County Championship 2026. Hampshire v Somerset. April 17^th, 18^th, 19^th and 20^th. Southampton.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Lewis Goldsworthy were unavailable for selection because both were replaced by injury replacements in Somerset’s previous Championship match under the ECB’s 2026 replacement player regulations.

Hampshire. T.E. Albert, N.R.T. Gubbins, T.J. Prest, J.S. Lehmann, B.C. Brown (c) (w), B.A. Mayes, L.A. Dawson, C.E. Yusuf, K.J. Abbott, E.V. Jack, S. Baker.

Somerset. J.F. Thomas, A.M. Vaughan, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, W.C.F. Smeed, L. Gregory (c) C. Overton, M.J. Leach, A.R.J. Ogborne, J.T. Ball.

Overnight. Hampshire 238. Somerset 154 for 3. Somerset trail by 84 runs with seven first innings wickets standing.

Second day – The seesaw of emotions

Somerset ended the first day with work to do but holding a position which offered the prospect of a significant first innings lead. The bus from Southampton had a couple of Somerset supporters on it and half a dozen Hampshire supporters. Thinking about the day, I worried that the Hampshire attack might take some early Somerset wickets and put Somerset under pressure. My worries arose from the fact that on the first day, the wickets fell mainly in the first half of the day with the runs flowing freely in the second half. The discussion among the Hampshire supporters focused on their fears about just how many runs Somerset might score. In particular, one pair wondered whether Somerset might bat all day or put Hampshire back in half an hour or so before the close. Such are the opposite ends of the seesaw of supporter emotions.

At the start, my very rough count suggested the usual reduction in the size of the crowd compared with the first day. It numbered perhaps a thousand, with the largest concentration sitting in the sun which, at the start, reached all parts except the highest two rows of the Shane Warne Stand. The sky was blue and the ground was sunny, although patches of high white cloud produced periods of shadow as they drifted hazily by apparently unconcerned by the drama unfolding below. There was some chill on the wind, but it did not compete with the icy blasts which many spectators would have endured in the winter. As the cricket got underway, the crowd was quiet, pensive, both sets of supporters no doubt aware of both the opportunities and the risks facing their teams as the morning to come began to unfold.

James Rew and Tom Abell began in a mode as introverted as the mood of the crowd, the accurate Hampshire bowling playing its part. There was some movement for the pace bowlers too, and the first signs of turn for Liam Dawson’s slow left arm spin. The batters squeezed out just 20 runs in the first ten overs, four of those coming from the thick edge of Rew’s bat and the pace of Sonny Baker, late of Somerset. The approach of Rew and Abell was in marked contrast to the verve with which they, Rew in particular, had attacked the bowling in the final session of the previous day, their 80-run unbroken overnight partnership coming at over four and a half runs an over. Gone were the eagerly pounced-on singles, the fast-run twos and the flow of sparkling fours. The nature of the play generated an air of expectant tension reminiscent of a film scene building towards a climax.

And then, in the eleventh over, it came. Rew was beaten by Codi Yusuf and when he tried to drive the next ball with an open face, he was caught by Ben Mayes in the gully. Somerset 175 for 4. Rew 86 from 115 balls. Deficit 63. Rew looked disconsolate as he walked off, and from a Somerset supporters’ perspective, given the growing importance of the Abell-Rew partnership to Somerset’s batting in 2026, it was a significant blow. Just nine of Rew’s 86 runs had come on the second morning.

Will Smeed, walking to the wicket at the age of 24 for only his second first-class innings, did not get off the mark until his 23rd ball. It had taken him 18 in his debut first-class innings at Chelmsford a week earlier. He broke his duck here when he drove Yusuf to long on, the ball crossing the boundary below my seat in the Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie Stand. It took Somerset to 185 for 4, just ten runs having been added in the six overs since the loss of Rew, Smeed, an explosive white ball batter, perhaps attempting to adjust to the demands of the red ball game. Above him the cloud was gradually building, and the breeze was getting up as clouds covered the sun. We were now 17 overs into the morning during which time Tom Abell had added 18 runs.

The batters looked hemmed in by the bowling and some tight fielding, and despite another boundary from Smeed, hooked to fine leg off Yusuf, it came as no surprise when, four balls later, the pressure, now palpable, produced a wicket, Smeed pulling Yusuf straight to Baker at long leg. Somerset 191 for 5. Smeed 9 from 36 balls. Deficit. 47. Then Abell, caught behind an over later trying to protect his off stump from a ball from Liam Dawson which turned. I doubt it was lost on anyone that Somerset would have to bat last. Somerset 193 for 6, their overnight advantage all but gone. Abell 49 from 106 balls in a minute under two and a half hours. Deficit 45.

Lewis Gregory, Somerset’s returning captain, strode out to join Craig Overton, Somerset’s two all rounders together. It was Gregory’s first innings of the season. He was out to his sixth ball. Kyle Abbott, so often destroyer of the Somerset batting in recent seasons, was back at the Pavilion End and Gregory had gone to his fourth ball. The ball was angled in from outside off stump, perhaps on a line to hit a fourth stump. Gregory lifted his bat above his shoulder to let the ball through, but it cut in and clipped the off stump. Overton was left staring down the pitch at stumps barely disturbed apart from the dislodged bails. Somerset 204 for 7. Gregory 2. Deficit 34 and prospects of a Somerset lead now in doubt.

Overton however, had begun positively, driving two balls to long on. He was joined by Jack Leach who edged his fourth ball, from Dawson, to slip. The ball ended up on the ground, but it was not clear from my seat if it had carried to the fielder. Either way, a narrow escape. Somerset reached lunch six overs later with the addition of another nine runs, four of them coming in the final over when Overton lofted Dawson to the long on boundary. It had been a tense six overs with the bat being beaten several times, another edge short of slip from Leach off Dawson, and two drives which missed the ball. In the end, Overton and Leach walked off with Somerset on 214 for 7, just 60 runs added in the 30 overs bowled in the morning for the loss of four wickets. Somerset had dragged the deficit down to 24, but the momentum created for Hampshire by those four wickets had tilted the emotional seesaw on which supporters sit Hampshire’s way.

As I circumnavigated the ground at lunch, anticlockwise of course, most Somerset supporters, and there were still a good number present of those who had been at the match on the first day, seemed to be going clockwise again. The view of those I spoke to can be summed up in a few individual comments. “Somerset’s first bad session of the season,” one said. “We played too negatively, let their bowlers settle,” another added. And the third, “They are a first-rate bowling attack and they gave us nothing.” Another thought, the strokes that ended in the dismissals of Smeed and Rew might have gone for four on another day. The most optimistic view was, “If we can get a 30-run lead and then take two or three quick wickets …”

And then back to my seat to see whether the optimism of the final comment stood muster against the Hampshire bowling. When it came to it, Overton, Leach and Alfie Ogborne brought their own sense of optimism, perhaps more than might reasonably have been expected. All three played positively, and Somerset’s score was soon climbing towards Hampshire’s, despite Hampshire continuing to give nothing. Leach drove Dawson through cover for four, the fielder chasing the ball all the way to the boundary but having to give best at the last. Overton was tucked up by a short ball from Yusuf but managed hook it to the fine leg boundary. A drive to long on from Overton off Dawson brought two. Leach steered Baker through backward point for four, “Keep it there, Sonny. Superb!” said a Hampshire supporter. Despite the comment, Leach’s stroke was perfectly played off the middle, channelling all the energy imparted to the ball by Baker’s pace into its journey as it sped across the outfield. Four more. The timing and placement of the clip off his toes through straight midwicket which soon followed was equally impressive. It also took Somerset into the lead, and that suggestion of a 30-run lead was suddenly looking anything but fanciful.

But Hampshire did not relent. Two balls later, Overton was very well caught off a drive by a diving Nick Gubbins at mid-off, Dawson the bowler, the thought of Somerset having to bat last picking at the mind again. Somerset 242 for 8. Overton 30. Lead 4. Leach followed eight runs later, run out after being sent back by Ogborne while trying to retain the strike and thoughts of a 30-run lead looked very optimistic again. Somerset 250 for 9. Leach 20. Lead 12. At least Somerset had secured a batting point. After a batting point had been missed in each of the first two matches of the season when Somerset had fallen short by three and two runs, the 250 brought a cheer from some Somerset supporters.

And then, something of a surprise, and perhaps a revelation. A 38-run partnership between Alfie Ogborne and Jake Ball. Ogborne played an innings of controlled aggression while Ball kept Somerset supporters’ hearts in their mouths by surviving for half an hour, if sometimes as much by luck as judgement. As Ball survived, Ogborne picked his chances. With Leach being run out off the final ball of an over, Ball found himself facing six balls against a fired-up Sonny Baker. In a fashion reminiscent of Charl Willoughby at his most eccentric, Ball spent the over trying to make the acquaintance of the square leg umpire while trusting the cricketing gods to guide his waving bat as he attempted to make contact with the ball. Fortunately the gods were on for Somerset’s side, at least to the extent of keeping the edge of the bat away from the ball and the ball away from the stumps. Result: six balls, no runs and no wickets.  

Having watched, perhaps with his eyes closed, from the other end, Ogborne hit the first two balls of the next over, from Dawson, for four and six, through wide mid-off and over straight mid-off. Against Baker, with most of the field on the boundary, he declined singles from the first four balls and failed to score off the last two, although a leg bye took him back on strike against Eddie Jack who had replaced Dawson. Against Jack, Ogborne cleared the fine leg boundary off the edge of an attempted drive. Abbott replaced Baker and, with the gods still onside for Somerset, was driven for four off a miscue, the ball bouncing two yards inside the boundary. A straight drive brought four more, but another, mishit, straight drive against Jack just floated back to the bowler. Somerset 288 all out. Ogborne 38 from 50 balls in 49 minutes. Ball, meanwhile, whilst attempting a drive against Abbott, had edged the ball past the slips, his only scoring stroke. The partnership brought some very appreciative applause and Ball’s antics some wry smiles from Somerset supporters while that hoped-for lead of 30 had become 50.

That left a dozen overs for Hampshire to bat before tea which they reached without threat of a wicket, an edge from Toby Albert short of Overton at second slip apart. In the first over, Gregory was very deftly steered past the three slips and then driven through the covers, by Albert, both strokes reaching the boundary. The only setback Hampshire suffered in those six overs was the departure of Albert who struggled off the field after pulling up with an injured leg at the end of a quick single. Tom Prest to the crease. Alfie Ogborne came under pressure too, conceding 14 runs in his first three overs including a boundary neatly helped to fine leg by the left-handed Nick Gubbins. Hampshire 38 for 0 at tea, 12 behind.

As I undertook my teatime circumnavigation, one Somerset supporter, and again there were quite a number walking in the opposite direction, said of Somerset’s performance in the first two sessions, “Not as good as we hoped at the start, but better than we expected at lunch,” a pretty succinct summing up of the situation. One supporter wondered if opening the bowling with Overton and Ball might have applied more pressure than Gregory, who often seems to concede runs in his first couple of overs, and Ogborne, still finding his radar.

And then, before I returned to my seat, I spent an hour with a Somerset supporter who had followed Somerset for even longer than I had. He was concerned about the injury replacement experiment for the 2026 Championship which in the case of significant injury permitted full like-for-like replacement players. A doctor had to carry out an assessment, the two captains had to agree, and the match referee had to give permission. He was concerned nonetheless about teams pushing the limits of the rules. A similar thought had crossed my mind, as had thoughts of an incremental weakening of the strict discipline with which cricket’s rules govern the conduct of the game. which sets it apart from some other team sports. As our conversation ranged across a number of cricketing issues, well-struck boundaries flowed from the bat with no suggestion of a wicket. Gubbins took Hampshire to 50 for 0 with a beautiful straight drive off Overton, finally wiping out Somerset’s lead. As we talked, Gubbins pushed a single to point to take Hampshire to 72 for 0 bringing up the fifty ‘partnership’ with Prest, although with Albert’s departure no wicket had fallen.

We chatted on with the game as a pleasant backdrop as sometimes happens while watching a Championship match when wickets are not falling and runs, particularly opposition runs, are coming at four an over. Somerset’s cause was not helped by the seeming ineffectiveness of Leach. He was reverse swept for four by both batters, the second of which took Hampshire to 103 for 0 while Gubbins went to fifty from 96 balls with a four driven through midwicket without apparent effort, also off Leach. At one point, a shout for leg before wicket broke the idyll of our chat. Not out. “The umpires seem reluctant to give lbws,” said the person I was talking to and it did feel like that. “But they have been even-handed about it.”

I returned to my seat and instantly there was a huge appeal. Ball had hurried Prest into trying to divert a ball to leg after it had pitched outside off. It cut in, homed in on the stumps which it was prevented from hitting by Prest’s pad causing the umpire to raise his finger in response to the appeal. It was with a sigh of relief that I looked at the scoreboard, but Hampshire had reached 119 before losing the wicket. Prest 43. Lead 69. Hampshire now held the edge, but Somerset were at least on their way, and that seesaw of emotions had been halted in its gradual shift in Hampshire’s favour. After the new batter, Jake Lehmann, had steered his first ball to deep backward point for an easy single, Gubbins uppercut Ball, perhaps with a hint of top edge, over the empty slip area for four. From there, with Vaughan, Pavilion End, and Ball, Hotel End, Gubbins and Lehmann carefully eased their way forward with little sign of a wicket.

And with that, and the score on 130 for 1 with six overs remaining in the day, and my bus was due to leave for Southampton in ten minutes. A decision had to be made. It was Saturday and the evening buses back into Southampton had begun their hourly evening timetable. The choice was one that many cricket followers who use public transport have to make on a regular basis. Miss, in this case, half a dozen overs or miss the bus and wait an hour for the next one. I decided that given the flow of play, nothing of great consequence to the outcome of the match was likely to happen in the space of six overs and left for my bus. I was not the only one at the bus stop. Back at the ground, no wicket fell, Hampshire added another 16 runs to lead by 96, Somerset did not take a wicket and, after a bit of reflection, with Dawson in the wings, the seesaw resumed its gradual tilt towards Hampshire .

Close. Hampshire 238 and 146 for 1. Somerset 288 (J.E.K. Rew 86, T.B. Abell 49, C.E. Yusuf 3-67) Hampshire lead by 96 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.