cut past slip brought Gregory two more and a large round of applause for his fifty. “Good innings,” said a Surrey supporter.

When Shoaib Bashir cut Jamie Overton square for four, someone shouted, “Come on Somerset!” as the whole crowd buzzed in the wake of Gregory’s assault. When Bashir defended, someone said, “He get’s in line doesn’t he?” At the end of the over it was, “Well batted.” But Somerset’s revival had run its course. Gregory attempted to pull Steel over midwicket, edged, and was caught by Overton at slip, Steel finally halting the charge. Somerset 285 all out. Gregory 50. Bashir 10 not out. Gregory’s onslaught had given Somerset supporters a lift, but most must have been left wondering what might have been. A Surrey supporter thought he knew what would be. “A big innings from Surrey. This will be over in three days.”

By the end of the day, Surrey had cruised to 42 for 0, helped by Rory Burns being dropped at third slip off Gregory when he was on six. Knowing the size of the task Somerset faced, the drop hurt, particularly as the bat, that edge apart, was barely beaten. Shouts of, “Come on Craig O,” tried to lift Somerset but they were countered by shouts of, “Come on Surrey,” and made no difference. In the 14 overs to the close, Surrey found the boundary seven times, all driven, mostly in the arc between mid-on and mid-off. “Four more,” someone said in response to a cover drive from Sibley to the Galadari Stand off Pretorius. With the close approaching, Surrey sailed serenely on as Lammonby and Renshaw had in the morning. As I left the ground, the Surrey supporter’s ’over in three days’ prediction loomed large in the mind.                            

Close. Somerset 285 (T. Lammonby 100, M.T. Renshaw 87, L. Gregory 50, C.T. Steel 4-50, A.A.P. Atkinson 3-57). Surrey 42 for 0. Surrey trail by 243 runs with ten first innings wickets standing.