County Championship 2025. Division 1. Warwickshire v Somerset. 22^nd, 23^rd, 24^th and 24th^th June. Edgbaston.

As part of an ECB experiment this round of County Championship matches was the first of four to be played with the Kookaburra ball.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable for selection due to being on paternity leave.

Warwickshire. A.L. Davies (c), R.M. Yates, T.W.M. Latham, S.R. Hain, J.G. Bethell, E.G. Barnard, K. Smith (w), E.R. Bamber, C.J. Rocchiccioli, C.B. Simmons, O.J.Hannon-Dalby.

Somerset.  A.M. Vaughan, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory (c), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat

First day – Of flamboyance and lyricism – Kohler-Cadmore and Lammonby rule the day  

In 2024, in one of Somerset’s many unsuccessful experiments with their opening partnership, Tom Kohler-Cadmore opened the second innings in the Championship match at Edgbaston by walking down the wicket holding his bat out in front of him. He was out to his second ball and had not opened the innings since. Somerset’s opening partnership tribulations though had continued into 2025. In May, against Sussex at Taunton, the latest experiment had involved opening with Lewis Gregory and Josh Davey the latter of whom had rarely batted above nine since joining Somerset in 2014, although he had previously opened the innings for Middlesex second eleven before joining Somerset. No great partnership had resulted, but the pair had usually steered Somerset past the early overs and deadened the newness of the ball. However, for this match, Gregory was unavailable, and another partner was needed for Davey. In the light of all that had gone before, and the experience of a year earlier, Kohler-Cadmore would not have been at the top of most Somerset supporters lists to walk out with Davey.

But before all that, I had had one of my occasional run-ins with that all-powerful ruler of the modern world, the smartphone app. I had bought my tickets for the first two days through the Edgbaston App. At the end of the day, even I must adapt to the mysteries of the twenty-first century. I had used the Edgbaston App before, and it had worked perfectly well for the last T20 Finals Day with thousands trying to access it at the same time. There was no reason, I concluded, why it should not work for a Championship match. There was. Whilst preparing for bed in my hotel the night before the match, I realised I had left my phone charger and cable at home. I had of course, oblivious to that fact, spent the day gaily draining my battery. No phone. No ticket. Losing access to a ticket to a Somerset match is bad enough, but those who carry their lives on their phone take warning.

As Claudius says in Hamlet, “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” Phone dead. Tickets on phone. Sunday shopping hours in Birmingham: eleven to five. Match start time: eleven. Minimum time to sufficiently charge phone: 30 minutes. Travel time to ground: Sunday bus timetable or half an hour walk. Battalions indeed. However, as Churchill used to say, “Action this day.” Instigate search. Find nondescript-looking phone shop about the size of a bus shelter which opened at ten. Buy charger and cable. Negotiate with shop. They would charge phone. It is astonishing how long a 30 minute wait is when it stands between a supporter and a match. Then, phone charged, contact re-established with the rest of the world, bus caught.

How we all managed in the twentieth century when we were away from home with no way of contacting the rest of the world other than through a red telephone box (if working) is one of the wonders of pre-smartphone life. How county cricket supporters survived the day when the only way to find the score was to buy an evening paper and look in the stop press or find someone with a transistor or car radio and tune into the hourly sports desk is another twentieth century wonder. Final outcome: arrive half an hour late. The twenty-first century and my Edgbaston App did though produce my ticket without complaint.

Whatever the rationale behind the selection of Kohler-Cadmore as an opener, the outcome must have been beyond the wildest dreams of the selectors, and certainly of the large number of Somerset supporters who had travelled to the match. By the time I found my seat, square of the wicket, high up in the near-deserted acres of the Hollies Stand, the floodlights were on he and Davey had already taken Somerset to 31 for 0 at the end of the ninth over. That would have been about par for Davey and Gregory and better than most that had gone before. The crowd had, by my eye, reached about 600 in the stands, although at Edgbaston there are large lounge bars at either end of the ground which might have added a hundred or so more. The Hollies Stand contingent totalled 11 watchers whose total ages probably added up to more than the number in the crowd. It was a far cry from its 5,900 partying occupants at a T20 Finals Day.

The opening partnership was a revelation. Somerset were moving freely along at four an over. Davey took successive boundaries off Jacob Bethell, one a flowing straight drive to the Pavilion boundary, the next an equally neat clip off his legs which bounced in the crease and flew just wide of leg slip’s unmoving legs. As had been the case since his promotion, he looked every part the opener, although he had struggled to get beyond the 30s. Kohler-Cadmore on the other hand looked every part Kohler-Cadmore, Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Bethell suffered equally as a square drive and a cover drive off the former, and two pulls in three balls off the latter all found the boundary. Bethell, for his pains, suffered a shout from one Warwickshire supporter of, “Get him off!” Davey’s style was as contained as Kohler-Cadmore’s was flamboyant, but working together, by the time light rain drove across the ground and forced an early lunch, they had taken Somerset, with apparent ease, to 69 for 0 in the 18th over, Kohler-Cadmore on 41, Davey on 24.

The rain brought an extended lunch interval and took ten overs out of the day. Two circumnavigations of the ground, both of course anticlockwise, revealed the large number of Somerset supporters present, and the sheer length of the perimeter of one of the larger Test grounds in the country. The Pavilion extends the entire length of one end of the ground and the tunnel under it seems endless.

Warwickshire began the afternoon with some sharp pace from Che Simmons at the Birmingham End and the slightly more sedate Ethan Bamber at the Pavilion End. It made no difference to Kohler-Cadmore and Davey, the rate of scoring of the morning continuing undiminished and still unimpeded by any sense of threat. There were occasional overs of quiet, but the overall impression remained of a typically free-scoring innings from Kohler-Cadmore and of controlled, steady progress from Davey.

Kohler-Cadmore began the afternoon with a light touch, although the ball ran quickly enough off the bat. A late cut off Simmons sped wide of the slips. A straight drive off the back foot, barely more than a defensive prod, raced along the ground and past the bowler, reaching the Birmingham End boundary and registering his fifty from 67 balls. Then the first of some more sharply struck strokes. A drive through backward point off Bamber to the Raglan Stand was played with a whip of the bat. When he turned Simmons to deep midwicket for a quiet single, it took Somerset to 100 for 0 and I doubt any Somerset supporter in the ground could remember when Somerset had last posted a century partnership for the first wicket. Then, no sooner had the Somerset supporters stopped applauding than Kohler-Cadmore was piling on the pressure. Bamber began another over. Kohler-Cadmore drove him with a ferocious swing of the bat through backward point for four and then, off his next ball, straight to the Pavilion for six. And all the while, Davey was quietly rotating the strike and ticking the score along.

With the pace bowlers making no impact, Warwickshire introduced Corey Rocchiccioli, an Australian off spinner, into the attack from the Birmingham End. Warwickshire had signed him essentially because of his experience of playing with the Kookaburra ball. Davey welcomed him by driving the first ball of his second over through cover for two and the third back over his head for six. Somerset 118 for 0. With Rocchiccioli bowling from the Birmingham End and Hannon-Dalby, and then Simmons, from the Pavilion End, Kohler-Cadmore and Davey took control, galloping along, in Championship terms, at five runs an over. The Kookaburra ball was now 28 overs old. Perhaps it was living up to its English reputation of losing all bite after about 25 overs.

Kohler-Cadmore was adding to its reputation, his drives cutting a swathe across Edgbaston. Rocchiccioli was driven straight to the Birmingham End sight screen and, two balls later, lofted over long off for six to the Barnes Stand. Hannon-Dalby was driven straight for four and then into the covers for a single. Kohler-Cadmore’s century, from 128 balls, came, with the score on 176 for 0, from a pull off Simmons to the Hollies Stand boundary at long leg. It had been a typically rip-roaring Kohler-Cadmore innings without a chance that I could recall, and it brought to their feet the small enclaves of Somerset supporters gathered around the sight screens at the two ends of the ground as well as individuals dotted about the remainder. Kohler-Cadmore had doubtless been helped by the insipidness of the Kookaburra ball in English conditions and an Edgbaston pitch which increasingly looked as flat as the floor of the Bullring. But, and it is an important but, given the nature and expectations of Championship cricket, he had shown considerable nerve and pluck to take such full advantage of the conditions he had been offered. It was an outstanding innings and, given Somerset’s prior history of opening partnerships, one of Somerset’s innings of the season.

Davey meanwhile had not been inactive. In addition to rotating the strike he had glanced Hannon-Dalby for four and reverse-swept Rocchiccioli for two to register his fifty, his first in the opener’s role, from 98 balls. Again, the Somerset enclaves were identifiable from their enthusiastic applause. And again, Davey continued to keep an end intact and, with Kohler-Cadmore, to push for singles, four in succession coming in one over from Rocchiccioli. Rocchiccioli suffered further when Davey took eight runs from three balls, an on driven four, a skyed two which fell between three fielders and another two turned into the leg side. 

Eventually though, Simmons’ pace paid off. Bowling from the Birmingham End in only his fourth first-class match, he pitched short and fast with a leg side field consisting of a leg slip, long leg and, in line ahead, short leg, square leg and deep square leg. Davey hooked the leg stump bouncer and was caught off a top edge by Ed Barnard stepping easily forward from long leg. Davey had been surprised by the lift in the previous ball too and had fended it away behind square on the leg side. “That plan was very unsubtle,” the comment from one of the only pair of Warwickshire supporters within earshot. Somerset 186 for 1. Davey 64 in two minutes under three hours.

Never had such a makeshift Somerset opening partnership added 186 runs, let alone at nearly four and a half runs an over. Indeed, it had been ten years since any opening partnership had exceeded 186. The last had been the 272 added in 2015 by Marcus Trescothick and Tom Abell against Hampshire at Taunton. In the 134 years since Somerset entered the competition, there had been only 13 other Somerset Championship opening partnerships of over 186, none of them achieved by such an unlikely combination. Of those 13, 12 had taken place since the start of four-day Championship cricket. Of those 12, ten had involved Trescothick, a mark of his longevity in the role and dominance of it . The only example of Kohler-Cadmore and Davey’s partnership being exceeded in a three-day Championship match was a partnership of 205 by Lionel Palairet and Gerald Fowler against Gloucestershire at Bristol in 1895.

As always, however stunning the statistics, a match needs must move on. In Simmons’ next over, Kohler-Cadmore attempted to hook a bouncer and was caught behind by Kai Smith jumping and reaching over his head. Somerset had gone from 186 for 0 to 187 for 2. Kohler-Cadmore 104. As Kohler-Cadmore left, a military band struck up from beyond the Pavilion, and the new batters, Tom Lammonby and James Rew, as if to a film soundtrack, marched Somerset steadily to tea. They took eight singles in one ball under five overs, leaving the score on 195 for 2, and a perfect base from which to re-launch Somerset’s innings in the evening session.

Because of the lunchtime rain delay and the rescheduled tea interval, the evening session was scheduled to last 41 overs. The Kohler-Cadmore style assault was not relaunched, Somerset making a more measured advance with, in line with one of the objectives of using the Kookaburra ball, Warwickshire employing a spinner, Rocchiccioli or Rob Yates, at one end for the bulk of the session. Rocchiccioli did trouble the batters, particularly Lammonby, immediately after tea, the bat being beaten several times and Lammonby twice edging him, once short of slip and once wider for four. But, as the batters resettled, the beaten bats dried up. Virtually all the strokes against the spinners were controlled pushes and guides, either neatly into gaps in the infield or to the deep cover and deep midwicket sweepers. In defence, Rew in particular stretched well forward, although he did lean smoothly into an on drive off Rocchiccioli to the Hollies Stand.

At the other end, for much of the evening session, the pace attack relied mainly on the accuracy of Barnard and Bamber. Singles became less common and the boundaries, when they came, were mainly driven. One back foot square drive from Lammonby off Barnard ran fast along the ground straight towards me, always a fine sight. He benefited too from a thick edge for four wide of slip off Bamber. An on drive off Bamber through straight midwicket to the West Stand took Somerset to 250 for 2 and a classically played drive through extra cover to the Hollies Stand two balls later just seemed to go with the flow of a day which was running Somerset’s way. Rew struck Bamber for two fours in an over, one driven straight to the Pavilion sight screen, and one pulled through square leg to the Family Stand opposite my seat in the Hollies. Rew looked settled, but an attempt to cut Hannon-Dalby, who had just replaced Bamber, resulted in the ball looping to backward point where it was caught by Bethell. Perhaps Hannon-Dalby’s extra height, the Yorkshireman is six feet eight inches tall, coaxed a shade of extra bounce out of the Kookaburra. Somerset 275 for 3. Rew 38.

Lammonby was joined by Tom Abell, and between them, Kohler-Cadmore’s cavalry charge now firmly part of the history of the innings, they continued building Somerset’s position at three runs an over. They added 51 runs in the hour before the rain returned to end play a few minutes early. Lammonby’s progress was serene, at least that is how a Lammonby innings feels from beyond the boundary when he is in the sort of form he displayed here. He went to fifty from 98 balls with a pull off Simmons as smoothly played as any of his drives. A pull shot often happens in a flash. Not this one. For a split second, Lammonby, bat momentarily poised, stood waiting for the ball before conducting it calmly on its way to the boundary. Again, Somerset supporters identified themselves with their applause.

From there, with the floodlights now on again after a period without them, Lammonby and Abell played within themselves. Playing for the morning perhaps as used to be said, or just carefully building Somerset’s position. There was little indication of threat from the ball, even after the new ball was taken by Hannon-Dalby and Bamber five overs before the players went off. By then, Rocchiccioli was bowling again, perhaps due to the increasingly murky conditions. Lammonby continued to play as if in a dream, driving Hannon Dalby effortlessly to deep extra cover for a single, and pulling Simmons through midwicket to the Hollies Stand boundary with an easy flow of the bat, the energy driving the ball imparted entirely through the timing.

Abell, as he is inclined to do, began slowly. Nothing more than a single for half an hour. Then, as if apropos of nothing, as batters sometimes seem to do when set in ‘play with care’ mode, he reached to cut Simmons in front of point to the Hollies Stand for four before, three balls later, driving him through extra cover for four more. The fours on the board, he slid seamlessly back into play with care mode. They were his only boundaries in his 14 overs at the crease, but there were 12 singles too, and by the close, he and Lammonby, six boundaries in their partnership, had added 52 to take Somerset to the close on 327 for 3 with Lammonby standing solid on 75. They had completed the building of a base which brought the prospect capable of a considerable Somerset score. That it had been built so quickly in the 84.5 overs ultimately available owed much to the opening partnership of Kohler-Cadmore and Davey. On top of that, the question crossing the minds of several Somerset supporters as I left the ground was, “With this ball, on this pitch, is this match already destined to be a draw?” But, beyond that, the spectacular flamboyance of Kohler-Cadmore and the classical lyricism of Lammonby had made the day one to remember and the battles with my phone had long been banished from my mind.

Close. Somerset 327 for 3.