County Championship 2023. Division 1. Middlesex v Somerset. 18^th,19^th and 20^th May. Lord’s.

Middlesex. M.D. Stoneman, S.D. Robson, S.S. Eskinazi, M.D.E. Holden, R.G. White, J.A. Simpson (w), R.F. Higgins, L.B.K. Hollman, T.S. Roland-Jones (c), E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.M. Davies, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, T. Kohler-Cadmore, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Somerset 404. Middlesex 175 and 81 for 1. Middlesex trail by 148 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.

Final day 20^th May – On the way

Middlesex began the third day in a rather different vein to that in which they had finished the second. The positive seeking of runs of the night before was replaced by grim defence on the morning after. In the first 11 overs of the day, Mark Stoneman and Stevie Eskanazi scored 14 runs, on one occasion batting out four successive maidens during a seven-over period when three runs were scored. Bats were beaten more than once but neither Craig Overton nor Matt Henry broke through. It was a frustrating three-quarters of an hour for Somerset supporters, still present in large numbers among a Saturday crowd that to my eye was the largest of the match.

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County Championship 2023. Division 1. Middlesex v Somerset. 18^th,19^th and 20^th May. Lord’s.

Middlesex. M.D. Stoneman, S.D. Robson, S.S. Eskinazi, M.D.E. Holden, R.G. White, J.A. Simpson (w), R.F. Higgins, L.B.K. Hollman, T.S. Roland-Jones (c), E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.M. Davies, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, T. Kohler-Cadmore, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Somerset 325 for 6.

Second day 19^th May – A consummate performance

This was the day on which everything finally came together for Somerset. Northamptonshire had been outplayed at Taunton, but they had produced a sterling defensive performance to bat through the final day and escaped with a draw. At Old Trafford, Somerset had edged Lancashire, but in the end, the teams fought each other to a standstill, and the game petered out into the tamest of draws. Here, with still two full days to play and a settled forecast, by the end of the day, Somerset found themselves poised to win for the first time this season. It was a consummate performance.

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County Championship 2023. Division 1. Middlesex v Somerset. 18^th,19^th and 20^thMay. Lord’s.

Middlesex. M.D. Stoneman, S.D. Robson, S.S. Eskinazi, M.D.E. Holden, R.G. White, J.A. Simpson (w), R.F. Higgins, L.B.K. Hollman, T.S. Roland-Jones (c), E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, S.M. Davies, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, T. Kohler-Cadmore, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Toss. Middlesex. Elected to field.

First day 18th May – Old Father Time has good measure

Sitting in the lower level of the Compton Stand among a, for a Championship match, larger than average crowd, the atmosphere was vibrant, the crowd buzzing and the cricket captivating. From the Edrich to the Allen Stands the Tavern side of the ground was closed. That concentrated the crowd from the Pavilion to the Compton Stand on the Grandstand side of the ground, the pitch being set over that way. It worked. Everyone faced, or nearly faced, Old Father Time as he ticked away the minutes of a pulsating first day which Somerset edged, although Middlesex clawed back some of Somerset’s advantage as the evening drew in, and the crowd buzzed the day long.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Somerset CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Somerset v Middlesex. 29^th and 30^th April, and 1^st and 2^nd May 2021. Taunton.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), L.P Goldsworthy, C. Overton, L. Gregory/J.A.Brooks*, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

*J.A. Brooks was substituted for L. Gregory under the ECB COVID-19 Protocol from the third day.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, P.S.P. Handscomb (c), R.G. White, J.A. Simpson (w), M.K. Andersson, L.B.K. Hollman, T.J. Murtagh. S.T. Finn, T.G. Helm.

Overnight. Middlesex 357 and 117. Somerset 268 and 104 for 4. Somerset need another 103 runs to win with six wickets standing.

Final day. 2nd May – Someone always stands up

Someone always stands up, or so they say about successful sports teams under pressure. In this match, for Somerset, virtually everyone stood up at different times, the more so the more critical to the outcome the situation became. Almost as many stood up for Middlesex. The difference was that those standing up for Somerset did not wilt when the pressure on them was at it greatest. In an evenly balanced match, it is the team that best applies and absorbs pressure that wins. On a final morning of the most intense pressure and tension it was Somerset, in the form of the old master Steven Davies and the young debutant apprentice, Lewis Goldsworthy, who stood firm. Although it has to be said, the apprentice seemed to have as much to teach as to learn about dealing with pressure, and a head for it as old as any.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Somerset CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Somerset v Middlesex. 29^th and 30^th April, and 1^st and 2^nd May 2021. Taunton.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), L.P Goldsworthy, C. Overton, L. Gregory/J.A.Brooks*, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

*J.A. Brooks was substituted for L. Gregory under the ECB COVID-19 Protocol from the third day.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, P.S.P. Handscomb (c), R.G. White, J.A. Simpson (w), M.K. Andersson, L.B.K. Hollman, T.J. Murtagh. S.T. Finn, T.G. Helm.

Overnight. Middlesex 357. Somerset 178 for 4. Somerset trail by 179 runs.

Third day 1^st May – Puck changes the mood

This match is quite a tussle. Middlesex established a first innings lead of 89 having worked their way through Somerset’s last six wickets on the third morning for 90 runs. It might have been the decisive session of the match had it not been for Somerset’s Overton and Davey who on the third afternoon led the way in reducing Middlesex’s second innings to 117 all out. It left Somerset with 207 to win, a greater task than it sounds on a pitch still offering pace and bounce and some movement. When Somerset fell to 17 for 2, with both openers gone, 207 seemed a universe away.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Somerset CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Somerset v Middlesex. 29^th and 30^th April, and 1^st and 2^nd May 2021. Taunton.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, P.S.P. Handscomb (c), R.G. White, M.K. Andersson, J.A. Simpson (w), L.B.K. Hollman, T.G. Helm, E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), L.P Goldsworthy, C. Overton, L. Gregory, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Middlesex 308 for 6.

Second day 30^th April – A mountain to climb

On a day on which the weather threatened and then intervened to the extent of 25 lost overs, this match continued to ebb and flow as, variously, Middlesex forged ahead and Somerset pegged them back. Middlesex held the advantage, to a greater or lesser extent, throughout the day, but by the end it was perhaps less than it had been when the players walked out at the beginning. In short, it was a day of good, hard cricket.

Somerset began with Gregory from the River End and Overton from the Trescothick Pavilion End. For Middlesex, Luke Hollman began by steering Overton past third slip and cutting Gregory through backward point to the Somerset Stand, both for four. Another no ball from Gregory, his fourth of the innings, and a bouncer from Overton which cleared Davies’ upstretched arms added to the Middlesex score. Then, as the bowlers settled, they began to assert some control and seven overs passed for 11 runs.

Eventually Overton’s persistence found a way through. Hollman came forward in defence to a ball angled in from around the wicket. Delivered by Overton’s perfectly perpendicular arm the ball beat Hollman for pace. In what is perhaps the most spectacular sight in cricket the off stump cartwheeled, only coming to rest several yards beyond its mooring point. It was the sort of delivery and result which brings gasps of wonder and cheers of delight from supporters around a ground, and would have done so on this occasion from supporters in front of screens across Somerset and beyond. Feelings of relief too, for at 332 for 7 the Middlesex score, if slowly, was beginning to reach heights which would have given even the most worrisome Middlesex supporter cause for comfort.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Somerset CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Somerset v Middlesex. 29^th and 30^th April, and 1^st and 2^nd May 2021. Taunton.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton, L. Gregory, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, P.S.P. Handscomb (c), R.G. White, J.A. Simpson (w), M.K. Andersson, L.B.K. Hollman, T.J. Murtagh. S.T. Finn, T.G. Helm.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bowl.

First day 29^th April – Oh, W.G.

Oh, W.G., does’t thee turn, head slowly shaking, in thy grave? It was a day when the sun shone bright, Somerset played two spinners and the wicket had a tinge of green as far as the eagle-eyed camera could discern. Before a ball was bowled my heart sank as the wonders of modern technology brought news from the ground that Somerset had won the toss and asked Middlesex to bat. Where the toss is concerned, I am a W.G. man, even when there is a tinge of green, and nothing happened on the first day to dissuade me of that view. More than six decades of watching Somerset play cricket has left me, based on my anecdotal memory it is true, convinced that the percentages weigh heavily in favour of batting on winning the toss, almost whatever the conditions. Forty minutes after lunch, Middlesex were 121 for 2, the ball was losing some of its early vim, Jack Leach had just replaced Tom Abell at the River End, Peter Handscomb had steered him neatly past James Hildreth at slip for four and another insertion anecdote was being lowered into the well of disappointed hopes.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Middlesex CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Middlesex v Somerset. 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th April 2021. Lord’s.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, S.S. Eskinazi (c), R.G. White, M.K. Andersson, J.A. Simpson (w), T.S. Roland-Jones, T.G. Helm, E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), C. Overton, L. Gregory, M. de Lange, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Middlesex 313 and 143. Somerset 172 and 112 for 3. Somerset need another 173 runs to win with seven wickets standing

Final day. 11^th April – The match of a lifetime

I saw my first Somerset match in 1958. I was seven years old. I am now 70 years old. It is difficult to recall in the intervening years seeing an outcome quite so remarkable as this one. For an ardent Somerset watcher that is quite a claim. At the end of the second day Middlesex led by 228 runs with eight second innings wickets standing. Middlesex’s first innings 313 was generally held to be some way above par for the conditions. Midway through that second day it had been put into its true perspective when Somerset’s reply subsided to 89 for 9 with numbers ten and eleven at the wicket. Somerset were not so much staring into the abyss as laying in pieces at the bottom of it.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Middlesex CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Middlesex v Somerset. 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th April 2021. Lord’s.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, S.S. Eskinazi (c), R.G. White, M.K. Andersson, J.A. Simpson (w), T.S. Roland-Jones, T.G. Helm, E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), C. Overton, L. Gregory, M. de Lange, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Middlesex 313 and 87 for 2. Somerset 172. Middlesex lead by 228 with eight second innings wickets standing.

Third day. 10^th April – Somerset shape the day

At the start of the final day of this match Somerset will need 173 runs to win with seven wickets standing. In one sense that is a simple statement of fact. But in the minds, and in the hearts, of the supporters of Somerset and Middlesex it is so much more than that. For them it is a statement replete with meaning, charged with hope and dripping with anxiety. It is laden with the ifs and buts, with the twists and turns, and with the incessant tension of a third day which breathed vibrant life back into a match which had seemed, to all intents and purposes, over at the end of the second day.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Middlesex CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Middlesex v Somerset. 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th April 2021. Lord’s.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, S.S. Eskinazi (c), R.G. White, M.K. Andersson, J.A. Simpson (w), T.S. Roland-Jones, T.G. Helm, E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), C. Overton, L. Gregory, M. de Lange, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Overnight. Middlesex 293 for 8.

Second day. 9^th April – Outplayed

For Somerset supporters this was not the day perched on the edge of the seats of their armchairs hoped for at the end of the first day. It was instead, a day spent slumped into the depths of the cushions of those chairs. Somerset have thus far been comprehensively outplayed in this match. Largely, on the batting front, by Robson’s outstanding innings on the first day. As to the bowling, the Middlesex pace attack, more accustomed it is true to using the conditions and the slope at Lord’s, were more consistent than the Somerset bowlers in troubling the batsmen, perhaps Gregory’s first innings contribution excepted. Too often in Middlesex’s second innings, the Somerset bowlers gave leeway in line or dropped short and the Middlesex batsmen took full advantage. In their first innings, had it not been for a typically swashbuckling innings from Marchant de Lange, assiduously supported by Leach, Somerset would have found themselves bowled out for two figures and conceded a first innings lead of over 200. The gap between the sides, on the first two days of this match at least, was that great.

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This match was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus restrictions in place. This report was therefore written following a day watching Middlesex CCC’s live stream of the match, without which this report would not have been possible. The stream was watched with the commentary muted and with notes being taken to enable the author to replicate as far as possible his experience of watching matches live.

County Championship Group 2. Middlesex v Somerset. 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th April 2021. Lord’s.

Middlesex. M.D.E. Holden, S.D. Robson, N.R.T. Gubbins, S.S. Eskinazi (c), R.G. White, M.K. Andersson, J.A. Simpson (w), T.S. Roland-Jones, T.G. Helm, E.R. Bamber, T.J. Murtagh

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, T. Banton, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), C. Overton, L. Gregory, M. de Lange, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to field.

First day. 8^th April – A day of cricket of the old sort

This was a day of championship cricket of the old sort. A day on which the bowlers had to work hard for their wickets and batsmen for their runs. A day on which the pitch seemed to favour neither batsman nor bowler and on which less than 300 runs were scored. There was some lift for Craig Overton in the morning but rarely any great movement for the bowlers. Of the Middlesex batsmen, Stephen Eskanazi batted two hours to grind out 22, Robbie White an hour and a quarter for 17. Only one batsman, Sam Robson, exceeded Eskanazi’s 22.

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September 2017 Specsavers County Championship. First Division. Taunton. 25^th, 26^th, 27^th and 28^th. Somerset v Middlesex.

In short, Somerset needed to defeat Middlesex to retain their First Division status. Victory for Somerset would also mean the relegation of Middlesex. Any other result would reverse those roles.

Overnight. Somerset 236 and 250-9 dec. Middlesex 142 and 40-3. Middlesex need a further 305 runs to win with 7 wickets standing. 

28^th September. Final Day – Floating on air    

Farmer White (IP Logged) 28 September 2017 11.11 p.m.

“I normally set off for a Somerset match filled with trepidation and deep foreboding about the outcome. It was like an out of body experience this morning as I set off, for I had no such forebodings, just a quiet confidence that Somerset would do an efficient professional job of retaining their place in the First Division. Difficult to explain why my psyche should let me have such an easy ride. With so much hanging on the day I should have been paralysed with anxiety. As it was I floated on air. Read More »

September 2017 Specsavers County Championship. First Division. Taunton. 25^th, 26^th, 27^th and 28^th. Somerset v Middlesex.

Overnight. Somerset 236 and 159-3. Middlesex 142. Somerset lead by 259 runs with seven second innings wickets standing.  

27^th September. Third Day – The value of Hildreth

Farmer White (IP Logged) 28 September 2017 8.28 a.m.

“Well what a day that was. From the first ball there was no doubting Somerset’s intent with the bat, or the weather’s. Middlesex’s in the field soon became clear too. By the end of the day we saw the mettle of Somerset’s new Chief Executive for we knew that by the end of the next day the Director of Cricket will have departed. Steven Davies had been awarded his county cap. By next week a new Director of Cricket will have been announced, and a new post of Head Coach created and filled. And Craig Overton is off to the Ashes too.*
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September 2017 Specsavers County Championship. First Division. Taunton. 25^th, 26^th, 27^th and 28^th. Somerset v Middlesex.

Overnight. Somerset 236. Middlesex 18-3. Middlesex trail Somerset by 218 runs with seven first innings wickets standing.    

26^th September. Second Day – Two old hands excel

Farmer White (IP Logged) 27 September 2017 1.30 a.m.
“We started ten minutes late on the second day amid mist, mizzle and misgivings about the pitch hanging in the air like the sword of Damocles over Somerset’s First Division status*. By the end of the day the sun had despatched the mist and the mizzle, and the bats of Hildreth, Abell, Trescothick, Stirling and Malan should have seen off Damocles and his sword.
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September 2017 Specsavers County Championship. First Division. Taunton. 25^th, 26^th, 27^th and 28^th. Somerset v Middlesex.

Somerset faced Middlesex at Taunton for the last Championship match of the 2017 season. In all probability, one of the two counties would be relegated from the First Division at the end of the match. If Somerset were to beat Middlesex, and at least match them for bonus points, they would end the season on the same number of points as Middlesex but would finish above them because the victory would give them four wins to Middlesex’s three. For Middlesex the situation was more simple. Anything but a victory for Somerset would see Middlesex safe. For both sides there were other more nebulous permutations involving other teams, particularly Middlesex, but the outcome of the match between the two sides was by far the most likely determinent of their respective futures.Read More »