County Championship 2024. Division 1. Somerset v Surrey. 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th September. Taunton.

This was the last of four Championship matches in 2024 to use the Kookaburra ball.

Brett Randell from New Zealand had just joined Somerset on a three match contract.

Somerset. L.P. Goldsworthy, A.M. Vaughan, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, L. Gregory (c), C. Overton, B.G. Randell, M.J. Leach.

Surrey. R.J. Burns (c), D.P. Sibley, R.S. Patel, B.B.A. Geddes, B.T. Foakes (w), Shakib Al Hasan, T.K. Curran, J. Clark, C.T. Steel, K.A.J Roach, D.J. Worrall.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day – A Winter’s Tale of a day

Four blocks of the Somerset Stand were closed, and the crowd must, by my eye, have climbed towards 2,500 by lunchtime. The effect was for the remaining stands to appear as packed as stands ever are at a Championship match. The weather matched the crowd, at least as far as the sun was concerned. Some early cloud had virtually cleared by midday and the sun shone brightly. It was a summer day perfect for cricket, if you were behind glass. If you were in the open, the wind blew with all the force of autumn and with a chill that took away most of the sun’s warmth. In the top of the Trescothick Pavilion, facing unforgivingly north, a mountaineer’s bivouac might not have been out of place and anoraks were de rigeur.

With Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan in the Somerset side, and Surrey flying experienced Bangladesh Test all rounder and slow left arm spinner, Shakib Al Hasan, halfway around the world for this one match, it came as no surprise to hear that, on winning the toss, Somerset had elected to bat. The balance of the side had changed too since the Durham match with an additional bowler in the shape and pace of New Zealander, Brett Randell, in place of opening batter, Andy Umeed. The match had been billed as a top of the table clash, a stretch perhaps as Surrey led Somerset by 27 points with this and two other matches to play. What was certain though was that, if Somerset wished to sustain any sort of challenge, no ifs, no buts, they had to win this match.

There is risk in batting first in September’s autumnal air, added to by a half-past-ten start, especially when playing with what used to be termed a makeshift opener. Lewis Goldsworthy had, since he first played for Somerset, shown a propensity to battle, ball after ball, for his side, but few among those I had spoken to thought him an opener. Here, he showed a straight enough bat to Kemar Roach’s second ball as it swung in, but he misjudged the line or the swing, for the ball passed outside the bat and hit the off stump. Somerset 0 for 1.

It was left to Tom Lammonby and Archie Vaughan, opening in only his second match, to battle Roach and Dan Worrall, each using different tactics. Roach, bowling from the Trescothick Pavilion End, tended to attack the stumps or a line just outside off. Worrall tended to bowl wide of off, rather akin to Charl Willoughby, perhaps looking to tempt the drive and an edge. Roach’s second over gave an insight into the ebbs and flows of the early morning tussle between bat and ball. The first ball of the over, Lammonby drove perfectly, square to the Caddick Pavilion boundary. The second, on his legs, he glanced fine for two. The third, Roach bowled well wide of off stump. Lammonby attempted to cut and missed by a whisker. Close enough for Roach to bury his head in his hands. “He didn’t need to do that,” said one worried Somerset supporter. The fourth ball, Lammonby left safely. The fifth he left again, but it cut in and would have hit a fourth stump bringing gasps from Somerset and Surrey supporters alike. The last moved away to another anxious comment, “He’s moving it both ways.” First and second in the table. Punch and counter-punch. A harbinger of the day to come.

Vaughan mainly faced Worrall in the opening phases, novice against old hand, and consistently left balls bowled wide of the stumps. It was six overs and Vaughan’s 18^th ball before he scored a run, a single pushed to mid-on. Only a single, but it gave enough indication of quality for someone to say, “Shot.” Lammonby, mainly facing Roach, continued to score. Three fours came from one over, although not without risk. The first was encouraged through midwicket to the Somerset Stand. ‘Encouraged’ because clipped is too brutal a word to describe the smoothness of stroke. The second was neatly glanced to the floodlight between the Hildreth and Lord Ian Botham Stands. The third was edged between second slip and gully to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion.

When Jordan Clark replaced Roach, someone behind me said, “He’s a very good player, Clark.” His first ball shaded away, flew off the edge of Lammonby’s defensive bat and was plucked out of the air above his head by Dom Sibley at second slip. “Shouldn’t have said that should I?” the crestfallen comment from behind, “He didn’t need to play it though, it was high.” It was however very straight. Somerset 33 for 2. Lammonby 21. Anxiety evident in Somerset eyes.

Vaughan, by general consent among those I had spoken to since he came into the side, had looked like an opener. His discipline in ignoring Worrall’s wide of off stump attack added to that impression. An open-faced drive off Roach to the deep cover boundary and a pull off Worrall to the deep midwicket boundary were both played with that same smooth, flowing motion that is a hallmark of Lammonby’s play. He has the same, rock-still, upright stance as Lammonby to the pace bowlers too. With Lammonby gone, he became more assertive. In Shakib Al Hasan’s first over, from the Trescothick Pavilion End, he swept to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion scoreboard for four and cut square to the Somerset Stand for three. A pair of twos in Clark’s next over, the first driven straight and the second turned square, brought the admiring comment, “He’s playing all around the wicket.”

From there, he and Abell became circumspect as they worked to repair Somerset’s position against some probing Surrey bowling. There were only three more boundaries in the remaining 21 overs to lunch, two coming from Abell in one over from Roach. One of those was off the edge past the only slip, Surrey having started the morning with three rather than the four slips not uncommonly seen in September, soon dropping to two and finally to one. The second was an off drive typically played with classical correctness. The third boundary was a cut from Vaughan off Clark, backward of point. Otherwise, the pair moved Somerset along at a careful two and a half runs an over, picking the gaps in Surrey’s curiously defensive field. There was an anxious moment when Vaughan was dropped at slip, a very difficult diving chance from which he stole a single. He also played and missed more than was comfortable, but he was still there at lunch with the Somerset score looking rather more healthy than it had an hour and a half before, on 93 for 2.

A gentle lunchtime circumnavigation brought one or two comments on the morning’s play. In the end, Somerset had held their own against the Championship leaders. Surrey had sent down 34 overs, perhaps four or five more than the normal first-morning ration. They had bowled 12 overs of spin on the first morning of a Championship match which had helped with the over rate and gave hope that Somerset’s three spinners might make an impact later in the match. The outfield seemed slow too after three days of heavy rain before the match. “They are very disciplined,” one person said of Surrey. “They have only conceded one extra and no no balls,” he added. ” Worrall’s persistent tempting of Vaughan came to mind when he mentioned disciplined bowling. No one I spoke to was inclined to underestimate the threat that Surrey posed.

The second ball after lunch, Worrall again bowled wide of off stump but swung it in. Vaughan attempted to meet it but only connected with the outside edge and Foakes, behind the stumps, took a good catch diving to his right. “Well, he’s played and missed a fair bit,” the comment. There may have been some overstatement in that, but there was also an element of truth. Somerset 93 for 3. Vaughan 44. The match in balance.

It was a situation not unknown to Abell, and Tom Banton, now walking to the wicket, had turned himself into an increasingly formidable number five. With James Rew to follow at six, the next two wickets would probably define Somerset’s innings and their chances in the match, and it was clear that the crowd thought so. There was chatter, it was a large crowd. But the chatter was nervy, edgy, the tantalising possibility of winning the Championship, however remote, magnifying the impact of every twist and turn.

All eyes and a lot of hopes were focused on Abell and Banton. Shakib from the River End and Worrall from the Trescothick Pavilion End worked to shackle them while probing for an opening. Worrall did once drift onto Banton’s legs and was clipped dismissively through midwicket to the Ondaatje boundary and yet, by the end of his spell, his figures were 10-5-12-1. In the three overs after the fall of Vaughan, Shakib conceded four runs. It was straitjacket, pressure-building bowling of the type that takes wickets, something Surrey had been exploiting all season. By the end of the 41^st over, despite one or two brief flurries of boundaries, Somerset were 102 for 3, not quite two and a half runs an over, but Abell and Banton were still there.

Now, they tried to break from the straitjacket, but not without challenge from Surrey. First Abell stepped down the wicket to Shakib and drove him through the on side to the Garner Gates to applause, not least from the packed Hildreth Stand. A ball later, he late cut him fine of point to the covers store. But immediately, Surrey tightened their grip again with four overs for six runs with Clark now bowling with Shakib. The conversation became more nervy the tighter the Surrey grip became, the comment from lunchtime about the discipline of the Surrey bowling ringing ever louder. The crumbling of other sides through the season in the face of Surrey pressure troubled the Somerset mind too. Then Banton tried to break the grip. He reverse swept Shakib fine of the backward point fielder to the covers store boundary. The ball was in the air a long time and was still bouncing as it crossed the rope. Two balls later he shaped to repeat the stroke. “Oh no! Don’t do it again,” the nervous, involuntary plea from someone in front of me, but this time the connection was more secure and the ball ran along the ground to the covers store.

The Somerset pair now moved their attack up a gear. Twenty-four runs came in four overs. Banton drove Clark through straight midwicket to the Ondaatje Stand, Abell brought up the fifty partnership with a single through mid-off, and, heart in mouth among supporters, glanced Clark to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary. Then Banton glanced Tom Curran, who had replaced Clark, to the same spot. Keeping the pressure on, Shakib continued to wheel away from the River End and eventually defeated Abell with the arm ball. Abell had attempted to cut, found himself cramped and in trying to pull the stroke in, missed the ball, fell flat on his back and was bowled. Somerset 155 for 4. Abell 49. That it had taken him nearly two and a half hours was indicative of the intensity of the battle between the two sides.

James Rew to the wicket, a lot of Somerset hope, as so often, now resting on his shoulders. He began with a four cut through backward point to the Priory Bridge Road boundary off Curran, but then struggled, beaten three times in four balls by Curran with some away movement. Then two runs came from a cover drive off Curran and two more from another off Shakib. Rew had though been at the crease eight overs for those eight runs while grappling with Curran’s away swing and Shakib’s probing variety, and someone commented with feeling, “It’s hard work, isn’t it?” And it continued to be hard work for the rest of the session which Rew ended on 16 from 13 overs at the crease.

The afternoon though, from a Somerset perspective, belonged to Banton. He added 65 of the 104 runs scored between lunch and tea. The defensive support of Abell and Rew, protecting Somerset’s wickets from the constantly insistent Surrey attack, had been crucial, but it was Banton who moved the game on for Somerset. His strokes are not as free flowing as Lammonby’s, nor quite as classically precise as Abell’s, but they are just as effective. Shakib once had his head in his hands as one ball slipped past the edge, but for the most part, Banton looked as secure as any of Somerset’s batters, and the next ball, driven through the covers for four, was an instant riposte to Shakib.

After the departure of Abell, Banton was as assiduous in pushing singles as he was in defence. Two cover drives off Shakib added six runs, the second being restricted to two by a diving Surrey fielder. The stop on the boundary involved a dive with arm outstretched along the ground diverting the ball along a path slightly inward from the boundary. Then the fielder jumped up, collected the ball and threw it in. It was apparent that every Surrey fielder was using that method along the boundary, another example of the discipline shown by the Surrey team. For Somerset, what had impressed about Banton was the certainty with which he looked to be playing. He finished the afternoon with two perfectly placed boundaries. The first, off Shakib, bisected two extra cover fielders on its way to the Priory Bridge Road boundary to a drooling shout of, “Shot!”. The second, lofted over wide mid-on, came off Cameron Steel bowling two pre-tea overs of his, uncharacteristically for a Surrey bowler in this innings, inaccurate leg spin from the Trescothick Pavilion End. Somerset 197 for 4 at tea.

After tea, Banton really came into his own and, with some determined support from Rew, began to advance Somerset’s cause. Roach quickly came in for punishment from them both, conceding 21 runs in two overs, including a no-ball, before being taken off. An open-face steer to Gimblett’s Hill from Rew had brought awestruck gasps from the crowd. Another, from Banton, and a pull to the Somerset Stand, caused an anguished Surrey supporter to say, “Oh, Kemar, come on.” Banton took 13 from the over in total. Steel fared no better, conceding 23 from three overs. Rew pulled him to the Somerset Stand for four and Banton reverse swept him to the Garner Gates for another four and, off the next ball, at first shaped to reverse sweep and then lofted the ball over midwicket into the first row of the Ondaatje Stand. Steel was removed from the attack with Somerset on 247 for 4 having added 50 in those five overs.

“Come on TC,” demanded a Surrey supporter as Curran replaced Steel and Banton drove him through extra cover for two. And then, with the new ball on the horizon, the play suddenly tightened, Somerset reverting mainly to singles. Banton though reached his century from 132 balls, if from an inside edge off Clark, and Rew raised the century partnership with a two turned behind square. Then, with the new ball two overs away, Curran did come on. He battled with Rew until Rew tried to steer him through the empty slip area and edged to Foakes. The text from the online watcher said, “Curran shaped everything into Rew and the one that got him shaped away. Very good and patient bowling.” Somerset 262 for 5. Rew 38.

For all his tightly nagging accuracy earlier in the day when he had corralled the Somerset batters, Worrall’s first over with the new ball, bowled from the River End seemed awry. Banton spectacularly cut a shortish ball through backward point to the covers store boundary, then drove an overpitched ball, as spectacularly, straight back past Worrall to the Lord Ian Botham Stand. A single gave the new batter, Kasey Aldridge, the strike. Worrall aimed a bouncer at his head and Aldridge waved his bat at it, lifting it over and just fine of Foakes for four more. Then, with the bowling back on target, ten singles came from the next four overs, with Banton and Aldridge constraining themselves. It took Somerset to 287 for 5 with ten overs of the day remaining, with the batters looking intent on building a platform for the morning.

And then, in an instant, Somerset’s approach changed. It was as if we had inadvertently stumbled into the second act of a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. A day of serious, measured, careful batting, occasionally punctuated with short interludes of controlled, precise hitting, exploded into a manic, caution-thrown-to-the-winds exhibition of wild, whirlwind bats, furiously flying balls and shattered stumps. A photograph of the crowd might have shown rows of dropped jaws as the base Somerset had so judiciously been building all day, began to crumble before their eyes.

When Banton took ten from an over from Worrall, including two drives for four through the off side, both of which earned the accolade, “Shot!” there was nothing to suggest this was anything more than one of those occasional bursts of controlled hitting that had suddenly appeared and, as quickly, disappeared, during the day. When Aldridge defended the first two balls of the next over, from Shakib, someone said, ”Aldridge has played a solid, quiet innings.” When the next ball was driven off the back foot through extra cover for four those within earshot dissolved into laughter. When Banton launched a huge drive across the line at Worrall and missed, someone said, “That’s the worst shot he’s played all day.” Two balls later he repeated the worst shot he had played all day and was bowled, the off stump leaning apologetically back as he walked off.

Two balls later, Aldridge came down the wicket to Shakib and tried to whip the ball over midwicket. Shakib fired the ball through and hit the middle and leg stump. “Another awful shot,” someone said. Craig Overton struck six runs from two balls including a four pulled to the Somerset Stand. Two balls later he came down the wicket as if planning to drive, the ball pitched outside off, Overton tried to whip it over midwicket a la Aldridge, missed and was stumped by a lightning piece of glovework from Foakes. Lewis Gregory had come in when Banton was out, faced six balls, defended them all as if he were batting to a different tune to the mayhem going on around him, and then had his off stump knocked back by Worrall as he tried to defend the seventh. Jack Leach and Brett Randell then reverted to Somerset type for the day, survived seven overs, adding six runs before Randell was leg before wicket to Shakib one ball before the scheduled close.

Somerset had lost their first five wickets getting to 305 with seven overs left in the day. They had then lost their last five wickets for 12 runs before the close in what seemed, on the face of it, an audition for The Comedy of Errors. “What on earth was going on there?” “What were they thinking about?” “Collective madness,” were typical of the comments I heard from a stunned crowd. I could make no sense of what had happened either. Had Somerset finally succumbed to some largely skilful, pressurised bowling across the day I wondered? On reflection, it seemed unlikely. Had there been a sudden attempt to accelerate and get Surrey in before the close, given Somerset had to win this match? No one thought so. The only thing I was clear on was, it hadn’t been a collective brainstorm. There would have been a rationale for it, whatever it was. But whatever that rationale was didn’t matter as the crowd left the ground. What mattered, among the bewildered, dismembered thoughts buzzing around the Somerset mind, was how Somerset would go about trying to bowl Surrey out for less than 317.  

Close. Somerset 317 (T. Banton 132, T.B. Abell 49, A.M. Vaughan 44, Shakib Al Hasan 4-97, D.J. Worrall 3-41).