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.

Overnight. Somerset 317. Surrey 169 for 3. Surrey trail by 148 runs with seven first innings wickets standing.

Third day – “No! I’m not sure about this”

“No! I’m not sure about this. I’m not sure about this at all.” It was a comment from a Somerset supporter sitting behind me in the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. It was replicated by several others in front of me. It was an uneasy moment. Tom Banton had injured his ankle in the football warm-up before the start, gone to hospital and returned to the ground during the lunch interval on crutches with his foot in a protective boot. Now, accompanied by Tom Abell as runner, he was hobbling and hopping out to bat in considerable discomfort. It was uncannily reminiscent of that day eight years before when James Hildreth had scored a century on a broken ankle. I was there that day, sitting in the then Trescothick Stand, now the James Hildreth Stand. Both used their bat as a walking stick. If anything, Banton looked in more discomfort than Hildreth had done on that occasion, although there was no information to the effect that Banton’s ankle was broken. Hildreth had played his innings when Somerset had needed it to stay in the race for the Championship. Now Banton found himself in the same position. Somerset were perilously placed with him as their last wicket and a lead, for which ‘slender’ would be overstating its extent, of 149.

What followed would have made for enough astonishment for one day, but it was only the last of several astonishing phases of cricket which swayed the day and the match first one way and then the other. When the Championship might hang on the match, for both sides, the swaying tugs all the more at the emotions. Supporters of the two teams were intermingled in the Trescothick Pavilion and no doubt elsewhere. Chat between the two groups was often as common as chat within each. There is rarely any tribalism in the chat between Championship spectators supporting different sides. Each supports their team with an intensity that can be seen in the despair in their faces if their team is losing and heard in their cheers if it is winning. Both sets of supporters experienced both on the third day of this match. There is nothing more deafening or soul-destroying than the cheers of opposition supporters when their team is dominating yours. And yet, between overs, even between balls, while the tussle is going on in the middle and the nerve ends are variously bursting with joy or being shredded, opposing supporters will discuss, as if in a seminar, the relative strengths and weaknesses or the prospects of their teams. By the end of the day, no one, supporting either side, could have had a single nerve end that had not both burst with joy and been shredded by despair.

The day had begun under a bright sun which shone most of the day, but the crowd, smaller than on the second day, was encased in anoraks against a chill wind. Surrey just held the advantage, 148 behind, but with seven wickets standing. News of Banton’s injury soon filtered around the stands. There were two responses from Somerset supporters: “Playing football?!” and “Oh dear, we need him.” But, before Banton would be needed, there was a morning of cricket which consumed enough nervous energy for an entire match.

The morning’s play began serenely enough with Surrey nudging their score along at the same 2.4 runs an over that had given them that narrow advantage. Craig Overton bowled three overs for two runs from the Trescothick Pavilion End. He made no impression, emphasised by the employment of two short midwickets, a sure sign that the ball is not creating problems. Jack Leach began from the River End and Archie Vaughan followed Overton. There was a lofted four from Ben Foakes off Vaughan. It was his first boundary and came from the 79^th ball of his innings. His second boundary, off Leach in the eighth over of the morning, was edged past slip. That, and another edge along the ground just past the stumps, were the first indications of problems for the Surrey batters.

With Surrey on 193 for 3, and Somerset’s lead down to 124, the new ball was taken. Three overs from Brett Randell were sharp, but as ineffective as those from Overton, and Foakes took another four, driven through the on side to the Ondaatje Stand. Then, with a new Kookaburra in their hands with its new seam, Somerset’s spinners suddenly transformed the game. Ryan Patel swept hard at Leach’s third delivery, it flew off the top edge and was caught by Lewis Gregory running in from short fine leg. Surrey 196 for 4. Patel 70. Deficit 121. The cheers from Somerset supporters were of relief, for the wicket was desperately needed.

Shakib Al Hasan replaced Patel, one left-hander following another. With Foakes, he brought some calm as they felt their way forward single by single and, with the smoothest of cuts off Vaughan, sent the ball to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion scoreboard for four. Then, he was beaten twice as Somerset’s spinners persisted. Next, against Leach, now with a slip and two short legs accompanying his leisurely, slightly swaying walk and run to the wicket, Shakib came down the pitch and scooped the ball straight back to the bowler. The Somerset cheers were now as laden with hope as they had been with relief, for Surrey were now 216 for 5. Shakib 12. Still 101 behind.

“Come on Archie!” someone shouted, riding the momentum that was building. And Archie did come on. At the start of his next over, Foakes came forward and turned the ball straight into the hands of Ben Green, substituting for Banton at short leg. Foakes’ near two-and-a-half-hour vigil was over. Surrey 220 for 6. Foakes 37. Deficit 97. Now the Somerset cheers were expectant, for the match was shifting Somerset’s way.

With six wickets gone and Tom Curran and Jordan Clark at the wicket, Somerset closed in. In three overs there was one run, a huge leg before wicket appeal, “Looked out,” someone said, and three beaten bats. The atmosphere was electric. People were buzzing. When Curran lofted the first ball of the next over onto the roof of the Ondaatje Pavilion it seemed no more than a distraction. Three balls later, as if in confirmation of Somerset’s growing dominance, Clark chipped Vaughan to midwicket where Tom Abell took a breathtaking catch diving to his left. The intake of breath before the cheer shook the air was palpable. Surrey 228 for 7. Clark 1. Deficit 89. While Somerset supporters cheered, Surrey ones sat silent, staring, drop-jawed into the distance. And then another huge cheer and applause for the announcement that Vaughan had taken five wickets in the innings. Two balls later he struck again, Cameron Steel bowled while attempting to defend. It wasn’t clear from the top of the Trescothick Pavilion how the ball had got through, for there seemed to be no gap. It seemed equally unclear to Steel, for he swivelled round as if in disbelief to look at his dishevelled stumps. Surrey 228 for 8 and in as much disarray as Steel’s stumps. The ground was buzzing like a million bees. The Somerset chat was disbelieving, ecstatic, expectant, faces were laced with hope. Surrey faces were stunned, frozen in disbelief.

Now, with Somerset on the cusp of taking a controlling lead on a pitch taking turn, Curran showed that his six had been more than a distraction. Vaughan was slog swept over the Priory Bridge Road boundary for six, and Leach driven there for four. Somerset now had five fielders on the boundary for Curran, but a slog sweep hit the Caddick Pavilion, an off drive towards Gimblett’s Hill brought two and a cover drive to the Somerset Stand four. Twelve from the over and Surrey were past 250, now only 64 runs behind. Leach was at least keeping control at his end, but when Lewis Goldsworthy was tried in place of Vaughan, Curran hit three sixes from the over. The first, off a full toss, landed in the Ondaatje Stand, the second was driven straight and hit the front safety barrier at the top of the Trescothick Pavilion Terrace with a fearful crack, and the third, soaring towards me, landed four rows short. Shades of James Rew at Edgbaston. Suddenly, Surrey were 271 for 8, just 46 behind, with Curran’s six-hitting looking as if it still had some way to run. At the other end, Kemar Roach was looking as solid as a rock, nought not out from 17 balls. It was Surrey’s supporters who were cheering now and Somerset ones who had the stunned faces.

Kasey Aldridge replaced Leach at the River End, had seven fielders on the boundary and brought a bit of calm. Leach took up station at the Trescothick Pavilion End and immediately began to trouble Roach. Roach responded by turning Aldridge to the Trescothick Pavilion for four, bringing up the fifty partnership in the process. “That was a good shot,” the comment of a rejuvenated Surrey supporter. But Jack Leach does not wilt under pressure. Roach came forward to him and was struck on the pad squarely in front of the stumps. Leach’s appeal was instant, and he began his celebratory run before the umpire’s finger had reached its full height. Surrey 282 for 9. Roach 5. Deficit 35. The buzz had long gone from the ground and the cheer was one of relief, but Somerset were at least on their way again. Dan Worrall to the wicket and a leg before wicket appeal and a beaten bat kept the hope of a quick end to the Surrey innings going.

A quick end was not a script that Curran had read. The flurry of sixes was all but over, but Curran worked, largely successfully, to stay on strike. “Shot!” said a Surrey supporter when he cut Aldridge through backward point to the Ondaatje boundary for four. “Just try and bowl him out!” shouted one exasperated Somerset voice when Worrall evaded a bouncer. When Curran faced a full over against Leach, he drove the second ball straight into the lower level of the Trescothick Pavilion and Surrey were past 300. The fourth, he pulled over midwicket. Aldridge, fielding in front of the player dugouts, and running back, took the catch inches inside the rope, but carried the ball over the line when a kit bag a foot or so behind the rope prevented him from jumping the rope and throwing the ball back in. Six, while an indignant Aldridge pointed at the bag. Two more fours added to Somerset’s woe before Curran was caught in front of the Trescothick Pavilion trying to clear the rope for the ninth time. But by then, Surrey were four runs ahead with the momentum of the match firmly back with them. Surrey 321 all out. Curran, 86 from 75 balls, was applauded all the way to the boundary.

The match was on a knife edge, but with lunch taken, only five sessions remained and Surrey, only needing a draw, would be the happier team. I took an unusually leisurely, even for me, stroll around the ground. People wanted to talk. Vaughan’s bowling. Curran’s innings. Leach’s persistence. Championship prospects. How the match might develop. I had reached no further than the Priory Bridge Road car park when the players came out. But the discussions went on, eyes on the play, ears on the talk.

On Curran’s innings, “Should we have had virtually all the fielders on the boundary, or would we have been better attacking him?” On the shock of Surrey reaching 321, “We would have settled for that at the start.” On where Somerset should go from here, “We need to be bowling at them at 10.30 tomorrow, that is when batting will be most difficult. Bat with intent, and don’t worry about wickets. A lead of 180 on this pitch will give them a problem.” A text from an online watcher awoke my phone, “Vaughan shouldn’t open. He looked out on his feet as he came off.” There was a sorry sight too when Tom Banton, returning from hospital, got out of a car behind me. He was relying heavily on crutches with his foot encased in a medical protective boot. “He won’t be batting,” the thought.

Vaughan did open, warily, with Goldsworthy equally wary. By the sixth over, Shakib was bowling and he yorked Vaughan with his second ball, the off stump leaning slightly back. Somerset 8 for 1. Vaughan 3. Lead 4. Roach to Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy pulled and the ball rattled into the stumps. “He nicked that on,” the immediate verdict from the Priory Bridge Road car park. A look at a replay was less conclusive. The ball moved in and perhaps kept a little low. Whether it was helped on its way by the edge was less clear. Either way, the off stump was awry. Somerset 12 for 2. Goldsworthy 9. Lead 8. Anxious looks.

The impression from the Priory Bridge Road car park was of Surrey’s bowlers, perhaps in part driven by the momentum from Curran’s astonishing innings, harassing Somerset batters. Against that, Tom Lammonby and Abell battled hard against a beaten bat here, a play and a miss there, while still pushing singles into gaps. Abell found the boundary too, firstly with an edge, his head jerking desperately around to see the ball fly past the only slip. Surrey, as in the first innings, were defensive in the field, even this early in the innings. Off Shakib, a clip off the toes flew through midwicket to the bare Somerset Stand. It was a tense struggle, and when Abell was leg before wicket, tangled up playing a very full ball from Shakib, Somerset were 37 for 3. Abell 18. Lead. 33. Thoughts of that asked for lead of 180 were swilling around the mind. Could Leach and Vaughan defend it?

When Aldridge appeared from the Caddick Pavilion to join Lammonby, Banton’s absence hit home. At 37 for 3, his contribution could have been crucial. There was a boundary from Aldridge off Clark, but it was off the inside edge, passing eye-wateringly close to the stumps before running to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion. It took Somerset past fifty, but no one looked secure against the Surrey bowling and when, through a hurried defensive stroke, a ball from Clark cut in sharply and hit the top of Aldridge’s off stump, Somerset were 52 for 4. Aldridge 10. Lead 48.

Lammonby had now battled for the best part of an hour. He had found the boundary twice, once with one of those flowing pulls of his, this time to the Brian Rose Gates, and once with a drive, just as smoothly executed, through extra cover to the Hildreth Stand. But his time against a now rampant Surrey attack was limited. He was struck midway between boot and knee roll by a ball from Clark which may have kept a low. Somerset 75 for 5. Lammonby 24. Lead 71. The question now was less, could Somerset defend 180, than could they set 180? Curran had moved the momentum Surrey’s way. It was still moving. There was time for the new batter, Lewis Gregory, to drive, it looked little more than a push, straight to the Lord Ian Botham Stand for four before some rain, which had been hanging over the Quantocks for a while, fell. It sent the players off to an early tea and me back to the cover of my seat. Somerset 85 for 5. Lead 81.

Somerset’s desperate struggles before tea became near calamitous afterwards. Lewis Gregory was beaten past the inside edge by Shakib and leg before wicket. Somerset 110 for 6. Gregory 13. Lead 106. James Rew, so often a middle order saviour for Somerset, had come in at the fall of Aldridge’s wicket and had battled alongside Lammonby and Gregory. He had driven a Shakib yorker straight to the Lord Ian Botham Stand, the bat kicking up dust as it simultaneously connected with ball and ground. With an angled bat, he had steered Clark through the gap between the only, very wide, slip and the empty gully to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion. Now, he top-edged a sweep off Shakib and bisected the deep square leg and long leg fielders as they converged in front of the Ondaatje Stand. Eventually, he succumbed to an edge off Shakib, brilliantly caught head high off Foakes’ gloves by Dob Sibley at slip swivelling to his left to take the ball as it flew past his head. Somerset 117 for 7. Rew 29. Lead 113.

Overton had replaced Gregory on the ever-swirling merry-go-round of Somerset batters. He drove his fourth ball square to the Somerset Stand boundary, but almost immediately lost Randell, caught by Foakes fishing, as used to be said, outside his off stump. Somerset 122 for 8. Randell 1. Lead 118. The match slipping away from Somerset. It was a long way even to 180. Leach came to the crease with a history of stubborn resistance for England, but Overton had lost his wicket in that frantic 15 minutes at the end of the Somerset first innings, and no one expected Banton to bat. The outlook for Somerset looked bleak indeed, and the grim silence in the ground reflected the gloom. Even Surrey supporters were quiet, perhaps reflecting the understanding which most Championship watchers have for the desperation of supporters of the other side. We have all been there.

But this was not the Overton of the first innings. In 2024, Somerset had often shown themselves capable of reversing the reality glaring down at them from the scoreboard. Now, as he knuckled down at one end, with Leach seemingly at his resolute best at the other, Overton was at the heart of another such performance. Another 17 overs were played in the day and Somerset and Overton were still there at the end. Only once did he send the ball to the boundary, a sweep fine to Gimblett’s Hill off Shakib 15 overs from the end. Otherwise, there were 16 singles and four twos from Overton’s bat in those 17 overs. It was an impressive exhibition of controlled batting focused on dragging Somerset back into the match. Once the ball had been hit, no opportunity for a run was missed. After one ball had been played for what looked like a single, Overton could be heard calling, “Two, two, two, two!” Another, a yorker, Overton just dug out, and before the Somerset mind had given thanks, Leach was storming up the pitch for a single shouting, “Yesss!”

Leach was on the same mission as Overton, Somerset’s two England players standing the test of batting with the shadow of the County Championship perhaps hanging on their efforts. And with every ball they faced, the ground held its breath. An edge for three off Shakib apart, Leach scored only in singles, but such was the intensity of Somerset’s struggle to regain some grip on the match, one single was met with a shout of, “Shot!” Together, Leach and Overton ground out 31 runs in ten overs. And then, completely out of the blue, Leach charged down the wicket to Curran, the ball moved away, and he was caught by Foakes. Somerset 153 for 9. Lead 149.

As Leach walked off, the umpires and the rest of the players huddled in the middle. Everyone had expected them to follow Leach, for surely, Banton would not bat. “Surely not,” someone said as it began to dawn that he might. And then, as he emerged with Abell in tow, hobbling to extended applause, came that, “No! I’m not sure about this.” Banton seemed sure though, and it soon emerged he was intent on more than survival. Within an over, he had driven Shakib through the covers to the Priory Bridge Road boundary. “Shot!” Cheers. Applause. An over later, he pulled Curran and bisected deep square leg and long leg to cross the Priory Bridge Road boundary, again to huge cheers. The ground was buzzing again, for this was the stuff of legend.

More than the stuff of legend. With Overton feeding him the strike, Banton continued to attack, scoring as if his foot was in tip-top condition. Curran conceded eight in an over, including another cover drive from Banton, this time to the Somerset Stand. “Hooray!” Cheers. Applause. When Overton saw out an over from Curran, a straight drive adding two along the way, the shout was, “Well done, Craig.” When Steel served up a full toss, Banton sent it one bounce into the Ondaatje Stand. “Yeah!” Cheers. Somerset’s lead 183. Abell had played his part, running seamlessly with Overton.

Shakib bowled the final two balls of the day to Banton. The first turned quite sharply and fizzed past the edge. A reason for Somerset to hope perhaps. The Somerset lead was now 190, ten past the 180 that, “would give them trouble,” although, even with a turning ball, it seemed devilishly thin. Whatever the eventual outcome, one thing was certain, there would be a lot of work for Leach and Vaughan on the final day. There was a standing ovation as Banton and Overton walked off and chatter as animated as it had been at any time in the match, for Banton had joined Hildreth among Somerset’s Championship-chasing cricketing heroes, and had given Somerset a chance.

Close. Somerset 317 and 194 for 9. Surrey 321 (T.K. Curran 86, R.S. Patel 70, B.B.A. Geddes 50, A.M. Vaughan 6-102, M.J. Leach 4-105). Somerset lead by 190 runs with one second innings wicket standing.