County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Sussex. 16^th, 17^th, 18^th and 19^th May. Taunton.

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

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, J.J. Carson, N.J. McAndrew, O.E. Robinson, J.P.H. Hayes. .

Toss. Sussex. Elected to field.

First day – Somerset edge the day – just

This was a day of Somerset batting that looked different from any before it in 2025. Different in more ways than one. Different because the innings was opened by Lewis Gregory and Josh Davey, normally part of Somerset’s front line bowling attack and middle to lower order batting. They were opening here because Somerset’s previous opening partnerships of 2025 had failed to thrive, and perhaps because Gregory was unfit to bowl. Davey had repeatedly shown skill with the bat, often batting soundly into the twenties or thirties from number nine or ten. The top order had been inconsistent too, and James Rew, who had repeatedly excelled with the bat, becoming the youngest batter since Denis Compton in 1939 to reach ten first-class centuries, was moved up from number six to number four. The batting looked different too because of the sense of purpose and control demonstrated by every batter who came to the crease.

The pitch for the match was set well over towards the Somerset Stand like many of the high-scoring pitches of a decade and a half before, and looked very like the pitch for the Essex match, although not quite as green. From my seat at the top of the Trescothick Pavilion, it appeared to provide some help to both seamers and spinners throughout the day. Sussex brought with them a strong pace attack which included the cutting edge of England’s Ollie Robinson. They also included two spinners in their side. That Sussex elected to field on winning the toss may have been to do with more than the green top. Taunton, with its history of pitches easing as a match progresses especially on the third and fourth days, can mean undertaking a run chase when the pitch is at its most batter friendly. The Essex match, in which, after being 78 for 5 just before tea on the third day, Somerset had scored another 247 runs for the loss of only two more wickets to win just before lunch on the final day was a case in point.

The day began, once again in the glorious early summer of 2025, in bright sunshine without a cloud in the sky. There was still, as so often, a chill wind blowing through the elevated section of the Trescothick Pavilion, but in the stands which attract the morning sun, the temperature was comfortably warm. Before the start, with the news that Andy Umeed had been dropped, there was an assumption among Somerset supporters I spoke to that Tom Lammonby would open with Archie Vaughan. When the actual batting order was revealed, the relaxed chatter among the fifteen hundred or so people in the ground was interrupted by a noticeable ripple of surprise.  

With Robinson, Trescothick Pavilion End, and the Australian, Nathan McAndrew, opening the bowling, Gregory began as he tends to begin an innings, by attacking the ball. Three times in the first half dozen overs he sent it to the boundary, all off McAndrew. A classic Gregory drive through wide mid-on to the Somerset Stand was followed by a glance to Gimblett’s Hill and a leaned-into clip off his toes to an almost yorker length ball, square to the Somerset Stand. He looked in prime form but, two balls later, a ball from McAndrew cut in off the seam, hurried his defensive stroke, took the outside edge, and flew knee-high to Tom Clark at the second slip of three, just reduced from four. Somerset 21 for 1. Gregory 15 in 22 balls. As Gregory walked off, I stood to let a latecomer to his seat. His comment as he passed, said with a note of mock disapproval, “Bad start. I get here and he’s out.” On the field the fourth slip reappeared and Sussex immediately tightened their grip.

In the next seven overs, seven runs were scored off the bat. Both batters were beaten more than once, Lammonby playing and missing and being beaten three times in four balls, and Davey almost playing on trying to defend. “He’s a bit quick, isn’t he?” the rhetorical question asked of a neighbour by one Somerset supporter in relation to Robinson. It was a torrid few overs for the Somerset batters. Against Clark, Lammonby tried to break the bowler’s hold with a glance off middle stump fine to the Trescothick Pavilion and the most understated of straight drives back past the non-striker’s stumps, both for four. The ball though was still passing the bat and the shackles were barely loosened. It was not until the 20^th over that Somerset reached fifty with Davey’s second boundary, a four lofted over mid-on to the covers store off the first over of off spin from Jack Carson. “Oh, nice,” the comment on the stroke. It took Davey to 12, but it had taken him 49 balls.

Once Somerset were past fifty, the batting became more assertive. A late cut for two off Robinson from Lammonby towards Gimblett’s Hill brought the comment, “Well run.” A reverse sweep for four through backward point to the Somerset Stand from Davey off Carson, brought, “Nice shot!” A beautifully flowing hook from Lammonby off Robinson, bowling from the River End, flew through midwicket to the Colin Atkinson boundary. The fifty partnership was reached, also off Robinson, to more than the usual polite applause, from 109 balls with a very neat steer from Lammonby wide of the slips to Gimblett’s Hill. When, Davey leaned into an on drive, also off Robinson, it ran through midwicket to the Somerset Stand for another four and took Somerset to 77 for 1.

Somerset hopes of a solid first innings were rising, but the Sussex bowlers were still beating the bat. When Lammonby missed a hook off Robinson, a worried Somerset voice commented, “He missed a couple of wild ones a few overs ago too.” Lammonby was beaten by Carson’s spin too, once almost being stumped. “Very close,” the comment. Finally, a Robinson delivery lifted on Davey. Davey jerked the bat up to defend, the ball went through to John Simpson behind the stumps, Sussex appealed and the umpire raised his finger. Davey’s instant reaction was of genuine surprise, but after looking at the umpire, he walked straight off. There was a distinct deflection, although a replay suggests the ball may have come off the hip or even Simpson’s glove. But, it is the umpire’s view that matters, the decision has to be made on the spot, and Somerset were 79 for 2. Davey 28.

The wicket did not halt the flow of Somerset runs. Lammonby and James Rew added another 20 in the four overs remaining to lunch, Rew finishing the session with boundaries off James Hayes, playing in only his second Championship match. The first was fortuitous, reminding that the threat from Sussex still remained, and flew over gully from the edge of a defensive prod. The second was played along the ground through point with little more than another defensive prod. It took Somerset to lunch on 99 for 2 at the end of the 30^th over, the last 49 of those runs coming in a ball under 12 overs.

As I undertook my customary circumnavigation of the ground at lunch, the only real topic of conversation was the change to the Somerset batting order. Most thought Davey deserved his chance and had looked unlucky to be out just as he was developing his innings. Gregory opening had come as a surprise, but several supporters commented that he generally plays straight. Rew some thought should open, but there is always a concern about the impact on concentration of opening the batting and keeping, especially opening after a long innings behind the stumps.

By lunch, the crowd had probably topped two thousand and several hundred of those were on the outfield by the time I reached the gate between the Hildreth and Somerset Stands to join them. One man I spoke to had begun the day in the Hildreth Stand but found the sun too hot and had moved to the shade of the Trescothick Pavilion. In truth, the sun was uncommonly warm for late spring just as it had been for most of the season.

As the afternoon got underway, the threat from the Sussex bowlers seemed to fade. Beaten bats and edges became a rarity and Rew in particular looked dominant. He began by turning McAndrew behind square for a single to register Somerset’s century to the traditional ripple of applause which accompanies every fifty runs a side passes. I have long seen this as an echo from the bygone age of cricket’s early days when scores were far lower than they are in the twenty-first century. In those days, when a side reached fifty or a hundred it was an achievement worthy of the sort of applause afforded an individual centurion in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Whether there is anything in that thought I know not, but it is curious that latter day applause invariably follows whether a side reaches 50 for 0 or 50 for 5.

Lammonby was the first to find the boundary with the deftest of glances to the Hildreth Stand off Fynn Hudson-Prentice’s fast medium bowling. It was Lammonby at his best. A lot of time to play, bat perfectly poised as the ball approached, waiting for it to arrive, then ghosting it on its way with the lightest of touches. It was Rew though who put the boundary most under threat. The next five fours came from him, all struck with an imperious certainty and power. An open-faced drive off McAndrew wide of the slips, a clip off the toes off Hudson-Prentice, “Oh shot!” someone drooled. A ball later, a fierce pull in front of midwicket to the Somerset Stand. “Oh, whaow!” the involuntary response among growing cheers. A cover drive off McAndrew which rattled past the new stairs leading up to the Caddick Pavilion balcony brought the more ubiquitous, “Shot!” A glance to the Hildreth Stand off McAndrew, “Hooray!” And then, with the crowd bubbling at the prospect of more, an attempted forward defensive push to Carson, an edge to slip and Rew was gone. “Oh well,” the shrug-of-the-shoulders comment. Somerset 149 for 3. Rew 40 from 47 glorious balls in a minute under an hour. It was one of those innings, as the saying goes, which, despite its shortness, was worth the entrance money on its own.

In the 16 overs since Rew came to the wicket, Lammonby had found the boundary just that once. He had though defended solidly from the start and had reached 43 from 107 balls. There had been some sublimely controlled strokes to rotate the strike while Rew was in full flow, not least a paddle sweep with the deftest of touches fine towards the Trescothick Pavilion for three off Carson. It brought the sort of applause usually reserved for the more emphatic of boundaries. Now, Lammonby was joined by Tom Abell who took a while to find his timing, but together they were soon taking Somerset forward with some solid, controlled play.

A neat turn to fine leg and a clip off his toes, both well placed for two, from Lammonby off Carson summed up the latter part of his innings, as did the carefully placed and struck cover drive for one off Carson with which he reached his fifty from 120 balls. Abell gave a glimpse of his more pugnacious style with a straight drive off McAndrew drilled back past Lammonby to the Trescothick Pavilion boundary. For the most part though, he matched the control in Lammonby’s play. Then, as with the dismissal of Rew, Lammonby was dismissed just as Somerset were threatening to dominate. Carson, persevering from the River End, finally got the better of him. An attempted glance took the back of the bat and bounced short of first slip, but the next ball took the edge of an attempted steer and was caught by Simpson. Somerset 176 for 4. Lammonby 60 in four minutes over three hours and an appreciative round of applause.

And then, a further blow to Somerset’s progress. They had added only another nine runs when Tom Banton was given out caught at slip by Tom Alsop as he attempted an uppercut to a chest-high ball from Hudson-Prentice. Banton, oblivious to the decision began to prepare for the next ball. When his eyes fell on the umpire’s raised finger, his hands instantly turned to the heavens and his face looked askance back down the pitch. Somerset 185 for 5. Banton 6. The difference between 176 for 3 and 185 for 5 was the difference between Somerset supporters having expectations of a commanding total to come and anxiety that the eventual total might come up short on the Taunton pitch. Abell was joined by Vaughan and together they took Somerset to the interval on 193 for 5, the intensity of Abell’s innings being reflected in the 66 balls he had taken to score his 16 runs.

After tea, Somerset’s response to the Sussex pressure was emphatic as Vaughan played an innings of rare quality. Sussex began with James Hayes’ fast medium pace, Trescothick Pavilion End, and James Coles’ slow left arm spin, River End. It was an expensive start for Sussex, the first ten overs costing 52 runs, not helped by four leg side byes from Hayes and four more when the ball cleared the keeper. Vaughan drove the pace of Somerset’s innings as he stroked Hayes all around the wicket, the off side especially suffering. The strokes came in a steady flow. Among them, a four cut square, a back foot four driven through the covers, successive twos, the second pulled in front of square, and another four from a sumptuous late cut past the slips to the Hildreth Stand. It was glorious to watch and the applause reflected it. This was the sort of innings which Vaughan had threatened in his, mainly truncated, opening innings earlier in the season. Batting at seven, in this innings at least, he was blossoming.

Abell meanwhile worked his own magic. He turned Coles through midwicket to the Somerset boundary and late cut him past the slips to the covers store. “Shot! Lovely shot, Tom,” the comment. When Vaughan swept Coles fine to Gimblett’s Hill for four more, “We’ll have that one as well,” the satisfied call. And then, as so often after a flurry of strokes, a quiet period. And then, the new ball. It was taken mid-over by Robinson after Vaughan had pulled him fine to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary to take Somerset to 269 for 5. It was a stroke reminiscent, albeit right-handed, of Lammonby’s oft-played ephemeral pull behind square. Robinson though was persistent, and never far away. The first ball of his second over, bowled wide of off stump, cut in and defeated the hurried defensive jab of Abell who edged the ball chest high straight to Clark at second slip. Somerset 270 for 6. Abell 42 in eight minutes under two and a half hours. “That was a shame. That was a really good partnership,” the disappointed comment.

Vaughan was undaunted by the loss of Abell, and batted with an authority he had not shown when opening the innings. He went to his fifty from 79 balls, leaning into a clip of his legs, the ball coming off the bat as if it had been ejected by a spring before racing through midwicket to the Somerset Stand. Two balls later, he swung the bat into place for a late cut past the three slips. He had been joined by Craig Overton and together they took Somerset to the close, although not without one or two alarums. There was a thick defensive edge for four off Robinson from Overton which ran wide of the slips for four, although the overall impression left by Overton was of controlled, selective, forceful stroke play, if not always piercing the field. From Vaughan, there was an inside edge from a drive which flew between the stumps and the keeper and a thick edge wide of the slips to the Trescothick Pavilion boundary. Both came off the quietly persistent Hudson-Prentice, and one or two beaten bats too. But, as a day of good toe-to-toe cricket drew to a close, it seemed no more than part of the rough and tumble of a day of top-flight Championship cricket which Somerset had perhaps edged – just.

And as play drew towards its close, if you looked up instead of down, the seagulls began their normal evening gathering. As always, with about half an hour or so to go, they began flying in from over the river, over the Hildreth Stand, to circle above the ground, perhaps hoping to scavenge any detritus from spectators’ lunches before Club staff spirited it away. Or perhaps, like people from across Somerset and in the wider diaspora of Somerset supporters, at the end of the day, they just wanted to know the score.

Close. Somerset 317 for 6.