County Championship 2026. Somerset v Surrey September 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th. Taunton.
Alfie Ogborne (back), Thomas Rew (ankle) and Fin Hill (hamstring) were unavailable for selection.
Somerset. J.F. Thomas, T.A. Lammonby, T. Kohler-Cadmore, H.M. Nicholls, T.B. Abell, J.E.K. Rew (w), A.M. Vaughan, C. Overton, L. Gregory (c), M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach.
Surrey. R.J. Burns (c), D.P. Sibley, R.S. Patel, O.J.D. Pope, D.W. Lawrence/N.V. Gorantla*, B.T. Foakes (w), M.K. Lomror, A.R.G. Thomas, D.J. Worrall, R.D. Chahar/R.B. Albert*, R.J.W Topley.
* R.B. Albert replaced R.D. Chahar after 52 overs of the Somerset innings due to Chahar being injured. N.V. Gorantla replaced D.W. Lawrence after 68 overs of the Somerset innings due to Lawrence being called for international duty.
Overnight. Surrey 422. Somerset 222 for 3. Somerset trail by 200 runs with seven second innings wickets standing.
Third day – Merciless. Majestic. Magnificent.
What a day. What a day to have witnessed. What a day to remember.
The man behind me in the top of the Trescothick Pavilion said when I arrived, “I just want to see a lot of runs.” Has a wish ever been so royally granted?
And such runs. Such strokes. Such batting. And to Lammonby, Abell, Pretorius across the day and those who perished trying, much thanks. They gave us drives straight, drives through the covers, drives through midwicket, cuts through point, cuts behind point, late cuts, sweeps, paddle sweeps, pulls – artistic not brutal, an uppercut over the keeper which made no sound as it slid majestically off the bat. This was indeed batting for royalty. Batting for the gods. Batting for and of Somerset. Before lunch came a double century partnership, a century for Abell, and the 250 partnership, reached with a Lammonby six.
At lunch, we were on the outfield, in summer-warm temperature. Hundreds. Looking at the pitch. Looking at the grass. Relaxing. Chattering. Meandering. Remembering. Photographing. Smiling. Dreaming. And above all, enjoying. Heaven.
For the afternoon, back to the top of the Trescothick. Runs below, blue sky above, the Quantocks beyond, and all around, clapping, cheering people. The strokes flowing, the batsmen running, the fielders chasing, the bowlers toiling, the stands bubbling. Gimblett’s Hill full. The Trescothick heaving. The Ondaatje teeming. People standing from the Caddick to the Atkinson. Watching. The Atkinson, the Botham and the Hildreth all alive with people and three blocks of the Somerset Stand open and, to use the modern term, busy.
And then, the draw of the centre block of the Somerset Stand and a walk around the ground. And what a sight as I walked, what sounds and what an atmosphere. The ground had become an ocean of joy. And from the Somerset Stand, sitting square, old times back, and the utter elation of watching the Abell-Pretorius partnership. Four successive sixes. A six bouncing on and over the Botham Stand. A century partnership. 250 for Abell. Fifty for Pretorius. Five hundred up. Six hundred up. Nearly 700 up. Merciless. Majestic. Magnificent.
That was my impression of the day during the evening that followed. It had indeed been an astonishing day of cricket. Somerset scored 459 runs from 96 overs, 201 of them scored in the 31 overs bowled after tea. The boundaries it is true had been pulled in on every side, the pitch was as flat as a newly bought ironing board and the Surrey attack was not the strongest. It was, nevertheless, an astonishing day of Somerset batting. Methodical at first as Tom Lammonby and Tom Abell re-established themselves after their unbroken 125-run partnership on the second evening. I arrived half an hour into the morning session, finding my seat in time for the 80th over of the innings. In the eleven overs played since the start, Somerset had added 38 runs, a fraction of what was to follow at the end of the day.
The crowd must have exceeded two thousand by the time I arrived at the ground, perhaps reaching 2.300 or so, considerably more than would normally be expected on the third day of a match. Even so, I managed to find a seat in the top of the Trescothick Pavilion. In the middle, far below, Abell and Lammonby were playing as if it were a Sunday afternoon in the park, and the sun shone as if in quiet accompaniment. People too were still drifting in as they might if it were the park. It was an idyllic scene. Although Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire were still playing, the Championship was essentially settled in favour of Warwickshire. It was the perfect setting, the perfect situation, as the man had said, to see a lot of runs.
The new ball was taken an over after I arrived by Dan Worrall, Trescothick Pavilion End, and Reece Topley, River End. Neither made any impact. This was a pitch and a day for batters, a day that might pass for service on the Elysian Fields. The bowlers’ unenviable role, to toil and not to reason why. Even the prospect of Nottinghamshire winning their match against Yorkshire and pushing Somerset into third place was called into question when a smartphone check showed them to be 72 for 6, a lead of just 144. For the record, Warwickshire needed three more wickets to defeat Leicestershire and put the Championship beyond even statistical doubt.
As to the runs in front of us, they came steadily at first, the ball steered, cut and pushed. A beautifully crafted cut through backward point to the Brian Rose Gates boundary from Lammonby provided a glimpse of what was to come, but for the moment studied defence and carefully placed singles dominated. Somerset, it seemed were intent on the long haul. As the score steadily mounted the partnership reached 200 when Abell quietly turned a ball from Mahipal Lomror behind square for a single. A ball later, Lammonby swivelled and pulled the ball along the ground to the equipment store between the Trescothick Pavilion and the Ondaatje Stand to bring up Somerset’s 300. It was the end of the 91st over, a run rate of 3.3 runs per over. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing out of the ordinary anticipated.
Lammonby’s pull was though, the third boundary in two overs. Somerset were beginning to step up the pace despite the approach of lunch. Lammonby paddle swept Ralphie Albert to fine leg for a four which crossed the boundary in front of the floodlight between the Botham and Hildreth Stands. In his next over, Albert came in for more punishment, this time from Abell who drove him sharply through extra cover to the Somerset Stand. As the rate of scoring increased, Albert conceded five fours in four overs before Lammonby took issue with Lomror, in successive overs slog sweeping him and then driving him over straight midwicket to the Priory Bridge Road boundary for six. The second six registered the 250 partnership from 449 balls, 38 of those runs coming from the 30 balls before Somerset went to lunch on 353 for 3, 59 runs behind.
Lunch was spent on the outfield. People ambled their way out, stood around chatting, looked at the square and the infrastructure of the ground, perhaps for the last time before the season’s end. The pitch looked as flat as it had from the start, and as beige, a desert looking as lacking in life as the bowlers were finding it. The atmosphere had that end of season relaxation about it that takes over when nothing of consequence hangs on the game. And then the slightly more urgent walk back to the concourse as the return of the players was suddenly five minutes away. And finally, as always for me, the delay in reaching my seat as I took in the action from different parts of the ground. Another seven overs passed and another 20 runs were added to the scoreboard as Lammonby and Abell settled in after lunch.
With me back in my seat, they began to push a little harder. Lammonby met a ball from Topley with a bat held horizontally, toe to the keeper, and guided the ball, perhaps with a hint of top edge, over an empty first slip for four. An over later, a neatly played sweep behind square off Albert, brought him a single and a double century to a long and warm standing ovation. Three overs later, Abell danced down the pitch to Albert and drove him over the Hildreth Stand boundary at long on. Six and another milestone, the triple century partnership. An over later, a cover drive from Abell off Worrall brought a single and took the score to 400 for 3, just 22 runs short of the Surrey total.
Lammonby now had the bit between his teeth. From Albert, River End, he took 11 runs and Abell a single from an over. Eight of Lammonby’s runs came from two fours, the first a drive with an open face through deep backward point to the Brian Rose Gates boundary which took the partnership past the Somerset fourth wicket partnership record established by Abell and James Rew at Trent Bridge in 2024. The second was a dismissively struck back foot drive which bisected the bowler and the mid-off fielder and brooked no argument. Lammonby was in overdrive. Three overs later, he struck Worrall, bowling from the Trescothick Pavilion End, for three successive fours, all emphatic drives, one through mid-on, one straight back past the bowler which took Somerset into the lead and the third through extra cover to the Ondaatje Stand. And then, before the over was out, as if a random bolt of lightning had struck, an attempt to clip a yorker off his toes resulted in the ball striking Lammonby’s pads in front of the stumps. Somerset 431 for 4. Lammonby 229. Lead 9.
James Rew to the crease. It was a curiously out of sorts innings from Rew. Perhaps three sessions, or just over 92 overs, waiting to bat had had its effect. That is 553 balls, any one of which might have had him walking to the wicket. Whatever the reason, in a season in which he had scored 803 runs at 40.15 and passed fifty in nearly half of his innings, he never looked in touch. There was a leg before wicket appeal to his second ball, his only run came from a thick edge wide of gully, and he was out caught at leg slip trying to sweep Lomror. Somerset 440 for 5. “He never looked right,” the bemused comment.
That brought Archie Vaughan to the wicket for one of his cameos which promise much and is then cut off in its prime. An average of 23.57 and only two scores of over fifty from 21 innings telling the tale. As so often, while Vaughan was at the wicket he played some sumptuous, almost heavenly strokes. Among them, a cut through backward point to the Somerset Stand off Albert, a sweep through midwicket to the Somerset Stand and a drive which bisected the cover and extra cover fielders to cross the Priory Bridge Road boundary. By tea he had reached 23. Abell meanwhile continued his relentless piling up of runs, singles repeatedly giving Vaughan the strike and a leaned into drive through midwicket off Lomror taking the eye. Somerset took tea at 480 for 5, a lead of 58 and the weather for the rest of the day set fair, although an uncertain forecast for the final day, and the ironing board pitch hung at the back of the mind. Yorkshire meanwhile were 108 for 4 still needing 50 runs to defeat Nottinghamshire and assure Somerset of second place in the Championship. Not over yet.
With the centre block of the Somerset Stand open for the first time at a Championship match for over two years, and well populated, I broke off my teatime circumnavigation to sit there for a few overs. It was like a regeneration. Square of the wicket has always been one of my favourite vantage points at a cricket match. The old Peter May Stand at The Oval, the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston, the East Stand at Headingley, the Somerset Stand at Taunton after it was opened in 2009, and so on. At Taunton though, there had been no seating square of the wicket since most of the Somerset Stand was first closed for Championship matches in 2023. As I sat there, the view along a line midway between the creases was back. Old times reborn. Except for the removal of the historic photographs of Somerset players from behind the Somerset Stand. In the days before they were removed, if you left the stand by the middle flight of steps, there facing you as you descended were the piercing eyes of the ‘old blighter’ himself, Brian Close. Now no more, in life or on the Somerset Legends Wall. In front of us, the action seemed almost close enough to touch. It was too good a position to give up. But I had left my bag at the top of the Trescothick Pavilion.
And yet, I could not immediately wrench myself away from the spot from which I had watched so much cricket in the years since Justin Langer had rejuvenated Somerset and set them on the path which had led to 18 consecutive seasons as a First Division County, far more than any other, the next longest continuous period being from Durham with 11 seasons. As I sat there, the cricket was clouded with memories of watching from that spot. Among them was Peter Trego and Jim Allenby breaking the back of a successful 401-run one chase against Nottinghamshire in 2015 with a 116-run sixth wicket partnership and Michael Bates and Abdur Rehman finishing the job after a classic Somerset wobble, Rehman hitting 15 from 12 balls. I saw him outside the Caddick Pavilion after Somerset had won and saw the emotion of the chase in his eyes.
I was brought back to 2026 as Vaughan was caught by Ben Foakes off Lomror sweeping at a ball pitched eighteen inches outside leg stump. The message from the online watcher followed before Vaughan had reached the dressing room, “That wicket was planned – keeper was set up down leg side before the run up had even started.” Vaughan’s cameo was over, 26 in eight minutes under the hour and Somerset were 503 for 6, 81 ahead. And then Overton, the Somerset batting revelation of the season. Before this match, he had scored 733 runs at an average of 43.12 with three of the four centuries he had scored in his career coming in 2026. That despite taking 52 wickets in the 12 matches he had played before this one, more than any other Somerset player. Now, he added only one more run to that total before he was caught by Albert at mid-off attempting to drive Lomror. Somerset 511 for 7. Lead 89.
“Yorkshire need 29, six down,” said the person next to me. In a low scoring match and Somerset’s second place almost certainly dependent on Yorkshire winning, that created one or two anxious glances. And then Lewis Gregory. Twice he drove Lomror, once for four and once for six, the latter driven with a dance down the pitch. And then, another attempt at a drive from Gregory was miscued and flew straight back to the bowler, Thomas. Somerset 532 for 8. Gregory 10. Lead 110. No Somerset innings would be complete it seemed without a wobble. Somerset had now lost five wickets for 101 runs as Migael Pretorius strode to the crease and there were 19 overs remaining in the day. Pretorius was known among Somerset supporters for his short, explosive lower order innings, often adding 30 or more runs to the score, seemingly in a flash. There had though been very few of those innings in 2026, although there had been recent signs of rejuvenation. Now that rejuvenation came to its full fruition.
Abell, 166 not out at tea, had already shown signs of acceleration, reaching 184 by the time Vaughan left and, as the milestones flew by, reaching his double century to a standing ovation the ball before Gregory was out, quietly turning Thomas off his legs to deep square leg for a single. With Pretorius at the wicket, Abell drove Thomas over straight midwicket to the Ondaatje Stand and, off the next ball, played the deftest of late cuts to send the ball to the Hildreth Stand boundary defeating the diving fielder. In the next over, Pretorius left no doubt as to his intent as he drove Lomror for successive sixes, both crashing into the same boundary board in front of the Hildreth Stand. The first took Somerset past 550 and they ended the over on 559 for 8, 23 runs having come in two overs with the Surrey total being fast left behind.
After a long season with Somerset in contention for the Championship and then the disappointment of Headingley this was balm for the Somerset soul. But my bag could wait no longer. I set off at the double to retrieve it as part of a full circumnavigation, anticlockwise. Always anticlockwise. As I stood up to leave, the person next to me said, “Yorkshire nine down. Bairstow still in. Five needed.” Somerset’s final Championship position on a knife-edge. My bag retrieved, I set off back for the Somerset Stand. As I walked behind the Ondaatje Stand, someone I often talk to at the cricket was walking the other way. “Yorkshire have won,” he said. With a six from Bairstow apparently, before Curtly-Jack White, the Yorkshire number eleven, had to face the next over. Bairstow had been a thorn in Somerset’s side at Headingley, now he had pricked Nottinghamshire’s hopes at Trent Bridge.
By the time I reached the Somerset Stand, Somerset had raced to 596 for 8, a lead of 174. Abell immediately took Somerset past 600 with a four off Albert, driven through backward point to the Priory Bridge Road Stand. A party atmosphere was taking hold now and cheers and hoorays rang around the ground. Nothing now hung on the match and the man at the back of the Trescothick Pavilion was getting his wish. The freedom with which Abell and Pretorius were exploiting the pitch drove the atmosphere too. The next ball was driven for six over the Colin Atkinson boundary and the party cheers exploded again. Then four more from Abell off Ryan Patel, driven through straight midwicket to the Ondaatje Stand and then another, driven by Pretorius through extra cover to the Brian Rose Gates boundary. An over later, Abell nudged Albert through extra cover to take an easy single to bring up his 250. Cue more , more hoorays and extended applause as another milestone slipped by and the score reached 623 for 8, Somerset 201 runs ahead, another milestone passing almost unnoticed.
With the close now five overs and less than half an hour away, mayhem exploded in the middle. Two fours off successive balls from Pretorius against Patel, a cut to the Somerset Stand and a drive through extra cover to the Brian Rose Gates boundary, another milestone passed, the century partnership from 87 balls. More cheers and extended applause. By the nature of its enthusiasm the cheers were more for the rate and ferocity of scoring than for the numbers on the scoreboard. And then, a crushing over for Albert. A single pushed just to the off side of the pitch as he followed through brought Pretorius his fifty from 52 balls. More cheers.
Then Abell from four successive balls. A six, driven over the Colin Atkinson Pavilion boundary. Cheers. A six, driven straight, over the Botham Stand boundary. Cheers. A six, driven just to the onside of straight, to the Botham Stand boundary. More cheers. And finally, a colossal straight six which seemed to hang in the air before bouncing a foot short of the ridge tiles at the top of the Botham Stand and then bouncing over and disappearing down the other side. The roar was now cacophonous, the crowd uproarious and Somerset had reached 661 for 8, a lead of 239.
For the next over, the 162nd of the innings, Topley replaced Patel, one left arm seamer for another, at the Trescothick Pavilion End, and another 11 runs followed, a six from Pretorius, pulled over the longer of the two boundaries at deep square leg, landing on the covers. A single gave Abell the strike and he repeated Pretorius’s stroke for a one-bounce four as another milestone rushed by, a Somerset lead of 250. Lomror replaced Albert at the River End after those four successive sixes and Pretorius drove him over mid-on for a one-bounce four and then pulled him over straight midwicket for six. It was merciless, but the final over of the day was upon us and Abell and Pretorius settled for a, relatively at least, calm six singles pushed and guided around the field. That over took Somerset back to the Caddick Pavilion on 691 for 8, 211 runs having been scored in the evening session. It left them nine runs short of 700, Abell 16 runs short of a triple century, and Somerset 31 runs short of a 300-run lead. More milestones in prospect for the morrow.
Close. Surrey 422. Somerset 691 for 8. Somerset lead by 269 runs with two first innings wickets standing.
