Perfect day

County Championship Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 29th, 30th 31st August and 1st September 2018. Headingley. Third Day.

The third day started with Surrey having a real prospect of an innings defeat over Nottinghamshire. Somerset needed to defeat Yorkshire to retain even a slim chance of overhauling Surrey in the Championship. They held the advantage after the second day but not to the extent that Surrey did over Nottinghamshire. It was crucial they move from being ahead in the game to stamping their authority on the match.

Overnight: Somerset 399. Yorkshire 292 for 7. Yorkshire trail Somerset by 107 runs with 3 first innings wickets standing.

The text read, “Perfect Day?” Well, it probably was.Read More »

Not too bad a day

County Championship Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 29th, 30th 31st August and 1st September 2018. Headingley. Second Day.

Yorkshire had come into this match with relegation a possibility. Yorkshire supporters’ thoughts therefore were almost as much on the Worcestershire v Lancashire relegation battle as on this match. Somerset supporters had half an eye on the Surrey v Nottinghamshire game in the hope that Nottinghamshire might halt the Surrey juggernaut. Somerset came into the second day of the game with what appeared to be a clear advantage although the prospect of either side taking 20 wickets was far from certain. The running commentary from the Yorkshire crowd continued unabated…

Overnight: Somerset 374 for 8.Read More »

Cavalcade

County Championship Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 29th, 30th, 31st August and 1st September 2018. Headingley. First Day.

Somerset arrived at Headingley doggedly hanging onto Surrey’s coat tails in the race for the Championship. A good start was essential.

Somerset won the toss and elected to bat.

I arrived at Headingley just after Lunch. As I reached the East Stand, square of the wicket, the first thing I saw was Hildreth edging Shaw past slip for four.Read More »

Gregory’s game

T20 Quarter Final. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. 27th August 2018. Taunton.

This match was due to be played on 26th August but rain and a very wet outfield meant it was delayed until the following day. The delay took it too close to the Championship match at Headingley for the report to be finalised before it was time to travel north (via London). The final touches were therefore put to it in time for it to be posted on grockles.com as a curtain raiser on the eve of Finals Day.

Nottinghamshire had knocked Somerset out of both the T20 and 50 over competitions at the Quarter Final stage in 2017.

Nottinghamshire won the toss and elected to field.

The match may have been a day late but most must have got there or passed on their ticket from the rains of Sunday to someone who could get there for the ground was as near full as could be. It was certainly the crowd of the season. And it sounded like it. It was behind the Somerset team from the outset and cheered it on at every twist and turn of as mesmerising a game of cricket as could be hoped for.Read More »

A match for the ages

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Essex. 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd August 2018. Taunton. Final Day.

Somerset supporters arrived for the final day of this match fearing the worst. Browne and Westley had batted exceptionally well and with determination through the second half of the third day to give Essex hope of what had seemed an unlikely victory. There was no hint of weather intervening and so, with Essex needing another 189 runs to win, there would be a result one way or the other.

Overnight: Somerset 324 and 202. Essex 191 and 147 for 1. Essex need 189 more runs to win with 9 wickets standing,

“The winning team played with …. almost all enveloping power,”Read More »

Of stable doors

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Essex. 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd August 2018. Taunton. Third Day.

Somerset went into the third day of this match with a firm grip on the game. Surrey were similarly placed against Lancashire. If Somerset were to retain any hope of winning the Championship they would need to force a win against Essex.

Overnight: Somerset 324 and 32 for 1. Essex 191. Somerset lead by 165 with 9 second innings wickets standing.

What a difference a day makes. A day in which the mood of Somerset supporters metamorphosed from hopeful anticipation to unanticipated foreboding.Read More »

Bowled over

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Essex. 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd August 2018. Taunton. Second Day. 

Gregory’s innings apart the first day of this match had been a gruelling tussle for ascendancy. In the cold light of the second morning it felt like Somerset had gained the advantage on a pitch which had asked questions of the batsmen throughout the day.

Overnight: Somerset 308 for 1.

In the end the edge of the seat was not quite needed for Somerset edged the second day comfortably.Read More »

1962 all over again

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Essex. 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd August 2018. Taunton. First Day. 

Essex won the Championship at a canter in 2017. Somerset had lost heavily in both Championship matches against them. The Championship match between the two sides at Chelmsford in June 2018 had ended in a tightly fought draw. Now Somerset were challenging, if somewhat distantly, for the Championship themselves. This match would be a good test of their progress over the preceding year.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

The talk at the back of the Somerset Pavilion (elevated) was of Peter Wight. Of Peter Wight and Fred Trueman. Of the day in 1962 when Fred Trueman arrived late for the Championship match at Taunton and was sent home by the Yorkshire captain for his pains.Read More »

A testimonial to good cricket

T20 South Group. Kent v Somerset. 16th August 2018. Canterbury.

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley.” Robbie Burns knew a thing or two. Ask any Somerset supporter. Or consider my attempts to keep up with proceedings at Canterbury where Somerset were trying to hold on to top spot in the T20 Competition South Group in the last round of group matches …

Somerset won the toss and elected to field.

West Somerset to East Kent is too far to travel for a group stage T20 match. So someone bought me a ticket to Marcus Trescothick’s Testimonial Dinner in the 1875 Club which was being held at the same time as the match. I don’t have a smart phone but the person who bought me the ticket was thoughtful enough to send me with someone who does. And then it was announced the match would be televised …Read More »

A stellar match

T20 South Group. Somerset v Surrey. 10th August 2018. Taunton.

Surrey, the auld enemy and a match fit for such an occasion. Both teams still had a very real opportunity of qualifying for the Quarter Finals and played as if they intended to get there.

Somerset won the toss and elected to field.

After a few days break from match report writing, it as been a long haul since April, time to catch up – here is the Surrey T20 report, drafted the day after the match. Polished a bit this evening:

Apparently NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will travel at speeds of up to 430,000 mph. Jamie Overton doesn’t bowl quite that fast but in his first over on Friday he bowled fast enough to remove two Surrey batsmen.Read More »

A Rye look at the cricket

T20 South Group. Hampshire v Somerset. 8th August 2018. Southampton.

I did not travel to this match and so watched the live broadcast. It brought back unnerving memories of a very tight match at the same ground nearly a decade before.

Somerset won the toss and elected to field.

I am in trouble at home. Ruining the edges of seats at cricket grounds all around the country whilst watching Somerset is one thing. Ruining one at home is viewed less kindly I have discovered. Watching Somerset at home is far more gruelling than actually being at the match.Read More »

Sigh of relief

County Championship Division 1. Worcestershire v Somerset. 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th July 2018. Worcester. Final Day.

Somerset entered the final day with the match their’s to win. Worcestershire’s ambitions must have been limited to achieving an unlikely draw.  

Overnight: Somerset 337 and 362 for 9 dec. Worcestershire 257 and 50 for 2. Worcestershire need another 393 runs to win with 8 second innings wickets standing.

Craig Overton finally sank to his knees and drew breath. Breath of relief and of nervous exhaustion as much as physical exhaustion it looked. Magoffin had just edged a drive to Davey at point off Overton’s bowling and Somerset had won an outstanding game of cricket.Read More »

An air of certainty

County Championship Division 1. Worcestershire v Somerset. 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th July 2018. Worcester. Third Day.

On the second day Somerset had extended the advantage they had established on the first day. The third day presented a real opportunity to take complete control of the match. 

Overnight: Somerset 337 and 47 for 0. Worcestershire 257. Somerset lead by 127 runs with 10 second innings wickets standing.

Azhar Ali’s century looked inevitable long before he took the single which brought it up. It is not often you watch a batsman moving through the 70s, 80s and 90s without feeling some anxiety that an error or a brute of a ball will bring the innings to a premature end. I had no such doubts about Azhar’s innings. It is just the sort of certainty you want your overseas batsman to generate.Read More »

2018 tinged with 1976

County Championship Division 1. Worcestershire v Somerset. 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th July 2018. Worcester. Second Day.

Somerset’s overnight score had seemed a good return given the impression of most on the first day was that the pitch had provided some help to the bowlers. It remained to be seen if Somerset could take advantage on the second day. 

Overnight: Somerset 324 for 9. 

Well, the cluster of street lights against which I finished yesterday’s report, six in an inner ring, three spread around the outer edge and no slips was not, mercifully, a harbinger of today’s play. In fact, for most of the Worcestershire innings Somerset had three slips, or two and a fine gully, and, as often as not, four.Read More »

The embers tell the tale

County Championship Division 1. Worcestershire v Somerset. 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th July 2018. Worcester. First Day.

Somerset came to Worcester following defeat at The Oval and a hard fought draw at Chelmsford. Matthew Renshaw had expected to end his term with Somerset in this match. A broken finger at The Oval had prevented that. He had been replaced by Azhur Ali, Pakistani Test batsman, who made his debut in this match.

For the first time in 2018 both Jamie and Craig Overton played in the same Championship match. It was also Jamie’s first red ball match of the season

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

As I start writing at my hotel room window the low angle of the sun is lighting up a cluster of red brick houses set among woods on the hills opposite. An abstract artist might paint them in the shape and in the orange and charcoal colours of the dying embers in the grate of a log fire. Read More »

Standing firm

County Championship Division 1. Essex v Somerset. 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th June 2018. Chelmsford. Final Day.

Somerset had taken two wickets as Essex started their innings on the third evening which raised hopes that Somerset might force a victory. However the pitch had realised 941 runs for the loss of just 17 wickets on the first three days. If Somerset were to win a long day beckoned. 

Overnight: Essex 517 for 5 dec and 17 for 2. Somerset 407. Essex lead by 127 runs with 8 second innings wickets standing.

A match which had trundled along at under three and a half runs an over and which seemed to have quietly fallen asleep was roused from its slumbers when, after a session of accumulation Essex started to accelerate their scoring after ‘Lunch’. When Essex declared and set Somerset 319 to win off 50 overs the match jumped from the dull featherbed on which it had, thus far, been played and sprang to life.Read More »

Keeping going

County Championship Division 1. Essex v Somerset. 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th June 2018. Chelmsford. Third Day.

Somerset had started well in response to Essex’s large first innings score but would need to bat well over a long period on the third day to stay in the game. 

Overnight: Essex 517 for 5 dec. Somerset 140 for 2. Somerset trail by 377 runs. 

This match is being played with a pink ball and at a time of day which challenges the temporal senses. It requires floodlights to ease the effect of the midsummer late evening gloaming. But for all that the third day was a day of taut grinding cricket of the old kind. Tense enough to bring the edge of the seat into use as the follow on, or the avoidance of it, became the issue of the day.Read More »

Hard going

County Championship Division 1. Essex v Somerset. 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th June 2018. Chelmsford. Second Day.

For the second match in succession Somerset entered the second day with their opponents threatening to build a commanding score. Like Surrey, Essex were among the stronger teams in the Championship having won the title the previous year. 

Overnight: Essex 298 for 4. 

For the second day in succession there was not a cloud in the sky. The sun bore down, if not with quite the intensity of the first day, with enough intent for me to seek from the start the sanctuary of the lower level of the Tom Pearce Stand. The crowd was, if anything, smaller than on the first day and it concentrated itself in the shaded areas and on the Pavilion Terrace which falls into the shade around the ‘Lunch’ interval. One stand which faces as directly into the sun as the Colin Atkinson Pavilion at Taunton was as sparsely populated as the Somerset Stand on an April evening.Read More »

A sterling effort

County Championship Division 1. Essex v Somerset. 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th June 2018. Chelmsford. First Day.

Somerset came to Chelmsford to face the County Champions having just been heavily defeated by Surrey at Guildford. As a consequence of that defeat Surrey had replaced Somerset at the top of the Championship table. 

This match was played with a pink ball, under lights when the light faded, with a 2.00 p.m. start. 

Jamie Overton returned to the Somerset team after injury for the first time in a year.Read More »

Reality

County Championship Division 1. Surrey v Somerset. 20th, 21st, and 22nd June 2018. Guildford. Final Day.

The overnight situation looked bleak for Somerset. They would have to bat the best part of five sessions to save the match. There was no prospect of them regaining the top spot in the Championship they had ceded to Surrey on the first day.

Overnight: Surrey 459. Somerset 180 and 18 for 0 (f/o). Somerset trail by 261 runs with 10second innings wickets standing. 

Another day of festival cricket and if it was the festival aspect you were going for it must have been a perfect day. Hot in the sun if that is what takes your fancy, a cool breeze in the shade if that is your preference and no prospect of rain. The day after the summer solstice so the sun was as high in the sky as it ever ventures in these parts. The clouds had spruced themselves up and were wearing their finest white. Widely spaced in formation and cotton wool in shape and form, they drifted gently by all day, providing a perfect canopy under which to play cricket.Read More »