Championship 2025. Division 1. Essex v Somerset 24^th, 25^th, 26^th and 27^th September. Chelmsford.

Tom Abell was unavailable for selection under the ECB concussion regulations, Alfie Ogborne due to a back injury and J.T. Langridge due to a side injury. 

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

Essex. D. Elgar, P.I. Walter, T. Westley (c), C.W,J. Allison, M.J.J. Critchley, M.S. Pepper (w), N.R.M. Thain, S.R. Harmer, D.A.J. Bracewell, C.E. Bennett, J.A. Porter. 

Overnight. Somerset 339 for 6.

Second day – Overton shows fight as Essex dominate

Craig Overton began and ended the day striking at Essex. In between, Essex held sway, and despite the second intervention from Overton, threatened to dominate the match. There was some early joy for Somerset. Lewis Goldsworthy reached his second first-class century three years after his first. The first came in the long drawn-out battle with Lancashire at Southport in 2022. The Chelmsford century took him 191 balls. The Southport one, 207. At Southport, he was instrumental in holding the middle of the innings together, At Chelmsford, his was the innings around which the middle and lower order played. As to Essex, Dean Elgar and Paul Walter quickly put Somerset’s performance into perspective, grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, and went a long way towards finally securing Essex’s First Division place, if indeed it had ever been in serious doubt.

Unlike the first day, there was no road accident to delay my bus, and I was in my seat, like about eight hundred others, for the first ball of the day. It found Goldsworthy defending solidly against Jamie Porter, a role Goldsworthy would play for much of the remainder of the Somerset innings. There were a few flashes of aggression, a straight drive off Doug Bracewell to the Sir Alistair Cook End for four followed an over later by a neat, sharp flick of a cut which caused the ball to bounce short and wide of the slips and run to the boundary. But beyond that, while Overton was at the wicket, Goldsworthy barely faced a ball, and most of those he did he simply made safe.

Overton was in forceful mood, adding 29 to his overnight score from 27 balls with some brilliant stroke play which belied his position of number eight in the order. He had one bit of good fortune when an outside edge off the inevitable Porter, beat the dive of second slip and ran for four. His other four boundaries though were straight from the classical manual. An extra cover drive off Porter which took Somerset to 350 for 6 and a third batting point, a sharp, angled-bat flick drive past the slips off Bracewell, a back foot cover drive of pure quality off Porter and a perfectly controlled cut played with a smooth flow of the bat off Bracewell which ran along the edge of the square to the Pavilion. It was uplifting stuff for the few Somerset supporters in the ground. The remainder of Overton’s runs came in singles, one off Porter bringing up his fifty from 54 balls. He missed few opportunities to score, but when Simon Harmer took the ball, he was immediately all caution, defending the first four balls he received before being deceived in the flight and yorked by the fifth. Somerset 379 for 7. Overton 60 from 70 balls, 40 runs added to the overnight score in ten overs, some momentum for Somerset and a sense of a score of some substance.

Now, Jack Leach joined Goldsworthy and immediately the feel of the morning changed. It was another seven overs before the ball reached the boundary again and there were only three fours and one defiant six in the remaining 16 overs and two balls of the innings. The constraint on the scoring was, in part, imposed by the stationing of four fielders, sometimes more, on the boundary. There was one flurry of runs, eight in an over from Critchley including a boundary from a Goldsworthy sweep to the Felsted Stand. Otherwise, Somerset traded mainly in singles and their progress was less than convincing as the batters scratched around for runs. Somerset’s 400 was though finally reached, still seven down, but from a top-edged sweep from Leach off Harmer which fell just out of reach of the chasing fielder.

Once past 400, Somerset’s struggle to make headway continued. Leach did play a neatly angled bat to a ball from Bennett to send the ball wide of the two slips for four. But when he repeated the stroke four balls later, he was caught by Simon Fernandes, continuing from the first day his substitution for the injured Michael Pepper behind the stumps. Somerset 412 for 8. Leach 14. Lewis Gregory, perhaps batting at ten because he had come into the match with an injured hand, did not long persist. He did slog sweep that defiant six off Harmer over the Pavilion boundary, but top-edged his next ball from an identical stroke. The ball looped invitingly to Porter at short fine leg. Somerset 425 for 9. Gregory 9.

At the departure of Gregory, Goldsworthy’s long vigil had reached 93 and Jake Ball joined him for Somerset’s final wicket. When Bennett began the next over with Goldsworthy on strike there were six fielders on the boundary. A miscued drive fell between two of them and the batters ran two. The next ball, the last of the over, saw a tight one-saving field with Goldsworthy still needing five for his century. He lofted the ball over midwicket for four. Ball to face Harmer. Ball, as if it were the easiest thing in the world, immediately pushed through a gap and the batters ran one. Goldsworthy did not miss his opportunity. He turned the next ball to short fine leg, the single was run, Goldsworthy removed his helmet, mopped his brow and acknowledged the applause. But the Somerset innings had finally run out of steam. An over later, Bennett bowled, Goldsworthy clipped the ball high to deep square leg. Charlie Allison, right on the boundary, caught the ball, threw it up as he stepped over the rope and caught it again as he stepped back into the playing area. A method of taking catches on the boundary once deemed spectacular had become, by 2025, the norm. Somerset 433. Goldsworthy 100. Ball 1 not out.

The start of the Essex innings was as demonstrative as the end of the Somerset innings had been hesitant. Two overs remained before lunch. The lunch score was 8 for 0, a four driven through midwicket by Dean Elgar off Overton, bowling from the Sir Alistair Cook End, and another boundary, driven through the covers by Paul Walter off Ball. In the context of what had gone before, it felt like a statement being made. If so, it was repeated after lunch. The first ball, from Overton to Elgar, with four slips in attendance, was driven with the lightest of touches straight of mid-off. It looked little more than a defensive push but there was never any doubt that it would reach the Sir Alistair Cook End boundary. Overton’s second ball was driven down the same line, perhaps a little straighter. Two fours in two balls. By the end of the eighth over, Essex were 40 for 0 and the boundaries seemed to be flowing unrestricted, five having been added to the two before lunch. Again, two had come off successive Overton balls as the left-handed Walter turned him square along the creases to the Felsted Stand with a touch as light as Elgar’s, and then driven him firmly through the covers off the back foot. Gregory withdrew Overton from the attack, Overton having conceded an unlikely 22 runs in his four overs. “It’s all going well so far,” a satisfied Essex supporter had said as Elgar turned Ball through midwicket at the start of the eighth over.

Archie Vaughan replaced Overton and bowled successive maidens to Elgar. “Well done, Vaughner,” the shout from the field. But Elgar and Walker were now in full harness. Thirteen came from Vaughan’s next two overs, 12 of them in boundaries, Elgar very neatly opening the face and sending the ball through the empty gully position, Walter lofting a straight drive and Elgar driving through mid-on to the Sir Alistair Cook End scoreboard. That was enough for Gregory. Lammonby was called upon to replace Vaughan with his left arm medium pace, perhaps because there were two left-handers at the crease. Ball had suffered too, conceding 12 runs in his final two overs, twice being driven back to the Graham Gooch End by Walter, the second of those registering Essex’s fifty in the 12^th over.

Even at 52 for 0, Somerset’s 433 began to look inadequate so free flowing was the Essex batting and so apparently ineffective the Somerset bowling. The ball passed the bat just once in the first 12 overs of the innings and my note already said, “After the Lord Mayor’s Show,” of Somerset’s morning performance in the light of the tremendous four months Somerset had had before this match. It was only the beginning as Essex began to score at nearly five runs an over, Lammonby conceding 17 from three overs before being replaced by Jack Leach at the Sir Alistair Cook End. At the other end, Gregory brought some control, 15 runs from five overs. In his three overs though, Leach was struck for 18. Walter had driven him for six over long off followed, off the next ball, by a drive through mid-off for four. A single to Walter then took the score to 122 for 0 from 25 overs with only a play and miss and a leg before wicket appeal for the Somerset supporter to cling to in the preceding 13 overs.

And on it went, the ball continuing to fly in all directions. Some boundaries stood out. A particularly smooth guide through gully and an on drive to the Sir Alistair Cook End by Elgar off Vaughan, back for Leach, and a lofted straight drive from Walter, were enough to have Vaughan taken off after two overs and 13 more runs to Essex. There were balls neatly turned off the legs by Elgar to long leg off Gregory and fine leg off Lammonby. As the scoreboard raced around, Walter went to his fifty from 54 balls with the most understated of back foot drives off Gregory. And yet, while all this was going on, the small group of Essex supporters behind me were avidly discussing chess, including a simultaneous match with a chess master which one of them had been involved in. “He beat us all,” he admitted. It sounded to have been as much of a mismatch as the one in front of us seemed to be developing into.

Leach was tried again, Gregory shuffling his bowlers with the speed of a card sharp, together with a change of ball. It was as if the batters had barely noticed. Six came from the over, including a boundary from Walter, driven straight back to the Sir Alistair Cook End. Three overs seemed to be par for a bowling spell even when Overton only conceded ten runs from his three. Kasey Aldridge replaced him and kept it to 13 from three as tea approached. There was only one boundary off Aldridge, a straight drive from Elgar, but nine singles came, including five in succession in one over. The score seemed to shoot past 150 for 0 in the 33^rd over when Vaughan managed to totally bamboozle Elgar in a rare beating of the bat, the ball running for four byes. Now, Walter cruised to his century from exactly one hundred balls when he drove the penultimate ball before tea, from Vaughan, through cover for two. It had been an exceptional innings. A combination of free-flowing batting, lightness of touch, foot movement and some precision hitting in the arc between cover and straight midwicket. To look at him, he is a tall, well-built man, suggests an aptitude for the bludgeon rather than the rapier. This innings belied that impression. At the heart of it was touch and timing. An innings for the aficionado.

The score was 159 for 0 from 35 overs at tea, Essex 274 behind with Elgar on 110 balls to Walters’ now 101, still one run short of fifty. It was surprising, with the Essex batters rampant, to see a significant number of Essex supporters picking up their bags and leaving for the evening, especially as all the other matches which might, just conceivably, put some relegation pressure on Essex were moving against them. Old habits die hard I suppose. As I walked around the ground, one Somerset supporter said to me, “Looks like we got 430 on a pitch on which we should have got 550.” The online watcher took a similar view, “Essex could be on target for 600 and a pretty awkward Harmer day four for us.”

The Essex onslaught was unabated after tea. There were two sixes in an over from Vaughan, one each from Elgar and Walter, both straight back over his head. There were successive fours in an over from Aldridge, both from Elgar, although one came from a thick inside edge. In the space of two overs, Ball was clipped through mid-on, driven straight and pulled through midwicket, all for four by Walter who looked unstoppable. The flow of runs was incessant. Elgar took 14 in an over from Vaughan, ten from drives and four turned to fine leg. By then the score had reached 230 for 0 at the end of the 51^st over with the online watcher’s prophecy of 600 looming large. Still more followed as ten, a six from Walter over long on and four singles came from an over from Leach who had replaced Ball. There were some quieter overs, but they did no more than allow spectators to take breath as the apparently endless flow of runs looked to be overwhelming Somerset.

Only a typically sharp and probing seven-over spell from Overton in the final hour of the day with support from Gregory brought a semblance of order to proceedings and some cheer for Somerset supporters, but even then, there were some impressive landmarks for Essex. Overton forced an inside edge from Walter, but it ran for four and brought up Essex’s 250 still no wickets down and less than 200 behind. “That’s one bonus point,” said an Essex supporter still worrying about the possibility of relegation. Off the first ball of Gregory’s next over, Walter flicked the ball off his toes to square leg and reached 150 from 154 balls, sustaining the near run-a-ball progress he had made throughout his innings. Elgar caused a heart flutter when he cut Gregory through the air, just fine of backward point. The fielder dived but fell just short. “Hard luck,” the comment. Then, a drive for four off Overton through extra cover took Elgar to his century from 181 balls, a little over half the pace at which Walter had reached his, but the solidity with which he had batted provided the underpinning crucial to the freedom with which Walter had played. When the crowd sat down after a standing ovation the score was 264 for 0. Essex 169 behind and Somerset’s 433 now looking woefully inadequate. “Nottinghamshire have won the County Championship,” the matter-of-fact piece of information dropped in from behind.

A four driven straight to the Sir Alistair Cook End by Walter off Overton was immediately followed by a missed hook. A spectacular straight drive for four from Elgar off Gregory was followed by a loud leg before wicket appeal. “Far too high,” the Essex assessment. “Come on umpire,” the plea from one of the few Somerset supporters in the ground. But Overton and Gregory were beginning to threaten and finally, Walter misjudged. He clipped Overton off his toes, a stroke he had been playing all day, but failed to keep the ball down this time and Lewis Goldsworthy took a good, diving catch at midwicket. “Yes!” the cry of the Somerset supporter. “Oh no!” the lament of an Essex one. There was instant applause from people on their feet around the ground and Overton ran across to the departing Walter and shook him by the hand. Essex 277 for 1. Walter 158. Deficit 156.

Simon Harmer joined Elgar to undertake the nightwatch. He took three boundaries from Gregory, sending him twice through point and once to fine leg with a glance. At the other end, Overton, still sharp at the end of the day, continued to cause problems, bowling successive maidens and beating Elgar twice. After the unremitting Essex dominance of that ferocious first wicket partnership, it felt like a more even contest between bat and ball was opening up. In the final over of the day, Overton forced a thick edge from Elgar which brought Harmer on strike. Immediately, Overton went through his defence. The next ball, he angled in. Harmer, bat horizontal in the stance, tried to pull it behind his back as the ball lifted on him. Too late. The ball hit the glove or end of the bat handle, looped and fell quietly into the waiting hands of Aldridge at second slip. Essex 295 for 2. Harmer 12. Elgar 111 not out. Deficit 138. Essex were still in command of the match, but Overton, ending the day as he had begun it, fighting, had just hinted at a Somerset foot in the door.    

Close. Somerset 433 (L.P. Goldsworthy 100, J.F. Thomas 86, C. Overton 60, J.A. Porter 3-66, C.E. Bennett 3-73). Essex 295 for 2. Essex trail by 138 runs.