County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire 15^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th September. Taunton.

J.F. Thomas replaced T.B. Abell under the ECB concussion regulations on the third day.

Somerset. T. Kohler-Cadmore, A.M. Vaughan, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell/J.F. Thomas, L.P. Goldsworthy, K.L. Aldridge, B.G.F Green, C. Overton,  L. Gregory (c), M.J. Leach.

Hampshire. A.G.H. Orr, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, T.E. Albert, B.C. Brown (c), (w), M.S. Washington Sundar, F.S. Organ, J.K. Fuller, K.J. Abbott, K.H.D. Barker, E.V. Jack.

Overnight. Somerset 454 for 8 dec. Hampshire 172 and 35 for 1. Hampshire trail by 247 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.

Final day – Of twirling arms and thrust forward pads and bats

In the fifth over of the day, Archie Vaughan angled a ball into Fletcha Middleton, pitched it on off stump, turned it some more, if slowly, and Middleton, playing across his pads, helped it on its way and into the hands of Kasey Aldridge at leg gully, one of four close fielders. Aldridge knocked the ball up a few inches and safely gripped it when it came back down. Hampshire, 37 for 2 in the 27^th over of their innings, still 239 runs behind with 91 overs remaining, were at serious risk of being beaten. Middleton out for nine from 77 balls after his intense vigil of the night before. If Hampshire were beaten, it would plunge them into the relegation zone with just one game, against Surrey, still to be played.

They had shown much more determination thus far in their second innings than they had in their first, and with the Taunton pitch already demonstrating its usual habit of dying on the final day, sometimes before, a hard day for both sides was in prospect. Somerset knew where the battle was to be fought. After an over from Lewis Goldsworthy to enable Vaughan and Jack Leach to switch ends, Somerset’s premier spin duo were in harness, Vaughan from the River End and Leach from the Trescothick Pavilion End. Two boundaries, both driven through midwicket, one from each batter, one off each bowler, gave no indication of what was to follow. As the morning wore on, they increasingly stood out like a pair of isolated palm trees in a desert of dot balls. In the 12 overs after the second boundary, there were just two runs off the bat, one of those due to a rare misfield by Tom Kohler-Cadmore at extra cover, and one ball which beat both batter and keeper to run to the Trescothick Pavilion for four byes.

At the end of the 44^th over, Hampshire were 53 for 2 with Nick Gubbins on seven from 73 balls and Toby Albert on six from 46 balls. And yet, the first 22 overs of the morning had gripped a final day crowd slightly larger than the norm, perhaps the dry forecast and the final day of Taunton’s season bringing them in. For Hampshire supporters present, there was the knowledge that if their team lost they would slip into the relegation zone while a draw would give them a slight edge over Durham in the final round of matches. For some Somerset supporters there was the faint, if only mathematical, prospect of a Championship, although most I spoke to thought that realistically that was out of reach. There was though, the very real prospect of a victory, and that was enough to hold the attention.

In the over after the fall of Middleton, Leach struck Gubbins on the pad with his first two balls to vociferous appeals from the close field and breaths held in the stands. When Gubbins attempted to sweep the third ball and it popped to leg slip there were more, less than convincing, appeals from the infield and laughter from the crowd. There was still some turn, if slow, and there were always four fielders, sometimes five, around the bat for the spinners, but balls that threatened were becoming fewer. As to the batters, there were none of the loose strokes of the previous day, just hard concentration and mainly stretched forward defence. For the Somerset crowd, the overs were counting down, Somerset’s huge lead and Hampshire’s rate of scoring making runs irrelevant. The occasional conversation apart, the ground was quiet, tense, faces unmoving, looking at the middle, hoping.

It was not so quiet in the middle. There were a succession of appeals when the ball struck the pads or beat the bat. There were gasps from the top of the Trescothick Pavilion when, occasionally, the ball seemed to turn more than the norm. Once, Leach defeated Gubbins’ stretched forward defensive stroke, and the ball, as far as could be seen from 80 yards away, missed the stumps by the proverbial coat of varnish. Leach, 20 yards away, held his head in his hands and stood paralysed in his disbelief that the stumps were still intact. So intense was the pressure in the middle that one huge appeal for leg before wicket against Albert brought the umpires together resulting in Lewis Gregory being called to speak to them.

The first sign of the pressure telling on the batters, was an inside edge from Albert off Vaughan which ran past leg slip. “Come on Vaughany,” someone in the field shouted. And then, another huge appeal from Vaughan and the close fielders. The ball, bowled from wide of the crease, pitched on middle and off, straightened and struck the pads, Albert retreating right back on his stumps as he tried to defend. Hampshire 57 for 3 in the 45^th over. Albert 10 from 52 balls. The deficit, effectively irrelevant, 198. Vaughan punched the air; the crowd cheered and broke out into relieved applause. There were a minimum of 73 overs remaining. With the spinners likely to bowl virtually continuously, there would be a few more if the light held, although a blanket of cloud was, from a Somerset perspective, worryingly persistent.

The crowd was buzzing. The wicket felt like an important breakthrough with lunch still 40 minutes away. But Ben Brown, the Hampshire captain, joined Gubbins and, a short, lively spell from Craig Overton apart, the display of Leach’s and Vaughan’s arms twirling and the batters’ front legs and bats coming down the pitch continued. Gubbins pulled a short ball from Overton fine to the Lord Ian Botham Stand boundary for four and a thick edge took a ball past backward point for a single. But then, the ritual of twirling arms, thrust forward legs and bats and an immobile scoreboard continued. In the next eight overs, four runs were scored and the bat was beaten several times but with no result beyond the bowler returning to his mark and the batter to his guard.

One ball from Vaughan battled its way through the bat and pads of Brown and rolled past the stumps. “Not far away,” the comment. Gubbins was then beaten by the first ball of Vaughan’s next over, and Leach went past the edge of Brown’s forward defensive prod twice in two balls, both times to gasps and applause from the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. When the applause died, it was back to the tense quiet and the game inched forward. And then, in the final three overs before lunch, for no obvious reason, at least detectable from beyond the boundary, the runs began to flow. Seven from an over from Vaughan, including a back foot cover drive from Brown to the Somerset Stand boundary which caused silly point and silly cover to take evasive action as it passed. Another boundary, albeit a thick edge from Brown off Lewis Goldsworthy, bowling his slow left arm for the over before lunch, took Hampshire to the interval on 82 for 3 from 57 overs with Gubbins on 19 from 151 balls and Brown on 13 from 38.

“It’s going to be hard work,” and “The pitch has gone flat,” were the comments I heard from Somerset supporters as I circumnavigated the ground at lunchtime. That the Hampshire batters were applying themselves so intensely to unremitting defence was a stark contrast to the more carefree approach with the bat that had marked their first innings was also noted. I had reached the gap between the Lord Ian Botham Stand and the Hildreth Stand when the players returned. An over watching from there, another from the Garner Gates, another from near the Brian Rose Gates and another through the wire mesh beyond the Trescothick Pavilion realised two more runs.

Once back in my seat, it was another 19 overs before the ball crossed the rope again, those 19 overs realising 28 runs, including the four and three extras, as Gubbins and Brown ground remorselessly on. Even more telling was the fact that the frequent beating of the bat of the previous day and the first hour of this day was gone. Where the bowler did surprise the batter it was noticeable because of its increasing rarity. Brown suffered an inside edge to Vaughan and benefitted from a single. Four overs later, he advanced down the pitch and was well beaten. He was saved from a stumping when the ball clipped the pad and ran past the keeper for a leg bye. “Well bowled!” someone said. Leach also beat Brown, bringing applause. Brown gave the pitch an accusing look, although from the behaviour of virtually every other ball the pitch was probably innocent. In those 19 overs, that was about it in terms of threat. Well before they were over, Aldridge was firing down quick balls, many of them short, the batters mainly ducking under them, and with Hampshire on 97 for 3 from 74 overs I noticed the first two spectators at the top of the Trescothick Pavilion pick up their bags and leave.

By the 76^th over, with the new ball approaching, Goldsworthy and Tom Lammonby were bowling and another couple of spectators left. At the beginning of the 77^th over, Brown pushed Goldsworthy to cover for a single. That took Hampshire to 100 for 3 to ironic cheers from a small group of Somerset supporters at one end of the Trescothick Pavilion. Between overs, the fielders seemed to be changing ends in slow motion, although that impression may have been generated by the sense of drift that was beginning to develop. And then, an edge from Brown off Goldsworthy flew a few inches above the ground and virtually parallel to it. It flew wide of Overton at second slip and desperately low. Overton dived but failed to take the ball. It was impossible to tell from my seat if the ball had carried, but Overton stayed down and the message from the online watcher said, “Dropped. Difficult and very low. But Overton usually takes those.” And another three or four people picked up their bags and left.

With a blanket of smooth, grey cloud completely covering the sky the new ball was taken by Overton, Trescothick Pavilion End, and Leach, River End. After nearly two hours of almost entirely spin being quietly pushed back down the pitch, Overton bowled quickly. But after two ineffective overs on a pitch now effectively asleep, he was replaced by Vaughan, and more seemingly endless overs of spin beckoned. But, with his second ball, Vaughan pitched on middle and the ball turned towards the left-hander’s off stump. Gubbins, on the back foot, brought his bat down to defend but with perhaps a trace of extra bounce from the new ball it found the outside edge. It angled down off the bat towards Aldridge, one of five close fielders, fielding on his knees at silly point. The ball flew just to the right of Aldridge’s right knee, and with an instinctive reaction his right hand slid under the ball precisely where it would have touched ground. Aldridge leapt to his feet, sprinted towards the Hildreth Stand, throwing his helmet to the ground as he went and punching the air before he was engulfed by the rest of the team about two thirds of the way to the boundary. Hampshire 121 for 4 in the 86^th over. Gubbins 37 from 203 balls. “First time I’ve seen a catch by a player fielding on his knees that wouldn’t have been taken if he was standing,” said the message from the online watcher. “The replay is worth a look.” And it was.

Three overs later, after Brown had driven him through extra cover for four, Leach struck. He went past the inside edge of Brown’s bat, perhaps with the arm ball, and struck him on the pad. In quick succession Leach and the five fielders crowding the bat appealed, the umpire’s finger was raised and the crowd erupted into ear shattering cheers. Hampshire 129 for 5 after 89 overs. Brown 36 from 128 balls. Hampshire had lost the second batter of a partnership which had kept Somerset at bay for 40 overs. Five wickets remained, and the size of the task ahead for Somerset was emphasised when, with the fall of Brown, the players walked off for tea with the light gradually darkening under that blanket of cloud.

And then the traditional end of season winter-wells. ‘Winter well’ is the farewell wish until the start of the next cricket season still used by older cricket supporters who only meet during the season. I received and returned several as I walked around the ground during the tea interval. There was hope that the two pre-tea wickets might open a door for Somerset, but the pitch was now playing very easily, and the Hampshire batters had really knuckled down to the task of keeping Leach and Vaughan out. Twenty minutes is never long enough to circumnavigate a ground when you know so many of those present, especially on the final day of the season.

Washington Sundar had replaced Gubbins and he and Felix Organ, replacing Brown, left-handers both, appeared to be in little difficulty. Sundar was scoring with freedom, two perfectly driven fours sticking in the mind. By the time I reached my seat, he and Organ had added 34 in ten overs, with Organ on two from 26 balls, and Sundar, playing a very different game to his predecessors, 34 from 41. As I sat down, Overton began his first over since tea, to Sundar. The ball lifted and Sundar fended it into the on side. There was no doubting Overton’s commitment, but Sundar found the boundary three times in two overs, albeit once off an edge just wide of slip. Vaughan though had Sundar’s measure. Sundar came well forward to defend against a ball which went on with the arm, was defeated past the inside edge and bowled. “Yeah!” the shout from amidst the cheers. Hampshire 176 for 6 in the 105^th over. Sundar 46 from 56 balls. The applause which followed the wicket carried with it the fast, deliberate rhythm of encouragement.

No one was leaving the top of the Trescothick Pavilion now, and some of the earlier tension had returned. A glance at the Colin Atkinson Pavilion clock though revealed that the official final hour was all but upon us. Organ was joined by James Fuller and, with the departure of Sundar, the metronomic pad and bat down the pitch routine resumed. Five runs came in the next 13 overs, four of those from an apparently random extra cover drive to the Gimblett’s Hill scoreboard boundary from Fuller off Leach. There were but very occasional signs of hope for the bowlers, Leach once turning a ball past the edge of Fuller’s bat, but Aldridge being brought on to deliver a few quick deliveries brought the comment, “Last throw of the dice.” .

The tension still held though, perhaps driven by Somerset increasingly crowding the batters with close fielders. Five had been de riguer for most of the afternoon if the spinners were bowling, usually with two on their knees waiting for low catches. Now, into the final hour, the close field increased to six, then seven. And still the batters prodded and pushed, intent only on keeping the ball out. Eight overs after the previous boundary, Fuller again drove through the covers for four, this time to the Somerset Stand. In the seven intervening overs, not a single run had been scored, Aldridge had bowled two sharp overs, Vaughan and Leach had swapped ends but Organ and Fuller were still there.

Now, the close field increased to nine including a short mid-on, and Leach bowled to Organ. Organ stretched forward yet again, still fighting to keep the ball out. The ball turned, just enough, and flew off the edge low towards Josh Thomas, concussion replacement for Abell. Thomas was kneeling at third slip, squashed in between and just to the rear of second slip and silly point. So tightly packed were the six off side close fielders that Thomas had to peer over the heads of those between him and the bowler to see when the ball was about to be delivered. As the ball flew off the edge, he calmly reached forward and took the catch just above the grass. Another highlight worth watching. Organ looked stunned, he had been at the crease for over an hour and a half for four runs, his front foot and bat endlessly stretching down the wicket. Thomas meanwhile was being pursued towards the Hildreth Stand by his teammates who, when they caught up with him, chased him back towards the middle banging furiously on his helmet in congratulation as they went. He may remember the din which that would have created around his ears for as long as he remembers the catch. Hampshire 185 for 7 from 118 overs. Organ 4 from 82 balls. It was Leach’s first wicket of a long day, and his fiftieth of the season.

The ground was suddenly buzzing despite there being barely half an hour remaining with still three wickets to get on a now unforgiving pitch. The light had at least improved with some small patches of blue sky with no suggestion that it might fail. Kyle Abbott, a thorn in Somerset’s side with the bat more than once, came to the wicket with at best eight or nine overs remaining. And then, with Hampshire still 97 runs behind, Fuller, inexplicably from beyond the boundary, launched an attack. With still seven close fielders, he pushed Vaughan through straight midwicket and then drove him straight, both for four to the Trescothick Pavilion End. In Vaughan’s next over, he drove again. This time the ball flew off the inside edge and ran for four past the stumps to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary. Undeterred, he tried to glance Vaughan’s next ball and was bowled through his legs to more loud cheers. Hampshire 197 for 8 in the 122^nd over. Fuller, 20 from 55 balls, 12 of them from the last ten, walked slowly off and four, perhaps five overs remained.

Keith Barker joined Abbott, and any hint of them taking a second longer than the crowd thought they should about their business resulted in cries of, “Get on with it!” They did not hurry themselves but, in truth, there was nothing which might be labelled time wasting. Just more careful defence and a four from Abbott driven through mid-off to Gimblett’s Hill. There was an appeal for a close to the wicket catch against Barker off Leach and, with five balls to go, a leg before wicket appeal, again against Barker, again from Leach. It didn’t carry the sound of conviction though and the players shook hands three balls later with two wickets and one ball remaining. Archie Vaughan had achieved his career-best bowling figures, Hampshire had lived to fight another day in their battle against relegation, and the Championship had passed, even mathematically, out of Somerset’s reach for another year.

Result. Somerset 454 for 8 dec (K.L. Aldridge 180, T.B. Abell 118, C. Overton 50*). Hampshire 172 (M.J. Leach 7-69, A.M. Vaughan 3-79) and 201 for 8 (M.S. Washington Sundar 46, A.M. Vaughan 6-96). Match drawn. Somerset 16 points. Hampshire 10 points.