County Championship 2026. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. April 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th. Taunton.

Somerset captain Lewis Gregory was not available for selection due to a chest injury. Craig Overton replaced him as captain.

Somerset. J.F. Thomas, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton (c), M.J. Leach, M. Pretorius, A.R.J. Ogborne, J.T. Ball.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, K. Verreynne (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, R. Lord, O.P Stone, D.Y. Pennington.

Overnight. Somerset 347 and 214 for 1. Nottinghamshire 338. Somerset lead by 223 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.

Final day – More auspicious than disappointing

Somerset 214 for 1 overnight told its own story. Some intensely disciplined batting on the third afternoon from Tom Kohler-Cadmore and James Rew. But, in addition, the old story of the Taunton pitch flattening on the third day had had another chapter added. The talk, as I made my way as far around the ground as the works behind the Somerset Stand would allow for my pre-start of play walk, was of a draw. A certainty in most people’s minds with the expectation that the pitch would flatten even further. The only uncertainty was when a declaration might come. Late enough not to give Nottinghamshire a ‘sniff’ the general conclusion. With eight points for a draw, the risk of relegation for any team that fell behind the others and the natural conservatism of those charged with making decisions and carrying the responsibility for them, there seemed little prospect of anything else.

Kohler-Cadmore gained plaudits for his disciplined batting of the previous day given his propensity since arriving at Somerset to use attack as his main weapon. Disciplined performances from James Rew on the other hand, and regular centuries, had by the start of the 2026 season become part of the Somerset furniture. There was credit too for the bowlers. They had dismissed Nottinghamshire for nine runs less than Somerset had managed in conditions somewhat less bowler-friendly than the Nottinghamshire bowlers had available to them. Alfie Ogborne gained special mention for his pace and his three wickets.

The weather was bright, warm and sunny, although in the shade of the lower level of the Trescothick Pavilion the wind carried enough of a chill for light coats to be worn in the morning and anoraks in the afternoon. By my eye, the crowd numbered perhaps eight hundred at the start, rising to a thousand or so as the morning wore on. It contained a fair smattering of school-age children with their parents in attendance and a refreshing number of people a generation below the usually predominantly retired County Championship crowd. It had a refreshing, or perhaps refreshed, look about it.

Play began with Kohler-Cadmore, 94 not out overnight, patiently awaiting opportunities to move towards a century. While on 99 he played out a studious maiden against Liam Patterson-White’s slow left arm spin. Patterson-White had opened the bowling at the River End but had showed little sign of threat. Then, after a single from Rew, Kohler-Cadmore ended the suspense with a pull through midwicket off Dillon Pennington to go to his century from 168 balls. And then, back to careful accumulation from both batters until another pull from Kohler-Cadmore off Patterson-White resulted in the ball steepling. It seemed to hang in the air before coming down a pitch width to the off of the non-striker’s stumps where Patterson-White waited patiently to take the catch. Somerset 231 for 2. Kohler-Cadmore 104. Lead 240.

Tom Lammonby joined Rew and immediately looked uncomfortable. He played and missed at his first ball, from Patterson-White, was beaten by his second, from Pennington, and suffered an admittedly unconvincing leg before wicket appeal to his fifth. It was a while before he settled and along the way he lost Rew, leg before wicket as he tried to turn the ball into the leg side. Somerset 242 for 2. Rew 122. Lead 251. And then, the partnership which moved Somerset towards a declaration. Tom Abell and Lammonby added 80 runs in 14 overs, nearly six runs an over. After the applause for Rew had died down, Abell glanced his first ball, from Patterson-White, to the Trescothick Pavilion boundary and lofted his fifth over mid-off to the Hildreth Stand for another four. “Played Tom,” someone said.

“Shot!” when Lammonby reverse swept Patterson-White to the Brian Rose Gates boundary. A late cut for two off Ollie Stone added to the sense of Somerset momentum. It wasn’t all risk free as the Nottinghamshire bowlers held their discipline as Somerset’s had done. A pugnacious drive from Lammonby against Stone resulted in four runs but they came off the edge which flew past the only slip to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary. A six over straight midwicket from Abell which crashed into the Somerset Stand boundary boards with a crack which could be heard around the ground left no doubt about Somerset’s intent as the crowd roared their encouragement. A fizzing straight drive from Abell off the persevering Patterson-White crossed the Trescothick Pavilion boundary and brought another cry of, “Shot!” Then, no sooner had Somerset’s lead reached 300 than Lammonby swept Patterson-White to deep midwicket for an easily run single to bring up his fifty from 64 balls. As the 300 for the innings came up, “Well done boys,” was the shout before Abell continued to give the innings a push with a shout of, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah” as he and Lammonby scuttled through for another sharp single.

By now, Nottinghamshire had six fielders on the boundary as they fought to stem the flow of Somerset runs. A slog sweep from Lammonby off Patterson-White went in front of square to the Colin Atkinson Pavilion scoreboard. “Shot Tom!” The next ball he drove through the covers beating the cover fielder, now one of only two fielders not on the boundary. Then a single from Lammonby and a very quickly run two from Abell, “Well run boys!” Eleven from the over. Seven from the next bowled from the Trescothick Pavilion End by Olly Stone, three in singles played to the deep field. There was a buzz around the ground now broken only by the cheers and applause and by the continuous chatter of children. And then, with seven on the boundary and Somerset’s batters in full flow, the inevitable. Abell was caught off Patterson-White in front of the Hildreth Stand while trying to clear it. Somerset 322 for 4. Abell, after a careful start, 42 from 38 balls with only18 of those coming in boundaries. Lead 331.

From there, in the six overs remaining to lunch, Somerset added a further 48 runs, with 13 coming off each of two successive overs, one from Patterson-White, still coming in from the River End through all the growing mayhem, the other from Lyndon James. Most of the runs came from Lammonby’s bat as he followed Abell in attacking virtually every ball. Somerset were 370 for 4 with Lammonby 69 not out from 79 balls. He was out a ball later to another catch on the boundary, this time by Ben Slater, at long leg. Patterson-White again the bowler. And with that, the players went off for lunch with Somerset leading by 379 with a minimum of 67 overs remaining in the day, five Somerset wickets standing and speculation that Somerset would declare at lunch.

Somerset did not declare. But, as I continued my lunchtime walk beyond the restart, they added 37 runs in a ball under four overs, safety first in a two-division Championship the watchword of most captains, and the now benign pitch was not of a mind to encourage an early declaration. As I walked and the runs stacked up, two strokes took the eye, both off James. Lewis Goldsworthy, who had replaced Rew, pulled him into the Priory Bridge Road car park and Overton, replacing Lammonby, drove him back over his head and into the third row of seating in the bottom of the Trescothick Pavilion. Somerset’s final score 407 for 5 declared. Nottinghamshire would need 417 to win from a minimum of 60 overs, 6.95 an over, a tall order even on a flat pitch.

Somerset began with Overton running in hard, and exuding effort, from the River End. In his first over, Ben Slater edged him, but the ball failed to carry to second slip. The fourth ball went past the bat and in the second over Ogborne beat Hasseeb Hameed three times. In Overton’s next over, an inside edge from Hameed went for four and Ogborne beat Slater twice in succession in his second over. By the end of it, Somerset supporters were on the edge of their seats, but the Nottinghamshire openers were still at the crease. And then, the middle of the bat began to find the ball with increasing regularity and the Nottinghamshire score began to rise, although not at a sufficient rate to keep the required run rate from rising.

By the end of the tenth over of the innings, the score had reached 43 for 0, Leach had replaced Overton at the River End, Slater had pulled Ogborne to the Somerset Stand boundary three times in two overs and glanced him to the gap between the Botham and Hildreth Stands. The ground fell quiet as the bowlers ran in. Somerset minds were beginning to wonder if Nottinghamshire might just get close enough to make some sort of attempt on the distant target. When Migael Pretorius replaced Ogborne, more silence. Slater pulled his first ball through midwicket to the Somerset Stand for four. When he drove Pretorius through the covers to the Ondaatje Stand for four in his next over, a Nottinghamshire supporter said, “Shot boy!” Although he beat Slater too, the batters seemed fireproof.

By the twentieth over, Slater had driven Leach straight to the River End sight screen for six, pulled Pretorius for four to the Priory Bridge Road boundary, gone to his fifty from 74 balls with a four off Jake Ball who had replaced Leach at the River End and Nottinghamshire had reached 76 for 0. And yet the require rate had reached 8.5, assuming Somerset did not bowl more than the minimum of 40 overs. It seemed as if Nottinghamshire, Slater in particular, were racing along, but the required run rate was outpacing them. Whether they were seeking to build a base from which to launch what, on paper, seemed a near-impossible assault on the target, or attempting to prevent Somerset from applying too much pressure was, from beyond the boundary, impossible to know.

But then, apparently apropos of nothing, and with tea six overs away, the pace of Slater’s assault suddenly slackened. Two runs came from the next three overs, Slater padded one ball from Leach away and was beaten by him in his next over. “Well done, Leachy,” someone shouted. A couple of boundaries followed from Slater off Ball, but by tea, although Nottinghamshire were 86 for 0, they were still 331 from victory and the required rate had risen to 9.7. Thirty-four overs at 9.7 an over was not a realistic prospect on any pitch. In reality, 417 at 6.95 an over wasn’t either, but until the sudden deflation of Slater’s assault, few Somerset supporters had looked relaxed.

My teatime amble stretched four overs into the evening session. I spent some of those four overs watching from between the dugouts in front of the Caddick Pavilion. They were productive overs for Somerset. Slater swivelled and pulled Ogborne, bowling from the Trescothick Pavilion End. He failed to keep the ball down and was caught by Tom Kohler-Cadmore diving and rolling to his left at backward square leg. Nottinghamshire 90 for 1. Slater by then had 60 scored in an hour and three quarters. Four balls later, Hameed’s vigil ended when his defensive push was beaten past the inside edge and he was struck on the pad by Leach. Leach swivelled like a film on fast forward, almost before the ball had reached the pad, so certain did he seem, and appealed. The umpire, looking equally certain raised his finger in an instant and the cheer from the crowd went up equally quickly. Nottinghamshire 90 for 2. Hameed 27 in four minutes longer than Slater. A look at the number of balls each had faced, 103 for Slater, 67 for Hameed, suggested some pretty skilful strike rotation from Hameed, and a clear plan to feed Slater the strike while he was attacking the Somerset bowlers.

Five overs later, Somerset struck again. Joe Clarke was also beaten past the inside edge by Leach. It was a beautifully angled in ball bowled from wide of the crease which went straight through the gate. “Ho, ho, ho,” someone said as the cheers went up. It was not said in mockery. Each ‘ho’ was at a higher pitch than the one before the final one sounding like a question. A question wreathed in possibilities for Somerset. Possibilities that is, if the mind was carried along by the momentum created by those three wickets, perhaps aided by memories of Surrey’s sudden and spectacular last hour collapse two seasons before. Nottinghamshire 104 for 3. Clarke 12.

There were now a minimum of 23 overs remaining in the day and any fears of an unlikely Nottinghamshire win had long disappeared. But the acceptance of an inevitable draw which had followed were now replaced by the possibility, remote if the mind took a moment to think it through, of an unlikely Somerset victory. When Ogborne bowled the next over, silence fell again as he ran in. His second ball struck the pad of Freddie McCann. There was a huge appeal which had everyone leaning forward, some metaphorically, others actually perching towards the edge of their seats. For an instant the possibilities raced around the mind and the butterflies ran riot in the stomach. The umpire though was unmoved and his finger remained down. As Ogborne walked back to his mark for his next ball, a cheer broke out from around the ground. It had been a ball that merited it.

Somerset continued to press. Leach was bowling with three close catchers and two short mid-offs. He bowled successive maidens, but maidens were not enough. Runs, apart from allowing the batters to change ends, were irrelevant. For Somerset, wickets were all. Jack Haynes attempted to hook Ball, connected with the top edge but the ball fell well out of reach of James Rew behind the stumps. When five o’clock came, the earliest time at which a draw could be agreed, Nottinghamshire were 121 for 3 with McCann and Haynes at the crease. There was an edge from McCann’s bat off Leach but the ball evaded second slip. “Come on lads!” one of the fielders implored as Ball ran in to bowl to McCann.

And then the 45^th over of the innings, Leach bowled from the Trescothick Pavilion End to Haynes. As the over started, there were 16 overs remaining but, since the last leg before wicket appeal four overs before, there had been no suggestion of another wicket, and the game now had a feel of slipping away from Somerset. The over fitted that feel as Haynes played it out without Somerset seeing even the ghost of a chance, and at its end the players shook hands. There was some disappointment in the Somerset supporters’ camp, but Somerset had fought the County Champions to a standstill. They had not been able to force a victory, but in the context of Somerset’s starts in seasons past, with a bit of reflection, it was a start that was more auspicious than disappointing.

Result. Somerset 347 (T.B. Abell 108, J.E.K. Rew 64, C. Overton 60, D.Y. Pennington 5-65) and 407 for 5 dec (J.E.K. Rew 122, T. Kohler-Cadmore 104, T.A. Lammonby 69, L.A. Patterson-White 4-175). Nottinghamshire 338 (J.M. Clarke 92, J.A. Haynes 55, M. Pretorius 4-65, A.R.J. Ogborne 3-81) and 140 for 3 (B.T. Slater 60). Match drawn. Somerset 13 points. Nottinghamshire 13 points.