County Championship 2024. Division 1. Lancashire v Somerset 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th September. Old Trafford.

Tom Banton was unavailable due the ankle injury suffered in the match against Surrey.

Lancashire. K.K. Jennings (c), H.P.N. Singh, J.J. Bohannon, R. Flintoff, M.F. Hurst (w), L.W.P. Wells, G.J. Bell, G.P. Balderson, T.E. Bailey, A. Phillip, W.S.A. Williams.

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

Toss. Somerset. Elected to field.

First day 17th September – A day of tumult

Between train and hotel on the evening before the match, I suffered one of those clashes of the generations. I had found, with some difficulty, the stop from where my bus was supposed to leave for the nearest stop to my hotel. Nearest rather than the stop for my hotel because it was half a mile away. First though, there was a hitch. The bus stop from which my bus was supposed to leave was surrounded by scaffolding attached to an adjacent building. The scaffolding had a notice on it stating that it was unsafe, and the bus would leave from one of the bus stops to either side. Which side was not specified and there was nothing to stop people standing at the stop under the scaffolding. Also, the notice was dated seven months before.

A student stood alone under the scaffolding while waiting for my bus. Not wishing to leave her surrounded by unsafe scaffolding, I showed her the notice. She shook her head. She had an all-powerful app on her phone and showed it to me. I have had trouble with all-powerful apps before, and this one was just as powerful as all the others. Apparently, if the app said the bus left from the stop under the scaffolding, it left from the stop under the scaffolding, safe or not. It soon became apparent that nothing, not the notice, not even the presence of a score of people at one of the the nearby stops, could override the app. The app was all, and it must not be argued with. At least that was, until our bus arrived and pulled up at the stop with all the people. The student looked at me in horror, turned on her heels and bolted for the bus followed by me dragging my case and carrying my cricket bag. A prediction: by 2034 every aspect of life will be governed by apps which must not be questioned, and we will all miss our bus.

As to the cricket, perhaps Lancashire should have put a similar notice to the one on the scaffolding next to their pitch, or at least put something about it on the Lancashire CCC app. There was nothing wrong with the pitch as pitches go and it certainly wasn’t dangerous. There were though conditions which any self-respecting app would want to warn about. The pitch was a juicy green, the autumn equinox was in the past, and the cricket was due to begin at half past ten, albeit in bright sunshine with spectators in shirt sleeves. Bowling on winning the toss was therefore a decision made without the need to refer to an app, however powerful.

The crowd was on the small side as Championship crowds go, about 800 in the stands by my count. The majority were sitting in front of or on either side of the Pavilion. I took my seat under The Point, the glowering conference centre coloured Lancashire red and suspended by the wonders of modern architecture above the seating to one side of the Pavilion. A gargantuan hotel, similarly coloured and suspended, looked down from the other side.

After Somerset’s incredible, in the true sense of the word, win over Surrey in the previous match they sat eight points below Surrey in the Championship table with this match and one at home against Hampshire remaining. For Somerset to have a realistic chance of overhauling Surrey, they would have to win this match and their last with a good haul of batting points, while Surrey would probably have to fail to win one of their final two matches. The weather would have to hold too. The loss of the in form Banton for the final two matches following the serious ankle injury he suffered in one of the warm-ups during the Surrey match constituted a serious loss for Somerset. With Lancashire 11 points adrift in the relegation zone, winning this match was just as crucial to them.

Somerset’s start could not have been worse. Keaton Jennings edged the first ball of the match, from Craig Overton, low between first and second slip. Lewis Gregory, at first slip, moved smoothly to intercept it. Kasey Aldridge, at second slip, also reached down, moving across Gregory in the process. Aldridge got both hands to the ball and dropped it. Would it have carried to Gregory? Probably not. The drop though did leave a cavernous void in the pit of the Somerset stomach. Jennings was Lancashire’s prize wicket.

Batting in bright sunshine, despite the omens before the start, and after Aldridge’s drop, Lancashire seemed in little trouble until Harry Singh played defensively to a full, straight ball from Craig Overton, bowling from the Anderson, previously the Pavilion, End. He edged it straight into the midriff of Tom Lammonby, the third of four slips. Lancashire 21 for 1. Singh 7. When, four overs later, Overton bowled a similar ball to Josh Bohannon it took the edge and James Rew took the catch. “You could hear the snick,” the comment. Lancashire 41 for 2. Bohannon 4. The wickets seemed to owe more to the persistence of the Somerset bowlers than to the conditions. Niggling away at the Somerset mind though was the continuing presence of Keaton Jennings, already on 24 with a walking glance and a straight drive, both for four, to his credit.

Lewis Gregory had early replaced Brett Randell, yet to show his effectiveness for Somerset, at the Statham End. Gregory made a quiet start before Jennings launched into him. Four times in an over the ball reached the boundary. The first came off a thick edge from a drive. It cleared backward point despite a shout of, “Catch!” from behind me. The rest though came off the middle, the second pulled through midwicket, the third driven straight and the fourth cut through cover as Jennings worked his way around the compass. It left Gregory with figures of 5-2-31-0, Lancashire on 59 for 2, and Somerset’s attack in the hands of Randell and Kasey Aldridge.

The 16-year-old Rocky Flintoff, in his third first-class match for Lancashire and now in with Jennings, looked out of his depth. He was beaten several times, edged along the ground to fourth slip and found the boundary with a thick edge that flew at catchable height through gully. “Lucky,” one Lancastrian voice said. “Four in the book,” replied another. But with a single taking Lancashire to 70 for 2, the Somerset comment was, “We need another one.” As if in answer, Flintoff, after battling for nearly 40 minutes, attempted to drive Aldridge, connected only with the inside edge and looked back to see his middle stump lying flat several yards back. Lancashire 70 for 3. Flintoff 7. The ground was silent, a gentle chatter only slowly breaking out as the Somerset players set themselves for the next batter, Matty Hurst.

Jennings continued to push. He drove Aldridge off the back foot through the covers for four. Successive back foot drives for four and three followed off Randell. The three took Jennings to a thousand first-class runs for the season, far from a commonplace event in the modern age. “Jennings is a class above,” one Lancastrian opinion. “He’s all we’ve got,” the depressed comment of another. With Lancashire 85 for 3 and no other batter having yet reached double figures it was a statement no one argued with. Given the nature of cricketing superstition, it was though a statement the speaker might have regretted, for five balls later, it was Jennings’ middle stump that lay flat. Another edge off Aldridge, this time an under edge from a cut with Aldridge ending his over with figures of 4-1-12-2. Lancashire 85 for 4. Jennings 56 from 68 balls. Lunch though was reached with Lancashire on 107 for 4 with Hurst and the new batter, Luke Wells, again taking the fight to Somerset, 17 runs coming from the final two overs of the morning, Overton and Aldridge the suffering bowlers.

It had been a cut and thrust morning. My usual lunchtime circumnavigation brought a series of thoughts from other Somerset supporters. The ball did not appear to be moving as much as the conditions at the start suggested it would. And yet, four wickets had fallen. Perhaps it was moving just enough to create difficulties. Perhaps more than four wickets might have fallen had it not been for Jennings’ standout innings. And, what price that drop? No point in dwelling on it. Some thought the outfield slow suggesting the score might be better than it looked. The score from The Oval was not far different – Durham 84 for 3. Somerset still eight points behind Surrey.

The afternoon was barely underway before it became clear that Jennings had indeed played a standout innings. Overton and Gregory rattled through the remaining six Lancashire wickets. In his second over, Overton, with four slips, went round the wicket and angled a full ball into the left-handed Wells. Wells left the ball which passed perilously close to the stumps. The next ball was fuller, a shade further in and may have cut in a trace. Wells had to play, missed, and with the ball rebounding off the pads, the raising of the umpire’s finger was inevitable. Lancashire 114 for 5. Wells 14. The wicket left a sense of resignation in the Lancashire crowd and rising anticipation among Somerset supporters, cheers from whom could be heard as the umpire’s finger went up.

In Overton’s next over, constantly on the mark, he pitched full and straight again. George Bell, facing his sixth ball, played a rather airy looking defensive wave, the ball beat the inside edge and struck the stumps. It might have cut in a trace again, or it might have been my imagination. Things happen in quick succession at the batters’ end when a wicket falls and sometimes the mind gets ahead of the facts. Any movement though was not as great as that green pitch had suggested. Lancashire 115 for 7. Bell 0. At the end of the over, Overton had figures of 12-2-26-4.

Now, Gregory took a hand. The first ball of the next over was perfectly directed from over the wicket across the left-handed George Balderson. It threatened his off stump, or his pad in front of it. Balderson, with no alternative but to play the ball, edged it low to Overton at third slip. Lancashire 115 for 8. Balderson 1. Lancashire were now in full retreat, and the tremendous surge in Somerset spirits which arose from the victory over Surrey was flowing again.

Tom Bailey drove Gregory square for four, but Somerset were on a charge. Overton quickly had Bailey in trouble, beating him three times in an over before Gregory beat Anderson Phillip twice off successive balls. Then he speared a ball in on leg stump, beating the Philip drive and striking him on the pad. Lancashire 121 for 9. Phillip 1. “Durham 130 for 4,” someone read off their phone. Somerset had closed the gap with Surrey to just six points, but with Durham four wickets down, Surrey seemed almost certain to regain their eight-point lead. Somerset would need those batting points. Bailey and Will Williams swung the bat briefly, but Lancashire ended on 140 when Bailey swung once too often and was caught at long on off Gregory for 16 with Williams unbeaten on eight. The Championship was still on, and Somerset supporters spread around the ground applauded their team off the field.

Somerset began their reply under a cloudless, hope-filled sky with an unpleasant, if you were a Somerset supporter, jolt. It came from the first ball, from Bailey. Andy Umeed shaped tentatively to steer the ball, then equally tentatively tried to leave it, achieved neither and edged to Jennings, the second of three slips. With Somerset immediately on the back foot, Lammonby joined Archie Vaughan and together they developed leaving the ball into an art form. Vaughan left the first four balls of Phillip’s first over. When they did play, runs came off the edge as much as the middle and some defensive strokes had the ball popping up off the bat. It was a heart stopping half hour for Somerset supporters with the possibility of the Championship hanging on every ball.

Nerves jangled when Vaughan fought to impose himself. He edged Phillip just short of the backward point fielder before driving him off the back foot square for four. Another attempt to drive Phillips flew over the slips for four more while another flew just wide of the slips. Lammonby glanced Bailey for four but it only just evaded the keeper at catchable height. It was real edge of the seat stuff, but the next ball was driven classically off the middle and through the covers, again for four. Then, gradually, the batters began to get the measure of the conditions. Lammonby glanced Bailey again, this time safely. As so often with Lammonby it was the smoothest of strokes and drew applause from the Lancashire crowd, the home supporters showing themselves ready to applaud good play from the opposition as well as their own.

Classically on and off driven boundaries from Lammonby off Balderson and Bailey suggested confidence growing further. There was patience too, three overs passing without a run being scored. An occasional edge still tweaked the nerves, one from Lammonby off Balderson running for four and taking Somerset to 51 for 1. As if epitomising the growing anticipation among Somerset supporters, Lammonby pulled Williams through midwicket for four. The pull can be a vicious shot, but when Lammonby plays it, as here, it can be a stroke of beauty, played with an ease and a smoothness of flow which might have been lifted from a verse by Byron. This one might have been the standard bearer for the hope that Lammonby’s partnership with Vaughan was beginning to instill in every Somerset heart that the Championship might really be possible. The deficit was now 84, but with nine wickets standing, the hope was burning deep.

And then, Somerset’s world changed. In the quarter of an hour before tea, the Somerset mood was dealt a crushing blow when Lancashire took three wickets for seven runs in the space of two overs. Despite Somerset’s progress, the Lancashire bowlers had stuck hard to their task, constantly tested the batters and had looked anything but an attack deep in relegation trouble. Vaughan attempted to drive a wide ball from Balderson, the ball perhaps placed to encourage the stroke, and edged to Hurst. With the number of earlier edges, the wicket might have come sooner but, with the batters looking like they were settling, it was a stinging blow so close to tea. Somerset 58 for 2. Vaughan 21. Deficit 82. An over later, Lammonby was forced to defend on the crease by a ball from Williams, the keeper still up. The ball homed in on his pads and the stumps, and Lammonby edged it low to Bell at first slip. Perhaps that trace of movement again. Somerset 60 for 3. Lammonby 36. Deficit 80. Lammonby had been the rock of the innings thus far, and his loss was another sharp blow. Another over brought yet another blow to leave Somerset supporters reeling. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, playing a straight defensive stroke, edged Balderson low and short of first slip, Hurst dived and scooped the catch just as it was about to make ground. Somerset 65 for 4. Kohler-Cadmore 3. Deficit 75.

And with that, the players walked off for tea, the mood of Lancashire and Somerset supporters reversed from 15 minutes before. The match, from edging Somerset’s way was firmly back in balance. “We need to bat our way to some bonus points,” said the text from the online watcher, but that prospect suddenly seemed a long way off. Worse, the tea score from The Oval, Durham 207 for 6, suggested there might be enough runs in the pitch there for Surrey to widen the gap by a point or two. It was a sobering teatime circumnavigation.

By the resumption, Somerset supporters had gathered themselves enough to try to rouse their team. But, as the evening unfolded, it was a tough battle to keep spirits up. James Rew playing with an angled bat to Balderson sent the ball through backward point for four. “Shot Rewie!” the shout. Off the next ball Rew was caught behind defending, the cheers from the Lancashire crowd reverberating through stunned Somerset senses. Somerset 71 for 5. Rew 4. Deficit 69. Three balls later Tom Abell cut Williams square for four. More encouragement, “Shot Tommie!” A cover drive for four off Balderson brought, “Good shot, Tommie!” But when Kasey Aldridge was bowled past the outside edge trying to defend against Balderson, the ball shading away and knocking his off stump flat, the cheer from the Lancashire crowd was piercing. The balance of the match was shifting fast, and they knew it. Somerset 83 for 6. Aldridge 1. Deficit 57. Matching Lancashire’s total rather than taking bonus points was now the focus of Somerset supporters.

Abell and Gregory, captains past and present, tried to reassemble the wreckage of the innings. There was no grim digging in, just selective accumulation of runs taken where a ball allowed it. Balderson was cut past the slips for four by Abell. It was a controlled stroke. No edge. “Let’s see one more over,” said a Lancashire supporter, words heard up and down the land as the end of a day comes into view, this time spoken with hope of another wicket in the voice. Instead, Abell drove Williams through the off side for three, a Lancashire fielder just hauling the ball in before it crossed the rope to more applause. A drive from Gregory off Bailey was similarly stopped with the same result. Somerset were moving forward again, but Lancashire, their players and supporters, were now fully energised. Somerset supporters were cheering too when Gregory drove Balderson twice for four, once on each side of the wicket. “Good running,” the shout when Gregory pushed Bailey wide of the mid-on fielder and scampered to the other end. A four driven through the off side off Phillip took Somerset to 117 for 6, the deficit now down to 23, and hope was beginning to swell again.

Only to be dashed again. With the partnership 34 runs old, Abell was rushed into a defensive stroke by a piercing ball from Bailey and edged to Hurst. Somerset 117 for 7. Abell 22. The relieved Lancashire cheer was again deafening. Opposition cheers as you try to process your falling hopes seem at the same time, distant and crushing, and 23 suddenly seemed a larger number than it had a minute before. Worse followed when Overton and Randell were sent back to the Pavilion in the space of three balls, Lancashire relentlessly attacking the stumps. Both were leg before wicket to Bailey with only four singles squeezed from the attack since the departure of Abell. Somerset 121 for 9. Overton 2. Randell 0. Deficit 19. That Jack Leach and Gregory added 25 from 17 balls for the last wicket gave an empty lift, the damage done by those earlier spates of wickets was now irreparable. Somerset had a lead of six, but the cheers, applause and smiles from the Lancashire crowd after their side’s resurrection from 140 all out, told you all you needed to know. That Durham had been dismissed for 262 and Surrey were already 28 for 0 in reply just added to the depth of the Somerset despond.

It had been a day of tumult, and there were still 12 overs to come. That Lancashire took all of those 12 overs to score 16 runs says something about both the determination, fire and accuracy of the Somerset bowlers and the determination of the Lancashire batting. That Gregory dismissed Jennings for four was a relief, but the afterglow of the victory over Surrey which had continued through the morning and early afternoon had evaporated. By the close, at The Oval, Surrey were 52 for 0 and the gap between them and Somerset looked like widening not narrowing. There was hope of course. Somerset’s match was still in balance. The scores told you it could go either way. But the momentum was flowing heavily Lancashire’s, and Surrey’s, way, and the fall from that pinnacle of Somerset hope experienced when Lammonby had executed that heavenly pull off Williams just three hours before had been precipitous indeed.

And then, as I left the ground, more tumult. The ever-lengthening cricket season stretches well into the football season at both ends. The two Old Traffords, cricket and football, are very close to each other. Thus it was that as I and my broad-rimmed wyvern hat walked back to my hotel, we met about 5,000 Manchester United supporters walking to a match. It was a jovial enough procession which parted to let me through when there were too many people across the pavement for me to circumvent. The only commotion occurred on a passing coach when its door suddenly opened, a woman appeared in the doorway shouting at all and sundry, “Yorkshire! Yorkshire! Yorkshire!” I soon ascertained that she was not a cricket supporter shouting at me. The coach had a large handwritten banner with the words, ‘The Grimey Reds’ emblazoned across it. I resorted to my smartphone. Barnsley FC it seems. They were playing Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, the League Cup in pre-app times. For the record: Manchester United 7 Barnsley 0.

Close. Lancashire 140 (K.K. Jennings 56, C. Overton 4-32, L. Gregory 4-50) and 16 for 1. Somerset 146 (T.E. Bailey 4-36, G.P. Balderson 4-50). Lancashire lead by 10 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.