County Championship 2026. Essex v Somerset. April 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th. Chelmsford.

Somerset captain Lewis Gregory was not available for selection due to a chest injury. Craig Overton replaced him as captain.

Somerset. J.F. Thomas, T. Kohler-Cadmore/W.C.F. Smeed*, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton (c), M.J. Leach, T. Shaw, M. Pretorius, J.T. Ball.

*Will Smeed replaced Tom Kohler-Cadmore as an injury replacement under the ECB’s 2026 replacement player trial after 51 overs of the Essex first innings. Archie Vaughan replaced Lewis Goldsworthy as an injury replacement under the same regulations after 38 overs of the Essex second innings.

Essex. D. Elgar, P.I. Walter, P.W.A. Mulder, C.W.J. Allison, M.J.J. Critchley, L.M. Benkenstein, M.S. Pepper (w), S.R. Harmer, S. Snater, S.J. Cook (c), J.A. Porter.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to field.

First day – Captains know best

Somerset won the toss and fielded. At Chelmsford. With Simon Harmer in the Essex side. The decision mystified Somerset supporters, and some Essex ones too. Chelmsford had long been known for taking spin as a match wore on and Harmer had been one of the best spin bowlers in the County Championship for a decade. Essex’s two recent County Championships had depended heavily on the runs of Sir Alistair Cook and the wickets of Harmer. Cook had retired but had been replaced by Dean Elgar, once of Somerset, and another repository of top of order runs. The decision to field seemed perverse. The pitch had a good tinge of green it was true, but the cloud cover at the start, such as it was, was high, thin and summery white. The sun was already pushing through and beginning to cast shadows, although the air was bitingly cold, eating into the very core of the bones, or so it felt, but nothing, to the hardened cricket watcher, suggested inserting the opposition.

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County Championship 2026. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. April 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th. Taunton.

Somerset captain Lewis Gregory was not available for selection due to a chest injury. Craig Overton replaced him as captain.

Somerset. J.F. Thomas, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton (c), M.J. Leach, M. Pretorius, A.R.J. Ogborne, J.T. Ball.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, K. Verreynne (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, R. Lord, O.P Stone, D.Y. Pennington.

Overnight. Somerset 347 and 214 for 1. Nottinghamshire 338. Somerset lead by 223 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.

Final day – More auspicious than disappointing

Somerset 214 for 1 overnight told its own story. Some intensely disciplined batting on the third afternoon from Tom Kohler-Cadmore and James Rew. But, in addition, the old story of the Taunton pitch flattening on the third day had had another chapter added. The talk, as I made my way as far around the ground as the works behind the Somerset Stand would allow for my pre-start of play walk, was of a draw. A certainty in most people’s minds with the expectation that the pitch would flatten even further. The only uncertainty was when a declaration might come. Late enough not to give Nottinghamshire a ‘sniff’ the general conclusion. With eight points for a draw, the risk of relegation for any team that fell behind the others and the natural conservatism of those charged with making decisions and carrying the responsibility for them, there seemed little prospect of anything else.

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County Championship 2026. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. April 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th. Taunton.

Somerset captain Lewis Gregory was not available for selection due to a chest injury. Craig Overton replaced him as captain.

Somerset. J.F. Thomas, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton (c), M.J. Leach, M. Pretorius, A.R.J. Ogborne, J.T. Ball.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, K. Verreynne (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, R. Lord, O.P Stone, D.Y. Pennington.

Overnight. Somerset 347. Nottinghamshire 218 for 3. Nottinghamshire trail by 129 runs with seven second innings wickets standing.

Third day – Somerset’s day

Somerset began the third day facing the distinct possibility that they might end it needing to bat most of the final day to save the match. They ended it in control with some prospect that they might even push for victory on the final afternoon. After a difficult second day, they bowled as well as they had batted on the first day and then batted as well as they had bowled. The key elements of the performance, with bat and ball, were discipline and developing momentum. Craig Overton, bowled throughout with the intensity that has characterised his career and which sustains pressure on batters. He took a wicket in the first over of the day, Nottinghamshire’s last six wickets fell for 78 runs, and the Somerset batters added a further 214 runs to their first innings lead of nine for the loss of just a single wicket. It was Somerset’s day.

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County Championship 2026. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. April 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th. Taunton.

Somerset captain Lewis Gregory was not available for selection due to a chest injury. Craig Overton replaced him as captain.

Somerset. J.F. Thomas, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton (c), M.J. Leach, M. Pretorius, A.R.J. Ogborne, J.T. Ball.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, K. Verreynne (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, R. Lord, O.P Stone, D.Y. Pennington.

Overnight. Somerset 292 for 6.

Second day – A tough battle for Somerset

Nottinghamshire turned this match around with a batting performance every bit as disciplined as Somerset’s had been on the first day. Somerset battled, but Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes added an unbroken 90 for the fourth wicket at the end of the day as the cloud and the light finally closed in and forced the players from the field. Those 90 runs tipped the balance. The Somerset pace attack persisted but, Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius apart, looked a little underpowered in comparison with the Nottinghamshire attack, and Jack Leach seemed unable to find any purchase in the wicket. Pretorius took the three Nottinghamshire wickets to fall through sheer persistence as conditions eased for the batters after the movement of the first day. Overton bowled with fire and threat and beat the bat time and again but without result. He also had the closest of leg before wicket shouts against Haseem Hameed with the second ball of the Nottinghamshire innings, a what might have been moment.

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County Championship 2026. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. April 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th. Taunton.

Somerset captain Lewis Gregory was not available for selection due to a chest injury. Craig Overton replaced him as captain.

Somerset. J.F. Thomas, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, L.P. Goldsworthy, C. Overton (c), M.J. Leach, M. Pretorius, A.R.J. Ogborne, J.T. Ball.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, K. Verreynne (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, R. Lord, O.P Stone, D.Y. Pennington.

Toss. Nottinghamshire. Elected to field.

First day – A healthy start to the season

A bitter wind blew across the face of the lower level of the Trescothick Pavilion all day, and the Nottinghamshire bowling was just as sharp, as was the ball off the pitch, particularly in the morning. In response, the Somerset batting was as determined and precise as I have seen it at the start of a season for some years. This was the sort of early season performance from their batters that Somerset supporters have yearned for, and against the County Champions at that. As the day wore on, that determination, and perhaps some easing of conditions, began to wear the bowling down, although the Nottinghamshire attack contained enough fire and experience to continue to threaten. It was a day of Championship cricket to savour. No relaxation by either side and no favours to either side. And at the end of an overcast day and a ball that spoke the language of the bowlers, as far as anyone could tell before the second side had batted, Somerset came out ahead.

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County Championship 2026. Nottinghamshire v Somerset. June 12^th, 13^th, 14^th and 15^th. Trent Bridge.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore (thumb), Will Smeed (finger), Tom Abell (hand) and Tom Lammonby (elbow) were unavailable for selection.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c),B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke (w), J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, F.P. O’Neill, B.A. Hutton, D.Y. Pennington, Mohammed Ali.

Somerset. J.G. Hermann, J.F. Thomas, L.P. Goldsworthy, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.H.S. Rew, A.M. Vaughan, C. Overton, L. Gregory/J.T. Ball*, M.J. Leach, M. Pretorius, A.R.J. Ogborne.

*Jake Ball replaced Lewis Gregory for the Nottinghamshire second innings under the ECB injury trial replacement guidelines for 2026.

Overnight. Somerset 310 and 355 for 7 dec. Nottinghamshire 193 and 47 for 3. Nottinghamshire need 426 more runs to win with seven second innings wickets standing.

Final day – The irresistible force removes the immovable object

When Haseeb Hameed attempted to glance Craig Overton, Thomas Rew moved sharply to leg, intercepted the ball with perfection, rolled with the momentum of the catch before standing up all in the same movement ending with his arms held aloft in triumph. The perfect way to maintain balance and hold on to the ball I imagine but producing the image of a showman too. That is no criticism any more than it would have been a criticism of Alan Knott or Godfrey Evans. Somerset have found one here, as someone once put it to me when they first saw a young Craig Overton. Overton himself had already half-swivelled to appeal and the umpire’s finger was held aloft before the appeal was over. A replay shows a clear deflection off the bat and Hameed not as much as glancing at the umpire. He just leaned forward on his bat, hung his head low and then walked off.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th September. Taunton.

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

Yorkshire. A. Lyth, F.J. Bean, M.A. Agarwal, J.H. Wharton, J.M. Bairstow (c) (w), M.L. Revis, G.C.H. Hill, D.M. Bess, J.A. Thompson, D.T. Moriarty, C. White.

Overnight. Somerset 441 for 6 dec. Yorkshire 17 for 0. Yorkshire trail by 424 runs with ten first innings wickets standing.

Final day – A sterling effort

After two overs, in front of about 200 spectators and in the face of a terrible weather forecast, Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean had all but doubled Yorkshire’s overnight score of 17 for 0 to 32 for 0. Batting seemed straightforward, and Somerset’s 441 for 6 declared suggested there were more Yorkshire runs to come. Instead, what actually came was one of those magical, out-of-the-blue moments, from a Somerset perspective at least, of which Lewis Gregory is so capable. Bowling to two slips and a gully, he found the edge of Finlay Bean’s defensive bat and the ball flew straight into James Rew’s gloves. Yorkshire 32 for 1. Bean 10. Deficit 409. Gregory’s next ball, wide of off stump, tempted Mayank Argarwal, Yorkshire’s newly signed Indian Test batter, into attempting a push into the off side. Instead, he steered the ball straight into the hands of Tom Abell, third of four slips. Innocuous enough wickets, in appearance at least, but Yorkshire were 32 for 2. For the hat trick ball, a fifth slip moved into place, but James Wharton pushed the ball to backward point for a single. The hat trick ball, as hat trick balls usually are, was an anti-climax, but those two wickets had shown that even 200 people can roar.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset. 29^th, 30^th, 31^st July and 1^st August. Trent Bridge.

Somerset. L. Gregory (c), J.H. Davey, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, T. Banton, A.M. Vaughan, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, J.T. Ball.

Nottinghamshire. H.Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke (w), J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, C.G. Harrison, B.A. Hutton, D.Y. Pennington, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 438. Nottinghamshire 189 for 2. Nottinghamshire trail by 249 runs with eight first innings wickets standing.

Third day – When time stood still

This was a day of cricket on which time seemed to stand still. As each ball was bowled, it didn’t seem to matter who bowled it, who held the bat or who fielded the ball. For large stretches of play it all looked the same, like a short piece of film being played and replayed in an endless loop. The pitch, on the other hand, seemed to be going backwards in time. At lunchtime, when I took a walk around the outfield and to the middle to ‘inspect’ the pitch, it took only a cursory look to realise that there was less evidence of bowlers’ footmarks on it than there had been at lunch on the first day, and that had been precious little.

Meanwhile, as time stood still at Trent Bridge, at Chester-le-Street, the match seemed to be being played in a different time dimension. There, time rolled forward at speed as Surrey overcame some stern Durham resistance to win in three days, moving Surrey well ahead of Nottinghamshire in the table, and even further ahead of Somerset. At Trent Bridge, it was not just time that stood still. So did the ball for the Nottinghamshire innings. It remained unchanged for the whole of its 151 overs with still more of the innings to come on the final day. As cricket balls go, by the end of the day, it must have looked as if it had been used by George Parr, first doyen of Nottinghamshire cricket a century and a half before. Perhaps it was auditioning for a place with the other antiquities in the Trent Bridge Pavilion.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset. 29^th, 30^th, 31^st July and 1^st August. Trent Bridge.

Somerset. L. Gregory (c), J.H. Davey, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, T. Banton, A.M. Vaughan, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, J.T. Ball.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke (w), J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, C.G. Harrison, B.A. Hutton, D.Y. Pennington, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 338 for 4.

Second day – A match on autopilot

The tone for Somerset’s morning was set when Jack Leach attempted to drive the first ball of the day, from Dillon Pennington completing his unfinished over from the previous evening, through the covers. The ball flew off the edge, and straight to Lyndon James at backward point. I had the perfect view, sat in the 20^th row, high up in the Smith Cooper Stand. My line of sight was straight along the line of the ball as it flew to James. Even from square, a disapproving voice said, “That was a very long way outside off.” And James might have been placed on that spot for that stroke. Somerset 338 for 5. Leach 0. A surprised cheer went up from the Nottinghamshire crowd, numbering, by my eye, just below a thousand at the start. After the four and a quarter hour partnership between James Rew and Tom Abell on the first day, I doubt anyone expected a wicket from the first ball of the day.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset. 29^th, 30^th, 31^st July and 1^st August. Trent Bridge.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke (w), J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, C.G. Harrison, B.A. Hutton, D.Y. Pennington, Mohammad Abbas.

Somerset. L. Gregory (c), J.H. Davey, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, T. Banton, A.M. Vaughan, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, J.T. Ball.

Toss. Nottinghamshire elected to field.

First day – An idyll of Somerset batting

The omens were not good for Somerset. The sky was overcast, the light indifferent, Nottinghamshire had a strong pace attack led by Mohammad Abbas and they had elected to bowl on winning the toss. Abbas’s second ball, from over the wicket and slightly angled in, cut in some more and kept low. Lewis Gregory shuffled across his stumps, raised his bat high to leave the ball and was struck on the pads. The appeal from in front of and behind the stumps was instant and convincing, more of a roar than a shout. The raising of the umpire’s finger was instantaneous, admitting of no doubt and Somerset were 0 for 1 with the sleep barely out of most spectator’s eyes. In Abbas’s next over, a ball, again slightly angled in, this time from around the wicket, perhaps straightened a trace. Tom Lammonby brought his bat forward to defend and edged the ball knee-high to Calvin Harrison at second slip. Somerset 0 for 2 and the cheer from the Nottinghamshire crowd of perhaps twelve hundred, perhaps a few more, reverberated around inside stunned Somerset heads.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset. 29^th, 30^th, 31^st July and 1^st August. Trent Bridge.

Nottinghamshire. H.Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke (w), J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, C.G. Harrison, B.A. Hutton, D.Y. Pennington, Mohammad Abbas.

Somerset. L. Gregory (c), J.H. Davey, T.A. Lammonby, J.E.K. Rew (w), T.B. Abell, T. Banton, A.M. Vaughan, C. Overton, M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, J.T. Ball.

Overnight. Somerset 438. Nottinghamshire 189 for 2. Nottinghamshire trail by 249 runs with eight first innings wickets standing.

Final day – “A painted ship upon a painted ocean” Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.” So Coleridge portrayed the ship of the Ancient Mariner becalmed in the doldrums. He could as well have used those lines to portray the second and third days of this match. So dead was the pitch, so uninspiring much of the cricket, so soft did the Kookaburra ball become after a dozen or so overs of each innings, or so it seemed from beyond the boundary, that Lewis Gregory opted not to bother with the new ball after 80 overs of the Nottinghamshire innings. Instead, he used the original for the whole innings, 159.2 overs, four balls short of double the usual allocation for a ball. Whether because of the effect of the comatose pitch on the first three days, or the reputation of the Kookaburra ball among County Championship spectators, the crowd had voted with their feet by the fourth day. At the start, I counted about 170 people in the stands prepared to continue watching. The crowd had grown to around 250 by lunch, but that was a fraction of the attendance on the first two days and only about a quarter of the attendance on the third day. The first three days had seen one of the highest attendances by Somerset supporters on the first three days of any of Somerset’s first six away matches in 2025. By the final day, perhaps a dozen remained.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. 29^th, 30^th June, 1st and 2^nd July. Taunton.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable for selection for personal reasons.

Somerset. T. Kohler-Cadmore, , S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), A.M. Vaughan, K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, M.J. Leach.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, I.P Kishan (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, B.A. Hutton, F. Ahmed, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 379. Nottinghamshire 214 for 3. Nottinghamshire trail by 165 runs with seven first innings wickets standing

Third day – Different gravy

As I meandered around the ground at the start of the afternoon session, extending my lunchtime walk to a second circumnavigation, stopping in the usual gaps between the stands, waiting for something to happen, someone said, “Notts are just ambling along.” He was far from being alone in expressing that view. It was that sort of day. Lazy in the heat, mainly accumulative cricket in the middle, and a match moving forward at a slow march. Even the Quantocks seemed to be asleep. Gone were the vibrant colours of spring which brought the hills to life as the cricket season got under way. Now those colours had faded as if the apparently endless summer heat had consumed their vibrancy, as indeed it probably had. But, for all that, one thing stood out above the rest of the day. An innings of sheer bliss and skill from Ishan Kishan, signed by Nottinghamshire for two Championship matches while their usual wicket keeper was away on international duty. As I had walked in the shade of the tunnel under the Lord Ian Botham Stand, a Somerset supporter who had travelled from the West Midlands said to me, unprompted, and with a hint of awe in his voice, “Kishan is different gravy. A class above anything else we have seen. Worth travelling just to see him.”

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. 29^th, 30^th June, 1st and 2^nd July. Taunton.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable for selection for personal reasons.

Somerset. T. Kohler-Cadmore, , S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), A.M. Vaughan, K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, M.J. Leach.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, I.P Kishan (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, B.A. Hutton, F. Ahmed, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 275 for 6.

Second day – Battling on

The second day of this match saw Somerset continuing to battle for match position with the Championship leaders. They did not lose ground, but neither did they gain any, the day ending with Nottinghamshire still retaining the edge, but with Somerset still in contention. Somerset made quicker progress with the bat than they had on the first day, but when Nottinghamshire batted, the first hour of Ben Slater’s innings apart, the cricket was often attritional, a form of the game which, in supporters’ minds, is becoming associated with the use of the Kookaburra ball in English conditions. Crowd numbers were well down on the first day when free members’ tickets appeared to bring hundreds into the ground. By my eye, upwards of a thousand came on the second day, but these were added to by another thousand schoolchildren in the Priory Bridge Road and Ondaatje Stands. They were organised in class blocks and for as long as they were there, the ground sounded like a school playground on an eternal last day of term.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. 29^th, 30^th June, 1st and 2^nd July. Taunton.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable for selection for personal reasons.

Somerset. T. Kohler-Cadmore, , S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), A.M. Vaughan, K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, M.J. Leach.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, I.P Kishan (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, B.A. Hutton, F. Ahmed, Mohammad Abbas.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day – Somerset battle

This was a key match in Somerset’s push for contention in the 2025 County Championship. After a disastrous, in cricketing terms, start to the season, which found them bottom of the Championship after four of the season’s 14 matches, they had achieved a near-miraculous turnaround when they defeated Essex from an apparently hopeless position in the fifth match. That led to three victories in succession and a climb to fifth place in the table. Then, at Edgbaston, they encountered the Kookaburra ball, notoriously resistant to wicket taking in English conditions, and a pitch which looked like it might last an eternity. Getting the better of the draw against Warwickshire, they moved above them in the table to end the match in fourth place, 21 points behind the leaders, Nottinghamshire. The outcome of their two matches against Nottinghamshire, this one, and another at Trent Bridge at the end of July, would be crucial if Somerset were to close the gap on the leaders, and on Surrey, two points behind Nottinghamshire in second place. At Taunton, in this the second of Somerset’s four Kookaburra matches in 2025, there was a bumper crowd, 3,000 at least, perhaps more. The ECB had designated this round of matches a red ball festival and Somerset had offered each member two free tickets.

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County Championship 2025. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. 29^th, 30^th June, 1st and 2^nd July. Taunton.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable for selection for personal reasons.

Somerset. T. Kohler-Cadmore, , S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), A.M. Vaughan, K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton, M.J. Henry, M.J. Leach.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, F.W. McCann, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, I.P Kishan (w), L.W. James, L.A. Patterson-White, B.A. Hutton, F. Ahmed, Mohammad Abbas.

Overnight. Somerset 379 and 4 for1. Nottinghamshire 509. Somerset trail by 126 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.

Final day – Clinical Kohler-Cadmore

When, with 86 overs left in the day, Tom Lammonby swept Liam Patterson-White into the hands of Farham Ahmed at deep midwicket the ball might have been laser guided so accurately did it pick Ahmed out. It had not been the smoothest of Lammonby pulls. He had looked somewhat tucked up in the stroke and Somerset were 28 for 3, still 102 runs behind. “One hundred and thirty all out,” said the voice behind me in the lower deck of the Trescothick Pavilion. That all three wickets had fallen to Patterson-White’s slow left arm spin fed the tremor of anxiety which had driven the comment. Sean Dickson had already departed, leg before wicket to a ball from Patterson-White which had pitched on leg and straightened. He had already been beaten more than once by Patterson-White, never looked settled and two of his six runs had come off the edge. Lammonby had played a perfectly controlled hook off Mohammad Abbas, square to the Somerset Stand to a cry of, ”Shot, Tom,” but it was a false harbinger and the day ahead now looked long and fraught for Somerset watchers.

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County Championship 2024. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th June. Trent Bridge.

Due to someone in my household testing positive for COVID, I opted not to attend this match. The reports are therefore written through watching the Nottinghamshire CCC live stream.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable due to a groin strain. Craig Overton captained the Somerset side.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, W.A. Young, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, T.J. Moores (c), L.W. James, C.G. Harrison, O.P. Stone, D.Y. Pennington, D. Paterson.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, A.R.I. Umeed, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton (c), M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, J.T. Ball.

Overnight. Nottinghamshire 360. Somerset 293 for 4. Somerset trail by 67 runs with six second innings wickets standing.

Third day 25th June – A hard watch

As soon as I switched on the live stream it looked like a day for batting, and as it turned out, it was. The sky was blue, the shadows sharp, and the pitch had a decidedly benign attitude, although there was some, if predictable, turn for Calvin Harrison’s leg breaks. Watching the players and people in the crowd, when the camera caught them, it quickly became apparent that it was a hot day. The shady parts of the stands were better populated than the sunny ones while, between overs or when retrieving a ball from beyond the boundary, players moved about with that hint of tired reluctance that overtakes the body as a searingly hot day wears on.

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County Championship 2024. Division 1. Nottinghamshire v Somerset 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th June. Trent Bridge.

Due to someone in my household testing positive for COVID, I opted not to attend this match. The reports are therefore written through watching the Nottinghamshire CCC live stream. The live stream was watched with the sound muted to ensure the impression of the play which I developed was my own.

Lewis Gregory was unavailable due to a groin strain. Craig Overton captained the Somerset side. Matthew Renshaw had departed Somerset at the end of his contract.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, W.A. Young, J.M. Clarke, J.A. Haynes, T.J. Moores (c), L.W. James, C.G. Harrison, O.P. Stone, D.Y. Pennington, D. Paterson.

Somerset. T.A. Lammonby, A.R.I. Umeed, T. Kohler-Cadmore, T.B. Abell, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), K.L. Aldridge, C. Overton (c), M. Pretorius, M.J. Leach, J.T. Ball.

Toss. Nottinghamshire. Elected to bat.

First day 24th May – Nearly but not quite

This was a day of hard labour for Somerset’s bowlers which brought both reward and frustration. There was some movement in the air, although much of it came after the ball had passed the bat. As to the pitch, it gave every impression of being content to leave all the work to the bowlers. The bowlers meanwhile, Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius in particular, stuck to their task. A late attack from Ollie Pope apart, the batters mostly had to work for their runs. Twice Somerset threatened to break the back of the Nottinghamshire innings with clutches of wickets, but twice Nottinghamshire redressed the balance with century partnerships. By the end of the day Somerset might have claimed a slight advantage. But for anyone watching in the Somerset interest, after those two century partnerships it had been a day of what might have been.

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County Championship 2024. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire 19^th, 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd April. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (knee injury) and Tom Abell (hamstring) were unavailable.

Somerset, M.T. Renshaw, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, L.P. Goldsworthy, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory (c), C. Overton, J.H. Davey, M. Pretorius, S. Bashir.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, W.A. Young, J.M. Clarke (w), M. Montgomery, J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, C.G. Harrison, B.A. Hutton, L.J. Fletcher, D. Paterson.

Overnight. Nottinghamshire 193 and 418  for 2. Somerset 454. Nottinghamshire lead by 157 runs.

Final day 22^nd April – A merciful end

The forecast for the final day was awful. The rain was a little late in coming, but it came in time to put the remains of this game out of their misery before things had dragged on for too long. There was no prospect of a positive result, so flat had the pitch become and all bonus points had been allocated. The forecast and the state of the match had reduced the crowd to 200 at most, and most of those were eyeing the gathering clouds, perhaps hoping for deliverance. The third day had brought back memories of the pitches and fourth days of a decade and a half before when wickets falling on the final day could be as rare as August snow.

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County Championship 2024. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire 19^th, 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd April. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (knee injury) and Tom Abell (hamstring) were unavailable.

Somerset, M.T. Renshaw, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, L.P. Goldsworthy, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory (c), C. Overton, J.H. Davey, M. Pretorius, S. Bashir.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, W.A. Young, J.M. Clarke (w), M. Montgomery, J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, C.G. Harrison, B.A. Hutton, L.J. Fletcher, D. Paterson.

Overnight. Nottinghamshire 193. Somerset 116 for 1. Somerset trail by 77 runs.

Second day 20^th April – Overton and Pretorius take the breath away

In the end, this proved to be a day of accelerating Somerset progress, at first gradual and then, like water unleashed by the lifting of a sluice gate, the runs gushed across most of the final session. The sun, as it did on the first day, shone all day, but the wind across the face of the elevated level of the Trescothick Pavilion continued with its unrelenting winter chill. The cricket held the attention across all three sessions, but in the intervals, the lack of access to the outfield at lunchtime and the closure of the Somerset Stand and the Brian Rose Gates still entered the conversation.

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County Championship 2024. Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire 19^th, 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd April. Taunton.

Jack Leach, (knee injury) and Tom Abell (hamstring) were unavailable.

Somerset, M.T. Renshaw, S.R. Dickson, T.A. Lammonby, L.P. Goldsworthy, T. Banton, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory (c), C. Overton, J.H. Davey, M. Pretorius, S. Bashir.

Nottinghamshire. H. Hameed (c), B.T. Slater, W.A. Young, J.M. Clarke (w), M. Montgomery, J.A. Haynes, L.W. James, C.G. Harrison, B.A. Hutton, L.J. Fletcher, D. Paterson.

Toss. Nottinghamshire. Elected to bat.

First day 19^th April – “Come on Somerset!”

The Quantocks and the ground looked very different places. The Quantocks looked on, resplendent in the sun with the bright yellow of the oilseed set against a spring green background with one glorious sandstone-red ploughed field having pride of place. The ground was stark in comparison. Stark because the crowd was the smallest I can remember for the start of a Championship match at Taunton. It looked well down on the two thousand plus spectators which were commonplace on a sunny day before the pandemic. I would be surprised if it reached a thousand at the start. The pandemic doubtless had an impact, perhaps the chill wind, perhaps the cost-of-living crisis too, Somerset entry charges are among the most expensive in the country.

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