County Championship 2026. Essex v Somerset. April 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th. Chelmsford.

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/W.C.F. Smeed*, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton (c), M.J. Leach, T. Shaw, M. Pretorius, J.T. Ball.

*Will Smeed replaced Tom Kohler-Cadmore as an injury replacement under the ECB’s 2026 replacement player trial after 51 overs of the Essex first innings. Archie Vaughan replaced Lewis Goldsworthy as an injury replacement under the same regulations after 38 overs of the Essex second innings.

Essex. D. Elgar, P.I. Walter, P.W.A. Mulder, C.W.J. Allison, M.J.J. Critchley, L.M. Benkenstein, M.S. Pepper (w), S.R. Harmer, S. Snater, S.J. Cook (c), J.A. Porter.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to field.

First day – Captains know best

Somerset won the toss and fielded. At Chelmsford. With Simon Harmer in the Essex side. The decision mystified Somerset supporters, and some Essex ones too. Chelmsford had long been known for taking spin as a match wore on and Harmer had been one of the best spin bowlers in the County Championship for a decade. Essex’s two recent County Championships had depended heavily on the runs of Sir Alistair Cook and the wickets of Harmer. Cook had retired but had been replaced by Dean Elgar, once of Somerset, and another repository of top of order runs. The decision to field seemed perverse. The pitch had a good tinge of green it was true, but the cloud cover at the start, such as it was, was high, thin and summery white. The sun was already pushing through and beginning to cast shadows, although the air was bitingly cold, eating into the very core of the bones, or so it felt, but nothing, to the hardened cricket watcher, suggested inserting the opposition.

The Somerset captain, Craig Overton, or whoever was responsible for making decisions on winning the toss in 2026, thought otherwise. Elgar soon added to the doubt in the minds of Somerset supporters when he twice drove Overton straight, both times for four, in the first over of the day. But, as soon became apparent, Overton was merely searching for the right length for the conditions. Jake Ball opened the bowling from the other end, the old Hayes Close End. The ends at Chelmsford had been renamed a season or two before. The Hayes Close End after Graham Gooch and the River End after Cook. But I had been watching Somerset at Chelmsford for forty years, so River End and Hayes Close End it remains in my mind.

Ball looked a bowler reborn. He had not been as effective as some supporters had hoped in his first two seasons with Somerset, but here he looked the part of an opening bowler. In his second over, the ball flew to fine leg, “A bit edgy, that,” the anxious verdict of an Essex supporter nearby. It brought Elgar a single, but before the over was out, Ball had gone through Paul Walter’s drive, struck him on the pad and emitted a huge appeal. By the end of the seventh over, both batters had been beaten several times and Essex had added only six more runs. The Essex chatter around me in my usual Chelmsford abode, The Felsted Stand more or less square of the wicket on the opposite side of the ground to the Pavilion, was lively but increasingly nervous.

And then, the re-born Ball struck. In the eighth over, he found Walter’s pad again. This time the umpire raised his finger. “It was coming, and that looked out,” the opinion of the Essex supporter. Essex 14 for 1. Walter 2. Two balls later, Wiaan Mulder edged Ball to Tom Kohler-Cadmore at first slip. Kohler-Cadmore took the catch and ran off towards the Tom Pearce Stand at the River End as if on a lone and spectacular celebration. But it was not a celebration. He was in agony. In taking the catch, he had badly damaged his thumb and his run continued uninterrupted into the marquee which served as the visitors’ dressing room at Chelmsford. Essex 14 for 2. Mulder 0. It was the start Somerset must have hoped for when they asked Essex to bat, but the nature of Kohler-Cadmore’s departure cast a shadow.

Essex had not signed Elgar for nothing, and with Charlie Allison at the other end, he began to make measured progress. As the sun became brighter, balls passing the edge, while still evident, became less, and the number of strokes off the middle began to increase. “Good shot,” someone said as Elgar drove Overton wide of mid-on for two. An open-faced drive for four off Ball was placed perfectly between slip and gully, and a straight drive, also off Ball, brought another four and the comment, “That’s a dream of a shot!” And it was. Reminiscent of one of Elgar’s better days at Taunton. Singles were being perfectly placed too, and Somerset were working through their hand of pace bowlers without result. Before he had settled, Josh Shaw was steered past gully for two twice in an over, once by each batter, while Allison drove him off the back foot through the covers to the Pavilion boundary, nine runs coming from the over. Essex 55 for 2.

The decision to insert Essex was clawing at the Somerset mind, although the Essex mind seemed equally anxious at the number of times the ball had beaten the bat. The Somerset bowlers kept the pressure on, the batters never looking totally free of threat, and when Charlie Allison edged Overton between third slip and backward point for four, one Essex supporter said, “We’ll take anything.” A missed drive from Elgar off Shaw, with three slips and a backward point waiting for an edge, brought an “Oh dear,” from another anxious Essex supporter. But Essex reached 64 for 2 when Elgar turned Shaw to midwicket for a single to register the fifty partnership with Charlie Allison from 108 balls.

Colin Dredge once said in answer to a question, “It’s not trying to take a wicket with every ball that works. It’s relentlessly building pressure on the batters.” And that, despite Essex’s gradual progress, is what Somerset were doing. In the end, the pressure, and some tight fielding, brought its reward. Somerset tried Tom Lammonby from the Hayes Close End with his left arm medium pace. A different angle, slower pace, but teasingly accurate. Something worked, and in Lammonby’s second over, Elgar launched into a pull only for the ball to loop to its namesake, fielding at long leg. Essex 77 for 3. Elgar 41. Three balls later, the newly arrived Matthew Critchley was defeated by Lammonby and edged the ball to James Rew. “Oh no!” the response from the Essex supporter in front of me. The speaker’s head was not in his hands, but his tone suggested it might as well have been. Essex 77 for 4. Critchley 0. Essex 80 for 4 at lunch, the decision at the toss now at risk of looking a masterstroke.

As I walked around the ground at lunchtime, I passed a forlorn looking ice cream van, stood like a fridge stranded in the middle of an ice desert. I had seen no evidence all morning, and saw none at lunchtime, of it having sold anything. I headed straight for the small snack kiosk which sits at the River End at Chelmsford and bought a hot chocolate to try warming up from inside and clutched the cup to put some feeling back into my fingers. Once play restarted, still ambling around the ground, I stopped from time to time to watch the cricket. The morning mix of beaten bats and occasional crisply driven fours continued, although the beaten bats were again less evident. Then, Allison played a defensive push at Migael Pretorius. The ball pitched a foot outside off and Pretorius edged low to Tom Abell at first slip. Essex 105 for 5. Allison 49. There was discussion among some passing Somerset supporters as to why Alfie Ogborne had been left out of the side after his contribution and the impact of his extra pace against Nottinghamshire in the first game of the season. To avoid creating rough for Harmer’s off spin it subsequently transpired. And then, another ball flew off the edge and past the slips for four. “We’ll take it,” again the comment of an Essex supporter.

With me back in my seat, Michael Pepper, twice in an over, drove Josh Shaw through the covers for four. “Shot!” the judgement on both strokes. “That was a good shot,” someone added about the second with the emphasis on the ‘was’. The strokes were typical of the crisply driven fours that had come off the middle throughout the Essex innings. But then, the other side of the coin. Pepper pushed forward at a ball angled in from Overton and Pepper edged the ball onto his stumps. It was the closest of things. The contact between ball and stump was so slight that only the off bail was removed. The stumps, that small detail apart, looked unmolested. Essex 130 for 6. Pepper 16. “Oh well,” said the Essex voice as the relentless pressure from Somerset, the movement of the ball seeming minimal, squeezed the life out of the Essex innings.

Two balls later, Overton struck Harmer on the pad and Essex were 130 for 7. “Two in the over,” the deflated Essex commented. For the third time in the innings, the speaker might have added. And then, three times in two overs as Luc Benkenstein attempted to drive a late outswinger from Shaw and edged it into his stumps. Essex 134 for 8. Benkenstein 18. The Somerset bowlers pressed on. There was a brief flurry of resistance from Shane Snater, three fours in two overs, two in succession off Overton. But then, he drove at a perfectly directed yorker from Shaw which uprooted his middle stump. A wonderful sight if you are a supporter of the bowling side. A body blow if you are not.  Essex 147 for 9. Snater 13 from 11 balls. And finally, another ball from Shaw, this time tucking up Jamie Porter before taking the edge and going through to Rew. It was Shaw’s third wicket and the Essex opening bowlers were running back to the Pavilion to prepare for the Somerset innings. Essex 149 all out. Porter 0. Sam Cook 1 not out. It was the best start to a Championship match from Somerset at Chelmsford since 2007 in the victory that sealed promotion from the Second Division whence Somerset had never returned.

When Somerset replied, it looked like Essex might match the Somerset bowling performance. Before the sixth over was out, Somerset were 16 for 3, two wickets to Cook and one to Porter. Cook and Porter, Essex’s long-standing double cutting edge with the new ball. Alongside the runs of Sir Alistair Cook and the wickets of Simon Harmer, Cook and Porter had been at the heart of Essex’s success for nearly a decade, knocking back the opposition top order time and again. “Here we go again,” Somerset supporters could be forgiven for thinking. Jack Leach, opening after Kohler-Cadmore’s injury, having already edged a ball low and wide of fourth slip, had his off stump knocked flat by a ball from Porter which cut away off the seam. Somerset 8 for 1. Leach 6. “Yeah!” the slightly more hopeful shout of the previously despondent Essex supporter as Leach’s stump went over. Then, Tom Lammonby, trying to keep out a ball from Cook angled in on a fourth stump edged it straight to Elgar at first slip, Elgar having only to lower his hands a few inches to take the catch. Somerset 11 for 2. Lammonby 2. Josh Thomas, the third left-hander in succession to lose his wicket was out in identical fashion, also off Cook, although the ball was perhaps targeting a fifth stump. Somerset 16 for 3. Thomas 4. Deficit still 133.

With tea only five and a half overs away, Tom Abell and James Rew fought to steady Somerset. Abell had barely got going when there was a huge leg before wicket shout from Cook. “Too high,” the immediate call of the Essex supporter behind me and the umpire’s finger remained unmoved. From there, Rew and Abell steered Somerset to tea, Abell signed off the session, off the penultimate ball, from Porter, with a four confidently turned off his legs to the deep midwicket boundary in front of the Pavilion. The ball, with the lightest of touches from the bat, raced to the boundary. “Shot!” someone drooled. It was the sort of stroke which, half a century and more before, spectators would go to the cricket to watch. At tea, Somerset were 35 for 3. It was hardly riches, but from 16 for 3 it carried the hope of a recovery.

In the interval it was announced that, because of his injury, Tom Kohler-Cadmore would be unable to continue in the match and would be replaced by Will Smeed under the ECB 2026 injury replacement trial regulations. This caused some comment among Somerset supporters because Archie Vaughan was in the Chelmsford match squad while Smeed was 205 miles away in Abergavenny playing for the Somerset 2^nd XI against Cardiff UCCE. Smeed however had just made a double century against the students, although it seemed unlikely that he would be available to play until the following day and one Somerset supporter wondered pessimistically if Somerset would survive until then.

As my extended tea time circumnavigation continued into the evening session, I watched from next to the Hayes Close End sightscreen. The fortunes of the Rew and Abell were somewhat mixed, although both survived until I returned to my seat in the Felsted Stand, the warming effect of the hot chocolate fast wearing off. Cricket in April. The ball still occasionally beat the bat; there were one or two edges which fell short of the slip cordon and two which flew wide of the slips. But there were several crisply struck drives too. One from Rew raced through point to a shout of, “Well done, Rewie!” Soon the Essex lead fell below 100, and then below 90 with Somerset still three wickets down. The fifty partnership came when Abell opened the face and steered Wiann Mulder through point for two. The edges and beaten bats though and the loss of 13 wickets led most to the conclusion that the match was not destined to last to the fourth day and that Rew and Abell were probably by now living on borrowed time.

And then, with me back in my seat, Snater pitched a few inches outside off stump, Abell jabbed defensively at the ball and edged it to Michael Pepper behind the stumps. “Yeah!” came the shouts from several of the seats around me. Somerset 73 for 4. Abell 29. Deficit 76. Somerset were turning their innings around, but Abell’s wicket reminded that Essex were far from out of the running. Lewis Goldsworthy joined Rew and was beaten by Snater twice during his first three overs as Essex tried to capitalise on the wicket of Abell. Then, a sharp flash of light startled the eyes. The floodlights had come on. The clouds, almost unnoticed from below as the two teams battled, had closed in. Rew seemed to take the lights as a signal. He glanced Mulder for four, retained the strike with a late cut for one and took 12 runs from four balls in Snater’s next over, the neatest of glances and a straight drive, both for four, among them. A four from Goldsworthy driven through mid-off off Mulder saw him off the mark from the 17^th ball of his innings, an indication of the challenge each side was setting the other.

But Rew and Goldsworthy were edging Somerset forward and the total went past 100 and to within 50 runs of Essex when Rew swept Harmer to long leg for four. Goldsworthy’s innings was beginning to move too, four runs coming when he turned Mulder through midwicket to the Felsted Stand, the ball crossing the rope to my right. There was a truncated cheer and a “Yes!” when a fielder chased a boundary bound ball down, dived and knocked it along the ground parallel to the boundary rope. But the cheer was cut short and followed by a groan as the ball rolled into the rope. Goldsworthy had some luck too with a pair of edges off Porter, one running for four and one for two. But Essex did not give way. Harmer, around the wicket, pitched a ball on Rew’s off stump, straightened it, Rew edged to Pepper and Somerset were 114 for 5. Rew 48. Deficit 35. But, for a decisive lead, Somerset needed a partnership.

Step forward Overton, the man from Abergavenny not yet ready to take the field, or more probably, still on the road. One man who was ready was Overton, the man who had, after all, called right at the toss. Perhaps captains know best. For a few overs he scrutinised the bowling before, not to put to fine a point on it, taking the Essex attack apart. Three fours in an over off Cook, all off the middle of the bat, one driven straight to the Hayes Close End to cheers which identified the location of a number of Somerset supporters, then an edge past third slip in Cook’s next over brought gasps from Essex supporters. In the next over it was Harmer’s turn. A four, a six driven straight back past the bowler, and then another four driven just to the off side of the Hayes Close sight screen. There were two more fours and a three in the next two overs and finally, before Goldsworthy played out most of the final two overs, a straight six from Overton, still off Harmer, to reach his fifty from 33 merciless balls. “There’s a long way to go in this match yet,” said one Essex supporter trying to bolster hope, but it was the Somerset supporters with smiles on their faces when the players finally walked off the field. Somerset’s lead was only 30, but 15 wickets had already fallen, and Somerset still had five standing including Will Smeed. And, as so often in cricket, the morrow would be crucial.

Close. Essex 149 (C.W.J Allison 49, D. Elgar 41, J. Shaw 3-30). Somerset 179 for 5. Somerset lead by 30 runs with five first innings wickets standing.