County Championship 2025. Division 1. Hampshire v Somerset. 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st April. Southampton.

Hampshire. M.G. Stoneman, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, T.J. Prest, T.E. Albert, B.C. Brown (c) (w), L.A, Dawson, B.R. Hampton, J.K. Fuller, K.J. Abbott, B.T.J. Wheal.

Somerset. A.M. Vaughan, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (c) (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, A.R.J. Ogborne.

Overnight. Somerset 184. Hampshire 194 for 3. Hampshire lead by ten runs with seven second innings wickets standing.

Third day – Somerset survive to fight another day

When Ben Brown pushed Tom Lammonby through midwicket for four, perhaps with a bit of help from a leading edge, and registered Hampshire’s 250 with only four wickets down, a Hampshire supporter behind me said to his friend, “We should get 400.” It was one of those hostages to fortune that cricket supporters often regret emitting the second after they have emitted them. Nick Gubbins had not long fallen leg before wicket to Lammonby for 82 after a partnership of 125 with Liam Dawson from a ball short of 40 overs. The partnership was 76 runs old at the start of play, and Gubbins and Dawson had pushed, turned, guided and struck the ball around the ground seemingly at will. Any thought of Somerset batting again at the start of the afternoon session would have seemed fanciful.

County Championship 2025. Division 1. Hampshire v Somerset 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st April. Southampton.

Hampshire. M.G. Stoneman, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, T.J. Prest, T.E. Albert, B.C. Brown (c) (w), L.A, Dawson, B.R. Hampton, J.K. Fuller, K.J. Abbott, B.T.J. Wheal.

Somerset. A.M. Vaughan, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (c) (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, A.R.J. Ogborne.

Overnight. Somerset 94 for 6.

Second day – Hampshire take charge

Three quarters of an hour into the afternoon session, the match was even. Somerset had spent the morning extending their overnight 94 for 6 to 184 all out, in part courtesy of an innings of 47 not out from Migael Pretorius and a last wicket partnership, also of 47, between Pretorius and Alfie Ogborne. With lunch taken, Hampshire began the afternoon confidently and looked intent on taking control of the match. But then, Fletcha Middleton was caught behind driving at Ogborne and, three balls later, Mark Stoneman was bowled, his middle stump laid flat by Pretorius. Hampshire were 38 for 2, still 146 behind and Somerset had an opening.

County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire 15^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th September. Taunton.

J.F. Thomas replaced T.B. Abell under the ECB concussion regulations on the third day.

Somerset. T. Kohler-Cadmore, A.M. Vaughan, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell/J.F. Thomas, L.P. Goldsworthy, K.L. Aldridge, B.G.F Green, C. Overton,  L. Gregory (c), M.J. Leach.

Hampshire. A.G.H. Orr, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, T.E. Albert, B.C. Brown (c), (w), M.S. Washington Sundar, F.S. Organ, J.K. Fuller, K.J. Abbott, K.H.D. Barker, E.V. Jack.

Overnight. Somerset 454 for 8 dec. Hampshire 172 and 35 for 1. Hampshire trail by 247 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.

Final day – Of twirling arms and thrust forward pads and bats

In the fifth over of the day, Archie Vaughan angled a ball into Fletcha Middleton, pitched it on off stump, turned it some more, if slowly, and Middleton, playing across his pads, helped it on its way and into the hands of Kasey Aldridge at leg gully, one of four close fielders. Aldridge knocked the ball up a few inches and safely gripped it when it came back down. Hampshire, 37 for 2 in the 27^th over of their innings, still 239 runs behind with 91 overs remaining, were at serious risk of being beaten. Middleton out for nine from 77 balls after his intense vigil of the night before. If Hampshire were beaten, it would plunge them into the relegation zone with just one game, against Surrey, still to be played.

County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire 15^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th September. Taunton.

First day – No play. No. toss. Wind stopped play.

This was one of the more curious days that I have spent at the cricket. Wind stopped play. Or to take the official line, adverse weather conditions stopped play. By early afternoon the rain which had greeted the official start of play had virtually blown through. Literally, for every shower that came, and there were a few, scudded across the ground as if they had seen someone to whom they owed money. None lasted more than ten or 20 minutes and most less than that. The issue was the wind. It blew waves across the covers. Not waves of water, but of the covers themselves, rippling as the wind pushed though. ”Forty to fifty miles an hour gusts,” said one steward and my hat would have agreed with him, although it stuck loyally to my head throughout. But apparently, gusts of that strength can cause the large sheet covers to become unmanageable. And having thought about it, I concluded that I would prefer not to have to drag a 30-metre square yacht sail attached to nothing but my hand and a few others, 40 to 70 metres across an open field with the risk of a 50 miles per hour gust of wind taking it and my arm with it. Not to mention trying to fold it up. And then repeat five more times.

County Championship 2025. Division 1. Hampshire v Somerset 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st April. Southampton.

Hampshire. M.G. Stoneman, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, T.J. Prest, T.E. Albert, B.C. Brown (c) (w), L.A, Dawson, B.R. Hampton, J.K. Fuller, K.J. Abbott, B.T.J. Wheal.

Somerset. A.M. Vaughan, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (c) (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, A.R.J. Ogborne.

Overnight. Somerset 184. Hampshire 194 for 3. Hampshire lead by ten runs with seven second innings wickets standing.

Final day – Rearguard action

The forecast for the day was not good, and the weather was worse. The stoppages came mainly in the form of bad light aided by some strategically timed rain. As I walked up the hill to the ground a quarter of an hour before the start, the floodlights were already on, and they never went off all day. And the sun didn’t shine until after the players had left the field for the last time. It was a day of waiting as much as watching. Twice the umpires led the players out to restart after a stoppage, once to find themselves leading them off again before a ball could be bowled, and once to lead them off three and a half overs after the resumption. Only 26 overs and three balls were bowled during the day and Somerset survived those for the loss of Tom Lammonby, although not without some anxious moments. In the end, Sean Dickson and Tom Abell, with some determined batting, held the crease for 22 overs and 56 runs in a pincer movement with the weather to hold Hampshire off.

County Championship 2025. Division 1. Hampshire v Somerset 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st April. Southampton.

Hampshire. M.G. Stoneman, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, T.J. Prest, T.E. Albert, B.C. Brown (c) (w), L.A, Dawson, B.R. Hampton, J.K. Fuller, K.J. Abbott, B.T.J. Wheal.

Somerset. A.M. Vaughan, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (c) (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, A.R.J. Ogborne.

Toss. Hampshire. Elected to field

First day – A chill wind blew

It was a morning of two halves, a morning because that is all the play there was, steady rain after lunch saw to that. Somerset lost the toss on a day made for bowling and found themselves batting. After an hour, they were 57 for 1 and Archie Vaughan and Tom Lammonby looked like they were getting the measure of the pitch and the bowling, and like they were beginning to take control of proceedings. An hour later, after three wickets in 11 balls the players were walking off for lunch with Somerset six down, still six runs short of their hundred. They were in disarray, and their disarray was fixed on the scoreboard as if in aspic to bore into the minds of their supporters as the afternoon rain wiped out prospects of any further play. At the start, the cloud had been high and white, but it was soon formed of a smooth blanket with a forecast predicting an afternoon of the sort of steady rain which goes with that sort of cloud. On this occasion, the forecast did not err, and Somerset, in their distress, had to bear it, or thank it.

County Championship 2023. Division 1. Hampshire v Somerset. 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th  September. Southampton.

Jack Leach, (back), Josh Davey (family reasons), Sonny Baker (back), Craig Overton (back) and Kasey Aldridge (side) were all unavailable.

Hampshire. T.E. Albert, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, J.M. Vince (c), T.J. Prest, L.A. Dawson, B.C. Brown (w), J.K. Fuller, K.H.D. Barker, K.J. Abbott, Mohammad Abbas.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, T.B. Abell (c), A.R.I. Umeed, T. Kohler-Cadmore, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, B.G.F. Green, N. Wagner, J.A. Brooks, S. Bashir.

Toss. Hampshire. Elected to bat.

First day 3^rd September – “Dawson again”

The AGEAS Bowl is not the most accessible of grounds if you use public transport to get to the cricket, especially if you travel from the far end of Somerset on a Sunday. I do wonder if any of the great Victorian railway engineers ever had to travel from Taunton to Hedge End, for that is the nearest railway station to the cricket. Even so, it is nearly two miles away. Hotels near the ground are expensive, especially if there is a cruise liner or two in the port, and especially so, as with most hotels, on a Saturday night. If you stay in Southampton where there is a greater choice of hotels, but buses and trains to the ground are less than ideal, and, if you use the train, you still end up nearly two miles away. All added up, a back-of-the-envelope cost-benefit analysis led to my deciding to travel from Taunton on the day of the match, stay in a hotel near the ground and miss the morning session (Sunday trains do not get out of bed early).

County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire. 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th July. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (back), Roelof van der Merwe (hand), Ned Leonard (concussion) and Sonny Baker (back) were all unavailable. A number of players were also rested ahead of Vitality Blast T20 Finals Day. Dom Bess is on a short-term loan from Yorkshire.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, A.R.I. Umeed, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, D.M. Bess, J.A. Brooks, A.R.J. Ogborne, S. Bashir.

Hampshire. J.J. Weatherley, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, J.M. Vince (c), B.C. Brown (w), L.A. Dawson, J.K. Fuller, K.H.D. Barker, F.S. Organ, K.J. Abbott, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 500. Hampshire 330 and 34 for 2. Hampshire trail by 136 runs with eight second innings wickets standing.

Final day 12^th July – Experience and application prevail

Hampshire’s second innings followed the pattern of their first, and of Somerset’s only innings, lending credence to the Kookaburra ball’s reputation for losing its bite after about 30 overs. In all three innings, the fifth wicket had fallen by the 31^st over, six in Hampshire’s first innings, and in all three cases with the score not having reached 90. In Somerset’s innings, the last five wickets added 420 runs, in Hampshire’s first innings the last two wickets had added 178 runs, and in Hampshire’s second innings the unbroken eighth wicket added 100 runs and lasted 47 overs.

County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire. 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th July. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (back), Roelof van der Merwe (hand), Ned Leonard (concussion) and Sonny Baker (back) were all unavailable. A number of players were also rested ahead of Vitality Blast T20 Finals Day. Dom Bess was on a short-term loan from Yorkshire.

This round of matches was one of two played in the 2023 County Championship as an experiment with a Kookaburra rather than a Dukes ball.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, A.R.I. Umeed, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, D.M. Bess, J.A. Brooks, A.R.J. Ogborne, S. Bashir.

Hampshire. J.J. Weatherley, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, J.M. Vince (c), B.C. Brown (w), L.A. Dawson, J.K. Fuller, K.H.D. Barker, F.S. Organ, K.J. Abbott, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 500. Hampshire 58 for 2. Hampshire trail by 448 runs with eight first innings wickets standing.

Third day 12^th July – Somerset hold the advantage

This was a day designed to test Somerset’s denuded and largely inexperienced attack. It was a test they came through with considerable credit. It was not a perfect day, there were some similarities between the Hampshire innings and the Somerset one, with Hampshire recovering strongly from a poor start, but overall, Somerset’s attack achieved more than Hampshire’s highly rated attack had on the first day. It left Somerset, at the end of the third day, in a position from where victory was not an impossible dream. The sky was brighter than on the second day, but not bright enough to prevent the floodlights being called upon for most of a day which I watched in the company of two people with a long history of playing club cricket.

County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire. 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th July. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (back), Roelof van der Merwe (hand), Ned Leonard (concussion) and Sonny Baker (back) were all unavailable. A number of players were also rested ahead of Vitality Blast T20 Finals Day. Dom Bess is on a short-term loan from Yorkshire.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, A.R.I. Umeed, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, D.M. Bess, J.A. Brooks, A.R.J. Ogborne, S. Bashir.

Hampshire. J.J. Weatherley, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, J.M. Vince (c), B.C. Brown (w), L.A. Dawson, J.K. Fuller, K.H.D. Barker, F.S. Organ, K.J. Abbott, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 196 for 5.

Second day 11^th July – Somerset, Somerset, Somerset

“Somerset, Somerset, Somerset.” The schoolchildren were back, and Somerset gave them something to cheer. This was a day of unremitting Somerset success and growing Hampshire despair. Somerset’s usual Hampshire tormentors, Kyle Abbott, Mohammad Abbas and Keith Barker were put to flight. Somerset began slowly, establishing themselves, before dominating the Hampshire attack, building an unassailable first innings score in the process. For the best part of an hour, Somerset scored mainly in singles, although two cover drives from James Rew flowed effortlessly to the boundary. Liam Dawson did cause some problems, and Somerset benefited from some luck, the first slice coming quickly. Rew edged Dawson low and straight to James Vince at slip, but the catch went down. The next ball kept low, defeated Rew and went through Ben Brown’s legs for four byes. One or two balls turned quite sharply and beat the batter too, but those moments of danger passed and Somerset took advantage, Rew keeping an end secure with Kasey Aldridge attacking.

County Championship 2023. Division 1. Somerset v Hampshire. 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th July. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (back), Roelof van der Merwe (hand), Ned Leonard (concussion) and Sonny Baker (back) were all unavailable. A number of players were also rested ahead of Vitality Blast T20 Finals Day. Dom Bess was on a short-term loan from Yorkshire.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.R. Dickson, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, A.R.I. Umeed, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, D.M. Bess, J.A. Brooks, A.R.J. Ogborne, S. Bashir.

Hampshire. J.J. Weatherley, F.S. Middleton, N.R.T. Gubbins, J.M. Vince (c), B.C. Brown (w), L.A. Dawson, J.K. Fuller, K.H.D. Barker, F.S. Organ, K.J. Abbott, Mohammad Abbas.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day 10^th July – Rew and Aldridge turn the day

I made my normal entry to the ground through the Brian Rose Gates. No sooner had the, now ubiquitous, bag search been completed than I was asked my view on Somerset fielding a weakened team for this match, a seriously weakened team in terms of the pace attack. Craig Overton, Lewis Gregory and Matt Henry had all been rested ahead of T20 Finals Day which was due to take place two days after the end of the match. I was asked again as I walked along the front of Gimblett’s Hill and again several times through the day. Views varied. “The Championship is supposed to be the Club’s priority,” said one, “I don’t like it, but it’s understandable given we have the same three bowlers at the heart of our pace attack in both formats,” said another. “I think it’s the right thing to do. It’s important for the Club to win a trophy,” commented a third. I tended towards the view that winning a trophy was important because it might embed an aura of achievement and confidence throughout the Club which would have wider benefits, not least in the Championship.