County Championship 2025. Division 1. Sussex v Somerset 11^th, 12^th, 13^th and 14^th April. Hove.

Sussex. D.P. Hughes, T.J. Haines, T.G.R. Clark, T.P. Alsop, J.M. Coles, J.A. Simpson (c) (w), F.J. Hudson-Prentice, D.J. Lamb, J.J. Carson, J.N.T. Seales, S.F. Hunt.

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, M. Pretorius, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Sussex 294. Somerset 62 for 5. Somerset trail by 232 runs with five first innings wickets standing.

Second day – “It looks so easy for them”

After tea, I sat in the second row of the Sharks Stand at the Sea End talking with someone from London who I occasionally share a few hours with at cricket matches when he visits Taunton or when we find one another at an away match. As we talked about family, old workdays, holidays, and about cricket too, the impression of the cricket going on in front of us was of balls being struck unerringly to the boundary, bowlers running and bowling to no effect and the Sussex score rising unchecked. I lost count of the number of times the ball was struck from the Sea End along the ground through the covers towards the Pavilion, sometimes for one, sometimes for two, and frequently it seemed, for four. There were two left-handers batting and our seats gave us a perfect view of their off side strokes.

The strokes though were far from restricted to the off side. At one point, soon after tea, with Jack Leach bowling from the Sea End, Tom Haines lofted the ball over mid-on straight of Kasey Aldridge fielding at long on. Aldridge had no chance of reaching the ball which bounced and went through the gap between the Sharks Stand and the South Stand. While Aldridge disappeared between the two stands in search of the ball, the umpire stood looking towards him seeking an indication as to which side of the rope the ball had bounced. Sussex supporters in that end of the Sharks Stand were in no doubt, raising their arms in a ‘six’ signal. The umpire waited for the return of Aldridge. Eventually the ball flew back to the middle after Aldridge had picked his way through the detritus which resides between stands, blissfully oblivious to the enquiry being made of him. The Sussex supporters raised their arms further and shouted louder. Eventually Aldridge noticed the umpire’s desperate glances and raised his hands quickly to halfway as if it hadn’t occurred to him that there was any doubt about the six. At least the incident raised a cheer for him from the surrounding Sussex supporters, there having been little for Somerset supporters to cheer since to start of the Sussex second innings.

Somerset had begun the day five wickets down and over 200 runs behind in front of a crowd noticeably smaller than the first-day multitude. Within half an hour, they were seven wickets down, still over 200 behind and I, still suffering from my first-day cold, had just arrived at the ground. Another Somerset supporter, who lives away from Somerset, and who I see from time to time at matches, described the fall of the two wickets for me as we too sat at the bottom of the Sharks Stand. It is never enough for a cricket supporter to know someone was out. There are always the same questions. How was he out? Who took the wicket? How many did he make? Tom Lammonby had been caught behind off a defensive inside edge, John Simpson diving down the leg side, for 24. Oh yes, and the bowler was Sean Hunt. Somerset 69 for 6. Deficit 225. Lammonby had batted four minutes over an hour and a quarter. Kasey Aldridge had soon followed, also caught off a defensive stroke by Simpson, Sean Hunt again the bowler. Somerset 79 for 7. Aldridge 4. It was the 24^th over of the innings, only the fifth of the second day, and Somerset, with three days remaining, were 215 behind with only three first innings wickets standing.

James Rew, not out, if scoreless, overnight had survived thus far, taking one four from Hunt off a thick outside edge and driven another with an open face some way backward of point. After Aldridge, Rew was joined by Lewis Gregory. While I was still making my way to the ground, Rew and Gregory had not held back and continued to counterattack in true Somerset fashion, Rew taking the early lead. Now, as I watched, three boundaries came off Jeydon Seales, although one of them was from an edge which flew high and wide of the slips. Gregory had a narrow escape too when he bottom-edged a cut off Fynn Hudson-Prentice which flew uncomfortably close to the stumps and ran to fine leg where three fielders, flicking the ball back one after the other, restricted Gregory to two.

Sussex were applying pressure, but Rew was remorseless. An on drive off the medium pace of Danny Lamb reached the Sharks Stand boundary. The four which took Rew to his fifty was something of a thick edge off Seales, but his fifty had come from 60 balls. It was the first fifty of the match, and it took Somerset to 150 for 7, 144 behind. In response, Sussex turned to Jack Carson’s off breaks from the Sea End. Rew continued. In Carson’s first two overs, he twice reverse swept him to the fine leg boundary at the Cromwell Road End. Both times, the ball was kept down. The reverse sweep at the hands of a class batter like Rew has become an orthodox and effective stroke. Seales fared no better than Carson. Twice in two balls Rew pulled him through midwicket, once either side of the scoreboard. The second was followed by Rew pulling away from a Seales bouncer which took the edge and flew between the keeper and first slip for four. It didn’t stop the many Somerset supporters still at the ground from cheering, for the boundary registered the century partnership between Rew and Gregory. It had been a spirited fightback.

Gregory’s part in the partnership was more subdued. In his 20 overs at the crease, he only found the boundary four times, but there were 36 runs off his bat in total as he supported Rew. His strokes were, for the most part, considered and carefully placed. Of his four boundaries, one back foot cover drive off Seales flew off the bat to the boundary opposite the Pavilion. But just as Somerset supporters must have been beginning to dream of a miraculous recovery, Gregory sent shudders through the thought with an edge for four through the slips off Hunt. Too close for comfort. The next ball, he chipped towards Seales at mid-on. As the ground held its breath, the fast bowler dived full length towards the approaching ball and caught it just above the ground. It was a difficult catch made to look easy. It brought groans from Somerset supporters and huge cheers from Sussex ones. On the cusp of Somerset reducing the Sussex lead to manageable levels they had lost a crucial wicket. It felt like a key moment. The Sussex supporter who shouted, “Yes!” among the cheers thought so too. Somerset 189 for 8. Deficit 105.

In the, for a Somerset supporter, anticlimax that followed, there were a few singles and a late cut for four from Pretorius, but one of his rumbustious assaults on the bowling was not forthcoming. Somerset reached 201 for 8, but then he and Leach were out off successive balls from Hunt who had looked the bowler of the innings with Hudson-Prentice not far behind. Both had bowled with sharp enthusiasm and constantly troubled the batters. For Somerset, only Rew and Gregory had produced the sort of 2025 performance their supporters had hoped for after they had briefly seen a ghost of a chance of winning the Championship in 2024 after the defeat of Surrey at Taunton at the beginning of September. For the record, Pretorius drove at Hunt and was caught behind while Leach attempted to defend and suffered the same fate. Sussex supporters were exultant in their cheers for the two wickets and in the applause for their team as they walked off to lunch with a lead of 93, five wickets for Hunt, four for Hudson-Prentice and five catches for Simpson.

A Somerset supporter in the Shark’s Stand said to me hopefully, “We are still in this. It’s better than 93 for 7.” As I conducted my lunchtime circumnavigation, I asked five Somerset supporters what they thought of Somerset’s chances of winning. The answers ranged from 8% to 20%. “But,” one added, “We need to win the afternoon session.” The high, white cloud was beginning to thicken as I walked, but it was still thin enough for the sun to cast shadows and the sun retained some of its warmth from the first day. In the middle, as I stopped to watch from behind the Hove deckchairs at the Cromwell Road End, Josh Davey, Sea End, and Lewis Gregory, Cromwell Road End, opened the bowling for Somerset. For Sussex, Tom Haines and Daniel Hughes opened the batting.

It quickly became apparent that Somerset would struggle to win the afternoon session. There were a few beaten bats in the early overs but, from the start, Sussex defended solidly and attacked selectively. Hughes brought a shout of, “Shot!” with a straight drive for four off Gregory, and in Gregory’s next over, Haines brought a repeat of the shout with a spectacular drive through extra cover. The stroke took Sussex to 43 for 0 by the end of the tenth over and Sussex’s lead was already 136. The fifty partnership was registered from 71 balls in Gregory’s next over when Hughes drove him wide of mid-off for another four. The lead reached 150 when Hughes played the smoothest of straight drives to the Sea End off Pretorius who had early replaced Davey. An over later, Haines pulled and cut Davey, who had come back at the Cromwell Road End to replace Gregory, the cut rocketing over a jumping backward point fielder. Both strokes reached the boundary. My note says, “Sussex sailing along – no real sign of a wicket”, and thoughts of Somerset winning the session were fast disappearing on the breeze.

Things did not improve for Somerset from there. Successive fours came from Hughes in Davey’s s next over. Although the introduction of Archie Vaughan at the Sea End brought some relief, he conceded only nine runs from five overs. At the Cromwell Road End, where Kasey Aldridge replaced Davey, the runs continued to flow. Aldridge conceded five boundaries in four overs, the century partnership coming when Hughes drove him through extra cover for four. Three balls later, as the Sussex lead grew, Hughes passed fifty from 73 balls with another four, his tenth, this time driven through cover. In Aldridge’s next over, it was Haines who drove him through extra cover to the boundary to take the Sussex lead past 200, before a single registered his fifty from 86 balls. And then another drive, this time wide of mid-off, ran to the boundary beneath the players dressing rooms. It was an unrelenting watch from a Somerset perspective.

Sussex were scoring at four runs an over, at the upper end of the range of normal batting in the early 21st century County Championship. But the nature of the batting, regularly taken singles and spectacularly driven boundaries, perhaps aided by the state of the game with Sussex so far ahead of Somerset, gave the impression of an avalanche of runs. The Sussex crowd were, in the circumstances, relatively quiet. There was chatter here and there, but the impression was of satisfaction with rather than excitement at proceedings. Somerset, despite the onslaught, had continued to bowl full and to attack, although they had reduced the number of slips from three to two as the afternoon wore on.

As tea approached, Tom Lammonby tried to encourage the bowlers with, “Come on boys!” and when Gregory returned at the Cromwell Road End just before tea, a Somerset supporter shouted, “Come on Lewis!” and the bowlers did suddenly trouble the batters in the minutes up to tea. Leach, Sea End, comprehensively beat Hughes. “Oh, oh, oh, oh,” the anguished cry of a Sussex supporter. Vaughan found the edge of Haines’ bat, but the ball ran wide of the slips for two. Then, off the final ball before tea, Leach let forth a leg before wicket appeal against Hughes, but the ball ran for a leg bye, and the players left the field. Sussex were 140 for 0, a lead of 233 and there was no doubt as to who had won the afternoon session.

Nor the evening session. By the time I had walked on the outfield, there appears to be a system at Hove whereby players use the outfield at lunchtime and spectators have access to it at tea, and then meandered and talked my way around the ground, ten overs had been bowled and 35 more runs scored. There had been no real sign of a wicket and Sussex were 268 runs ahead. Short of a miracle, Somerset were fighting to save the game. There was a brief glimmer of hope for Somerset shortly after I regained my seat in the Sharks Stand. Hughes, having just turned Leach to the deep square leg boundary, tried to cut his next ball and edged to Rew. “Well done!” shouted a relieved Somerset supporter, and then added, “Well batted.” The Sussex applause meanwhile reflected the overwhelming advantage Hughes and Haines had given them. Sussex 184 for 1. Hughes 91. Lead 277. A glimmer of hope for Somerset, but a glimmer that barely flickered before it died.

Tom Clark, another left hander, joined Haines, and the Sussex run-making operation re-established itself, systematically assembling a mountain of runs. Leach, Cromwell Road End, and Vaughan bowled for much of the afternoon. There was a brief flurry of boundaries at one point. Haines cleared the long on boundary in front of the Sharks Stand off Vaughan to add to the one that Aldridge had had to confirm off Leach. In successive balls, Clark swept Vaughan behind square for four and also cleared the boundary in front of the Shark Stand. When Haines lofted Leach straight to the Cromwell Road End for four he reached his century from 182 balls and Sussex had reached 225 for 1, a lead of 318, 21 of the 225 coming from the previous 14 balls and the Sussex crowd were now buzzing with cheers and applause.

And then, with the close approaching, Sussex reverted to the calm, methodical approach with which they had begun the afternoon and played through most of it, the pace of the first two innings of the match, played at around four runs an over, helping to create the time for their measured approach. “It looks so easy for them. So patient,” the comment of a Somerset supporter. And they did look at ease and in complete control. The final seven overs produced 21 runs, three an over, the same rate at which the afternoon had been played before that short flurry of boundaries. The reality was that Somerset had been completely outplayed and, with two full days remaining, could now only look at trying to stave of a heavy defeat. It was a far cry from the pre-season hopes of their supporters.

Close. Sussex 294 and 246 for 1. Somerset 201 (J.E.K. Rew 80*, S.F. Hunt 5-48, F.J. Hudson-Prentice 4-31). Sussex lead by 339 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.