County Championship 2024. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th June. Trent Bridge.

Due to someone in my household testing positive for COVID, I opted not to attend this match. The reports are therefore written through watching the Nottinghamshire CCC live stream. The live stream was watched with the sound muted to ensure the impression of the play which I developed was my own.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable due to a groin strain. Craig Overton captained the Somerset side. Matthew Renshaw had departed Somerset at the end of his contract.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, W.A. Young, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, T.J. Moores (c), L.W. James, C.G. Harrison, O.P. Stone, D.Y. Pennington, D. Paterson.

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.

Toss. Nottinghamshire. Elected to bat.

First day 24th May – Nearly but not quite

This was a day of hard labour for Somerset’s bowlers which brought both reward and frustration. There was some movement in the air, although much of it came after the ball had passed the bat. As to the pitch, it gave every impression of being content to leave all the work to the bowlers. The bowlers meanwhile, Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius in particular, stuck to their task. A late attack from Ollie Pope apart, the batters mostly had to work for their runs. Twice Somerset threatened to break the back of the Nottinghamshire innings with clutches of wickets, but twice Nottinghamshire redressed the balance with century partnerships. By the end of the day Somerset might have claimed a slight advantage. But for anyone watching in the Somerset interest, after those two century partnerships it had been a day of what might have been.

It was a day too of bright sun, blue sky and high cotton wool clouds, although for a period in the afternoon the cloud held the sun at bay. When the cloud did come, Nottinghamshire suffered a collapse. Whether the two were linked is difficult to say because the collapse also coincided with a stand-out spell of piercing pace bowling from Kasey Aldridge. The pitch was set virtually as far over towards the William Clarke Stand as the regulations permit, making for one very short square boundary and one very long one. As far as could be ascertained from the live stream, the crowd was thinly scattered, even in the William Clarke Stand despite its close proximity to the pitch.

For Somerset, Overton bowled all of his spells from the Pavilion End with his usual miserliness. For Nottinghamshire, Haseem Hameed began with positive intent, unlike his usual ‘they shall not pass’ self. He found the boundary three times before the opening bowlers were off, including dispatching Ball, bowling from the Radcliffe Road End, through the covers with a classic drive. He was undone though by a peach of a ball from Overton who was running in with even more presence than his six-foot five inch frame demands. The ball speared in, full on Hameed’s off stump. Hameed came down in defence, played inside the ball and the stump was left lying flat. Nottinghamshire 26 for 1. Hameed 15.

The batters though were soon looking untroubled. The ball was swinging, but frequently after it had passed the stumps. It often lacked carry too, balls not reaching the keeper or slips became a feature of the day. Overton showed his class by finishing his first spell with figures of 7-3-13-1. The other bowlers were not quite as restrictive, and the Nottinghamshire batters began to establish a base. Will Young did edge Ball just short of slip, and the left-handed Ben Slater was beaten twice in succession by Aldridge, but when Young twice clipped Aldridge to the long leg boundary Nottinghamshire passed fifty. Aldridge, not yet quite at his best, suffered two more boundaries when, with Nottinghamshire making steady three and a half runs an over progress, Slater cut him through backward point and Young pulled him to deep midwicket. It looked a good toss to have won.

Nottinghamshire passed 70 when Yates pushed a single to midwicket off a Pretorius no ball and thoughts began to focus on what their eventual total might be. But with the next ball, Pretorius, around the wicket to Slater, angled the ball across his legs. Slater followed it, attempting to glance, found himself a little cramped in the stroke, and Rew, taking a step to leg, took the catch waist high. Rew made it look so easy, I suspect it wasn’t. Nottinghamshire 71 for 2. Slater 29. “Yes!” I shouted, followed by an involuntary encouraging clap of the hands. A ball later, I was punching the air. Young had attempted to clip Aldridge to leg, was struck on the pad and the raising of the umpire’s finger followed. Nottinghamshire 71 for 3. Young 19. I tend to be undemonstrative at a match, but within the confines of my own home the inner extrovert comes out, occasionally to the surprise of a startled passer-by.

When the camera caught a face or two in the crowd, they were taut. At 71 for 3, as someone once said to me, the game can go either way. With two right-handers at the crease in Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes, Jack Leach was tried from the Radcliffe Road End, although bowling to the short boundary. Two overs later, after two fours from Haynes, pulled to that boundary, and a straight driven four from Clarke, Leach was taken off. When Overton returned, Haynes edged him straight to Tom Abell at first slip. My arms began to rise, and then sagged as the ball fell to earth. It may have been a Sliding Doors moment in the innings. In the next over, Clarke edged Aldridge towards Abell, but this time the ball bounced short. It was no compensation. When Clarke drove Overton through the covers for four in the last over before lunch, it magnified the disappointment. But, as the players walked off with Nottinghamshire on 111 for 3, at least the game was still in balance and Somerset were creating chances.

The morning had been something of a roller-coaster: a wicket, a partnership and then two more wickets in quick succession. So was the afternoon, as first Nottinghamshire and then Somerset threatened to build an advantage, at least as far as can be told from the first innings of a match. Clarke and Haynes began the afternoon with a change of tempo, as if Nottinghamshire were in a hurry. Forty runs came in the first six overs, Ball and Overton struggling to contain them. There was some movement for Overton, but again it came mainly after the ball had passed the stumps and again the ball did not always carry to Rew. In the first of those six overs Clarke drove Ball past the cover fielder to the long, Fox Road, boundary. An over later, he drove Overton past cover to the short, William Clarke, boundary. In the next five overs, the boundary was reached seven more times, five of them with drives. Three of the boundaries came from Clarke and four from Haynes. Clarke took a dozen runs and Haynes five in two overs from Ball, driving him out of the attack. It was a stunning assault with the ball racing to all parts whoever bowled, and, at 159 for 3, the day was running away from Somerset.

At the height of the assault, the Somerset bowlers began to make some impact and the scoring rate fell back with 15 runs coming in the next six overs. Twelve of those came in boundaries. One, from Haynes, driven off Pretorius through midwicket brought up his fifty from 52 balls. The other two boundaries came from Clarke in one over from Overton, a thick edge which crossed the rope at deep backward point and a guided hook to fine leg which took Nottinghamshire to 174 for 3. The edge also took the Clarke-Haynes partnership past a hundred. Against that, Overton bowled two maidens and Pretorius one, with only a single coming from another over. Perhaps the constraint on the scoring brought pressure, for both batters were beaten and the inside edge of Haynes’ bat sent one ball flying across the face of his stumps for a fortuitous single.

And then, perhaps the pressure told as Aldridge returned and bowled an exceptional spell. Replacing Overton at the Pavilion End, he forced a thick edge from Clarke’s defensive bat which ran wide of Overton, the only slip, himself standing wide. It added four runs to the total and brought up Clarke’s fifty from 75 balls. The next ball though, Clarke drove straight into the hands of Tom Banton at cover. “Thank goodness for that!” the cry from my chair. Nottinghamshire 179 for 4. Clarke 51. Perhaps some lack of pace in the pitch accounted for Clarke, although the flurry of boundaries which had preceded it only a few overs before might suggest otherwise.

Clarke’s wicket heralded the second clutch of wickets. Haynes attempted to steer a ball from Pretorius past Overton. The ball pitched just outside off, moved away slightly and Haynes edged it. Overton caught it neatly as he fell towards Rew. Overton has as safe a pair of hands as you will see in the slips, or for that matter, anywhere else his captain chooses to place him. Nottinghamshire 185 for 5. Haynes 55. Perhaps an indication of the pressure that the Somerset bowlers had applied after Nottinghamshire’s post-lunch charge can be seen in Haynes’ scoring rate. He reached 51 in 52 balls but took 21 more balls to score his final four runs.

An over later, Aldridge bowled across the left-handed Tom Moores. The ball lifted, forcing Moores to jerk a defensive bat up towards his chin. The ball took the shoulder of the bat and looped towards Tom Lammonby, the third of now three slips and a gully as, with wickets falling, Somerset closed up the field. Lammonby dived to his left and took the catch. I was now firmly on the edge of my seat with Nottinghamshire on 185 for 6. Moores 0. Aldridge was bowling with real fire and producing lift on a pitch on which the ball had sometimes failed to carry to the keeper. And then, another lifter from Aldridge. Lyndon James was forced to try to defend the ball almost chest high and edged it to Rew who took the catch moving neatly to his right. Nottinghamshire 190 for 7. James 5. “We’re back in this,” said the text from another online watcher.

Back in it indeed it felt as James walked off. But now, from a Somerset perspective at least, the match began to drift. Calvin Harrison and Ollie Stone took breath and the time to stabilise the innings. They played out four successive maidens against Aldridge and Ball with just a single from the fifth over. Harrison was beaten once by Aldridge, but then, after a seven over spell, Aldridge, and the edge, were gone from the Somerset attack. Gradually the batters accelerated. A four and a three, both driven through the on side towards the long Fox Road boundary by Stone off Ball, got the score moving. Three overs later, tea was reached with Nottinghamshire on 220 for 7. The ball was still showing some signs of movement, and Somerset were still in a healthy position, but the Nottinghamshire batters had halted the collapse.

My own tea, taken less than ten yards from my laptop, took longer than that of the players. I missed five overs, no wickets and nine runs of the evening session. By the time I returned, Nottinghamshire had dug in again. When I reached my seat, Aldridge and, with the new ball approaching, Leach, were bowling. They made no impact. Nottinghamshire’s progress was slow at first, but gradually the batters, Stone in particular, began to lift the tempo. He drove Aldridge through extra cover and clipped and swept Leach to deep square leg off successive balls, all for four, surviving a leg before wicket appeal from Leach as he went. When he turned Aldridge to fine leg for two, Nottinghamshire went past 250. “They are getting away again,” said the text.

The new ball brought Overton, from the Pavilion End, and Ball back into the attack. It didn’t deter Stone. A cover drive off Ball and a square drive off Overton, both for four, took him to fifty. In the next over, Ball was turned to the deep backward square leg boundary twice, although the second stroke was rushed. Two more boundaries, again from Stone, this time off Aldridge, one a scintillating extra cover drive, took Nottinghamshire, the batting now seemingly untroubled, to 300 for 7 and Stone to 70 from 106 balls. The silent partner of the pairing, Harrison, had 35 from 125 balls. There was no text this time, but one might have said, “These two look like they might bat forever.” Had such a text been sent, the sender might have claimed the credit for what followed. Pretorius had taken up the attack from the Radcliffe Road End in place of Ball. The fourth ball of his second over swung in no more than a shade, but late. It passed the inside of Harrison’s defensive bat and uprooted his off stump, leaving the middle and leg stumps standing perfectly upright. There was no punching of the air from in front of my laptop this time, just the watcher slumping back into his chair whilst emitting a sigh of relief. Nottinghamshire 302 for 8. Harrison 35 from 134 balls.

The day ended with Dillon Pennington driving and cutting Pretorius and Aldridge for four and then edging two more boundaries off the final over of the day, bowled by Pretorius. One of the edges bounced short of slip and one flew wide of the slips. Close. It summed up Somerset’s day. Nottinghamshire ending on 326 for 8 might have seemed a reasonable target for Somerset at the beginning of the day, but to break through the batting order twice, and for Nottinghamshire to recover on both occasions left a sense of nearly but not quite.

Close. Nottinghamshire 326 for 8.