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.

Toss. Hampshire. Elected to field.

First day – Somerset in the ascendant

From the upper reaches of the Colin-Ingleby Mackenzie Stand, with the Pavilion, or the John Arlott Atrium as Hampshire call it, to your left, the pitch looked to have a green tinge to it. Nonetheless, when Ben Brown, the Hampshire captain, won the toss he elected to bat. Perhaps the height of the thin white cloud blanket was a factor, or perhaps there was a thought that the pitch might take spin later in the match. By the start, the crowd, numbering perhaps twelve to fifteen hundred, was in good voice. It was warm enough to sit comfortably in the shade wearing an open anorak and without one in the sun. It was April weather that most cricket watchers would settle for. The crowd was of the traditional demographic for a Championship crowd: white, largely male and largely of an age to have the leisure to attend four-day cricket. It fitted with the bus which took me to the ground being largely populated by men who were all examples of the biblical three-score years and ten, give or take half a score years or so. That, and the varying collection of hats designed to protect from the sun and the obligatory backpack betrayed the bus as the one to take for the cricket.

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 and 336. Somerset 288 and 139 for 3. Somerset need another 148 runs to win with seven wickets standing.

Final day. Purgatory

The winning runs came when Tom Abell drove Kyle Abbott through mid-on to the boundary in front of the Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie Stand. I saw the stroke and I knew it was four. But I didn’t see the ball after it left the bat. I just knew. Sixty-eight years of watching Somerset play cricket leaves an instinct for such things. The winning hit came after three and a half hours of unbearable tension as a match balanced on a knife-edge at the start of play was still balanced there as Abell struck that ball. Every run, and they mostly came in ones and twos, had given another twist to the screw bearing down on every Hampshire supporter in the ground. And every ball brought the threat of a wicket which might be a body blow to the hopes of Somerset supporters. A body blow because the outcome of this match might define Somerset ‘s season as they pursued their century and a half long dream of winning the County Championship.