County Championship 2022. Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 19^th, 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd July. Taunton.

Craig Overton was unavailable for selection due to being on international duty. Josh Davey was unavailable due to a hamstring injury and Sonny Baker due to an ongoing back injury.

The author watched this day on the Somerset CCC live stream having tested positive for COVID before setting off for the cricket.

Somerset. M.T. Renshaw, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, L.P. Goldsworthy, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, K.L. Aldridge, M.J. Leach, J.A. Brooks, M. de Lange.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth (c), T. Kohler-Cadmore, G.C.H. Hill, H.C. Brook, J.A. Tattersall (w), D.M. Bess, J.A. Thompson, M.L. Revis, J.W. Shutt, M.J. Waite, S.T. Gabriel.

Overnight. Somerset 424 and 225 for 6. Yorkshire 276. Somerset lead by 373 runs.

Final day 22^nd July – No play. Rain.

The bees had flown, and I was left with the runny nose and cough. Hardly an illness at all. But a second test confirmed the first. It was COVID. No doubt. So, another day in quarantine, sitting in a chair this time. I really was not ill enough to justify laying on a bed, and it is much more comfortable watching cricket in an upright position. The live stream showed heavy cloud, but a clear view of the Quantocks. Then, instead of players coming out, the covers came on. Rain, light at first, came and went. The Quantocks disappeared and reappeared  The figures on the Colin Atkinson scoreboard brightened and dimmed. The covers came off and went back on. The umpires inspected and took refuge in the Caddick Pavilion. The covers came off and went back on again. Hope rose and fell. An early lunch was called. A restart was announced for 25 minutes to three. And then, as the rain continued its Hokey Cokey, the match was abandoned. But a defensive draw at Southport had been followed by a dominant draw at Taunton. Progress for Somerset at least.

Read More »

County Championship 2022. Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 19^th, 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd July. Taunton.

Craig Overton was unavailable for selection due to being on international duty. Josh Davey was unavailable due to a hamstring injury and Sonny Baker due to an ongoing back injury.

The author watched this day on the Somerset CCC live stream having tested positive for COVID before setting off for the cricket.

Somerset. M.T. Renshaw, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, L.P. Goldsworthy, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, K.L. Aldridge, M.J. Leach, J.A. Brooks, M. de Lange.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth (c), T. Kohler-Cadmore, G.C.H. Hill, H.C. Brook, J.A. Tattersall (w), D.M. Bess, J.A. Thompson, M.L. Revis, J.W. Shutt, M.J. Waite, S.T. Gabriel.

Overnight. Somerset 424. Yorkshire 167 for 4. Yorkshire trail by 257 runs.

Third day 20^th July – A sideways look at the day – cricket through COVID eyes

A positive COVID test before setting off for the cricket rather turned my day on its head. Or, at least, on its side. An irritating cough, a muzzy head and the beginnings of a runny nose the only symptoms at the start of the day. By the end, my nose was running like the Niagara Falls and I was using tissues faster than Somerset were scoring runs, and they were scoring at quite a rate. The muzzy head soon turned itself into a bag of furiously buzzing bees which moved en masse in the opposite direction to any and every movement of my head, bouncing off the far side when they got there before buzzing back the other way. If I needed to walk, I placed my feet delicately one in front of the other in an attempt to avoid provoking the bees into another attempt to break out of my head each time I put my foot down. Everything had to be done in slow motion, whether getting onto or off the bed, or drinking water, or taking an occasional look at other scores on my phone. The longer the day went on, until they began to relent in the late afternoon, the more were those bees likely to fly into a rage at the slightest movement of my head.

I watched the cricket laying on my side with my laptop perched on a chair beside the bed in the self-imposed quarantine of a spare bedroom. Laying on my side with my head resting motionless on a pillow was the best way to appease those bees. I drank plenty of fluids, took a couple of paracetamol, tried to keep the peace between my competing symptoms, got as much rest as I could, and, crucially, watch as much of the cricket as my fuzzed mind could accommodate. As if watching Someset with a clear head is not chellenging enough.

Read More »

County Championship 2022. Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 19^th, 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd July. Taunton.

Craig Overton was unavailable for selection due to being on international duty. Josh Davey was unavailable due to a hamstring injury and Sonny Baker due to an ongoing back injury.

Somerset. M.T. Renshaw, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, L.P. Goldsworthy, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, K.L. Aldridge, M.J. Leach, J.A. Brooks, M. de Lange.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth (c), T. Kohler-Cadmore, G.C.H. Hill, H.C. Brook, J.A. Tattersall (w), D.M. Bess, J.A. Thompson, M.L. Revis, J.W. Shutt, M.J. Waite, S.T. Gabriel.

Overnight. Somerset 262 for 5.

Second day 20^th July – Advantage Somerset

This was a day when the unexpected became the norm. Cloud and rain hugged the Quantocks for much of the day, but only half an hour’s play was lost. The normally deep-voiced, melodic English accent of the public address announcements was briefly replaced by a lilting Australian twang, subsequently discovered to be the result of a raid on the microphone by Matt Renshaw. Kasey Aldridge, batting high at number eight, found the boundary with a reverse sweep, “They can all do it now,” the comment, and Jack Leach connected with a switch-hit which deposited the ball into the Ondaatje Stand. They can’t all do that. Somerset’s final session wobble of the first day was overcome too as, after an initial stumble, they began to build a substantial score on the second morning. This was a match beginning to hold the attention.

Read More »

County Championship 2022. Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 19^th, 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd July. Taunton.

Craig Overton was unavailable for selection due to being on international duty. Josh Davey was unavailable due to a hamstring injury and Sonny Baker due to an ongoing back injury.

Somerset. M.T. Renshaw, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell (c), G.A. Bartlett, L.P. Goldsworthy, J.E.K. Rew (w), L. Gregory, K.L. Aldridge, M.J. Leach, J.A. Brooks, M. de Lange.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth (c), T. Kohler-Cadmore, G.C.H. Hill, H.C. Brook, J.A. Tattersall (w), D.M. Bess, J.A. Thompson, M.L. Revis, J.W. Shutt, M.J. Waite, S.T. Gabriel.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day 19^th July – Abell takes the heat for Somerset

This was a day to sit in the shade, even in the morning when the sun was restricted in its effect by a hazy covering of cloud. When the sun was in its full glory, the temperature topped out in the furnace somewhere beyond 30 degrees Celsius. Not as high as the 40 degrees in parts of eastern and northern England which broke all records. Hot enough though for spectators to fill the top of the Trescothick Pavilion, protected as it is from the sun by one of those wing roofs which look as if they are held up by good intentions and little else, and fill the bottom section too no doubt, protected as it is by the top one. I cannot vouch for that, for once I had secured my seat in the top section I did not venture out. The mere threat of the heat was enough to keep me out of it. A fair number sought refuge in the shade of the Lord Ian Botham Stand, but otherwise, what looked like a school party in the Temporary Stand apart, few braved the full heat of the open stands on which the sun beat down without pity or mercy, the first part of the afternoon apart when a random shower soaked the ground and stole 20 overs from the day.   

Read More »

Due to being unable to travel to Scarborough for this match this report was written through watching Yorkshire CCC’s live stream with Yorkshire CCC being advised, and after the stream became unavailable for the final session from the evening highlights package. Without the live stream and highlights 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 Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 5^th and 6^th September 2021. Scarborough.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth, G.C.H. Hill, T. Kohler-Cadmore, G.S. Ballance, H.C. Brook, D.M.Bess, H.G. Duke (w), J.A. Thompson, D.J. Willey, M.D. Fisher, S.A. Patterson.

Somerset. T.B Abell (c), T.A. Lammonby, Azhar Ali, J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), T. Banton, B.G.F. Green, M.J. Leach, J.H. Davey, M de Lange.

Overnight. Somerset 134. Yorkshire 159 for 5. Yorkshire lead by 25 runs with five first innings wickets standing.

Final day. 6^th September – The day the dream died

This was effectively the day Somerset’s 2021 County Championship dream died. Two matches remain, but by the end of this round any remaining hopes will be, at best, mathematical. At the start of the day Somerset could still cling to a slender hope. By the end, Harry Brook, Jordan Clarke, the Yorkshire lower order and the terminal pressure applied by the Yorkshire bowlers had won the match. The 2021 Championship dreams of Somerset supporters were no more.

In ancient times, societies used to look for omens when on the brink of great events. With a colossal pre-lunch effort needed if Somerset were to turn this match around, Marchant de Lange opened the bowling. Had an ancient priest or priestess been called upon to read Somerset’s auguries for the day, de Lange’s first three balls going down the leg side, one for four byes, would have had them holding their heads in their hands. De Lange never found his mark in his standard four-over opening spell. Even a brief rain break at the end of the second over did not allow him to reset his radar. One ball did move away beautifully to beat Duke, but otherwise the ball tended to either go down the leg side, or swing too wide of off stump to trouble the batsmen who showed no interest in anything that did not threaten them.

Read More »

Due to the author being unable to travel to Scarborough for this match this report was written following a day watching Yorkshire CCC’s live stream with Yorkshire being advised. Without the live stream 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 Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 5^th and 6^th September 2021. Scarborough.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth, G.C.H. Hill, T. Kohler-Cadmore, G.S. Ballance, H.C. Brook, D.M.Bess, H.G. Duke (w), J.A. Thompson, D.J. Willey, M.D. Fisher, S.A. Patterson.

Somerset. T.B Abell (c), T.A. Lammonby, Azhar Ali, J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), T. Banton, B.G.F. Green, M.J. Leach, J.H. Davey, M de Lange.

Toss. Somerset. Elected to bat.

First day. 5^th September – The five pacemen of the apocalypse

Somerset are discovering the strength of the first division of the second phase of this year’s County Championship. A crushing three-day defeat by Nottinghamshire at Taunton has been followed by a superior, if not yet dominant, first-day performance by Yorkshire at Scarborough. Somerset are without Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory, both key to their pace attack, and Overton might have been devastating on this pitch. As it was, Josh Davey, as so often, put his heart and soul into his bowling and came away with three wickets. He is largely responsible for keeping Somerset, if barely, in this match. The Yorkshire attack, even though it was lacking Ben Coad, looked decidedly the more effective of the two on this pitch. Even without Coad, Yorkshire were able to deploy five pace bowlers capable of bowling as a cohesive unit with gnawing accuracy and testing bite throughout the Somerset innings. By the end of the day, Yorkshire were taking a grip of this match while Somerset were fighting to hold on.

Read More »

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 10th, 11^th and 12^th September 2019. Taunton.

Overnight. Somerset 199 and 269 for 5. Yorkshire 103. Somerset lead by 365 runs with five first innings wickets standing.

Final day – “Yorkshire are already one down”

“Yorkshire are already one down. 8 for 1,” said the urgent voice from over my shoulder. The comment came from someone who I overtook as I scurried along St James Street, perennially late for the cricket. It’s the hat. Whenever there is a crucial score to be reported or sought the maroon wyvern on the front of my white broad-rimmed sunhat attracts Somerset supporters the country over. The confirmation of that score came from a snatched glance over the perimeter wall as I approached the J.C. White gates. It takes about 30 seconds to get from there to the boundary but the need of the supporter to know the score on days such as this cannot wait 30 seconds. 30 seconds is an eternity. There is the quandary too. You don’t want to miss a wicket so when you look over the wall you hope for 8 for 1. Then you reprimand yourself and hope for 8 for 2 and 8 for 1 becomes a disappointment. What it is to be a Somerset supporter at times such as this.Read More »

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 10th, 11th and 12th September 2019. Taunton.

Overnight. Somerset 199. Yorkshire 70 for 3. Yorkshire trail Somerset by 129 runs with seven first innings wicket standing.

Second day – When the head rules the cricket

I once had the good fortune to sit next to an ex-Somerset cricketer at a Club dinner. I asked him, once a first-class batsman is in the middle, how much of what happens is down to technique and how much is down to what is going on in his head. “90 per cent in the head,” was his instant reply. Now, obviously it isn’t as simple as that. Without the requisite level of skill, the head would count for nothing. But first-class cricketers, batsmen and bowlers, particularly first division ones, must all have reached a certain skill level to be playing at all at that level and, the really top-flight ones apart, it is what happens in the head that makes much of the difference between their performances on a given day or in a given season. At least that is the theory.Read More »

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 10^th, 11^th,12^th and 13^th September 2019. Taunton.

Somerset. M. Vijay, S.M. Davies (w), T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, T. Banton, G.A. Bartlett, L. Gregory, D.M. Bess, R.E. van der Merwe, J. Overton, J.H. Davey.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth. W.A.R. Fraine, G.S. Ballance, T. Kohler-Cadmore, S.A. Patterson, H.C. Brook, J.A. Tattersall (w), T.T. Bresnan, K.A. Maharaj, B.O. Coad, D. Oliver.

Toss. Uncontested. Somerset required to bat.

First day. 10^th September – Ebb and flow

Feet up, head back, dozing in the breeze as tufty white clouds float across a warm azure sky. A warm sun, not too hot, plays on the back of the neck and cricketers play lazily on the green. The quintessential English vision of tranquillity. Nerves at rest. The watcher at one with the world. Heaven on earth or as near as it ever comes. The ageless, idyllic view of cricket. But not at Taunton. Not on this day. That age-old view of cricket is not what the County Championship is about, and the County Championship is all that this day was about. And in consequence the day was all about tension and relief, anxiety and elation, desperation and hope, highs and lows, clenching of teeth and clapping of hands, missed heartbeats and racing hearts. Of cut and thrust, of ebb and flow; and any concoction of emotion which can be conjured from that list of ingredients of a day watching Somerset play cricket when the County Championship might be on the line. And no doubt Yorkshire hearts suffer too, and swell, when a Championship beckons as, if Somerset and Essex falter badly enough, it might again this year.Read More »

County Championship Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th July 2019. Headingley.

Overnight. Yorkshire 520. Somerset 196 and 159 for 4. Somerset trail by 165 runs with six second innings standing.

Final day. 16th July – Descent into despond and the will to prevail.

As I made to leave the ground a Yorkshire member asked me how I rated Somerset’s chances of winning the Championship. “We will need some consistency from our top order,” my reply. “This puts Yorkshire in with a chance,” he said although with half a wry smile. Yorkshire are 34 points behind Somerset and 38 points behind Essex with each having four matches to play. “You will need some help from Essex and Somerset,” I suggested. And added, “I think it unlikely both will slip up to the extent you need.” He was rooting for Somerset, he said, if Yorkshire couldn’t do it. That has been an almost universal comment, with their own county inserted, from opposition supporters around the country over the last two years and in the great majority of cases it seems a genuine sentiment. Somerset’s eternal pursuit of the Championship has assumed almost mythical status among knowledgeable lifelong County Championship watchers.Read More »

County Championship Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th July 2019. Headingley.

Overnight. Yorkshire 520. Somerset 76 for 4. Somerset trail Yorkshire by 444 runs with six first innings wickets standing.

Third day. 15th July – Of friends and signs of Somerset reviving

My friend from the days of May and Trueman, Alley and Wight came to the cricket again. No problems with his bus this time. Apparently, it was as reliable as a Bill Alley over and he arrived for the start as perfectly as a Bill Alley delivery would have arrived on a length. My bus was a different matter. My habitual, report delayed departure, was further delayed as my bus waited obstinately at the stop for three minutes for the timetable to catch up with it. Three minutes is an age as interminable as thirty minutes in the dentist’s chair when Somerset are trying to save a game with the Championship potentially on the line. And the journey can take as long as having the nerve removed from your root canal if the bus decides to make acquaintance with every red traffic light in Leeds as well as pick up every member of the population it can find.Read More »

County Championship Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th July 2019. Headingley.

Overnight. Yorkshire 282 for 3.

Second day. 14th July – A numbing esperience

The disappointment was there to see in the face of every Somerset supporter I saw as I left the ground. It was more than the looks you see after the normal sort of ‘bad day at the office’ cricket. There was a deeper look, one almost of shock. No-one said a word, other than by the look they gave. And every last one gave the same look. For this day had the feeling not just of a heavy defeat pending but of the Championship on the turn. Not only had Somerset fallen far behind Yorkshire but Essex had forged well ahead of a Warwickshire side with batting weakened by England Lions calls and which will have to face the spin of Harmer in the fourth innings. If Somerset lose, which is where the neutral money will be, and Essex win, which they have in every other match this season at Chelmsford Somerset will fall into second place in the table for the first time since the first match of the season. Essex have had the wind in their sails since they beat Somerset at Chelmsford and Somerset have steered themselves into the choppiest of waters in this match since they set the wrong course when they did not contest the toss.Read More »

County Championship Division 1. Yorkshire v Somerset. 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th July 2019. Headingley.

Somerset. T.B. Abell (c), Azhar Ali, J.C. Hildreth, T. Banton, G.A. Bartlett, S.M. Davies (w), D.M. Bess, C. Overton, J. Overton, T.D. Groenewald, J.A. Brooks.

Yorkshire. A. Lyth. W.A.R. Fraine, G.S. Balance, T. Kohler-Cadmore,, J. Shaw, H.C. Brook, J.A. Tattersal (w), M.D. Fisher, K.A. Maharaj, S.A. Patterson (c), D. Olivier. 

Jack Leach and Lewis Gregory were not available for selection for this match having been selected to play for the England Lions at Canterbury.

Toss. Uncontested. Yorkshire required to bat.

First day. 13th July – A day of ennui and oak trees

At the Oval, if you sit in the Peter May Stand, the aircraft slide in over your left shoulder and cross the pitch in a line from long on to backward point as they find their way to Heathrow. At Headingley, if you sit in the Fred Trueman Enclosure, they come towards you over second slip and long-on, as they descend towards Leeds-Bradford Airport. I imagine they would have kept to the same course had Trueman bowled to May here more than 60 years ago now although the airport would have been known as Yeadon in those days. Had they played on the pitch used for this match I imagine May would have blessed the day and Trueman would have had words of another variety. From my seat in the Trueman enclosure, beyond a straight long-on, and directly under the approaching aircraft the ball seemed to be going through on a line as straight as the flightpath which the aircraft followed and with bounce as even as their smooth computer-directed descent.Read More »

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

Somerset started the last day needing eight wickets to defeat Yorkshire. Yorkshire needed an unlikely 411 further runs if they were to win. The first three innings of the match had all topped 300. It was by no means certain the pitch, on which 1066 runs had been scored in three days, would yield up those eight wickets. My report was delayed because I returned to Somerset via a brief sojourn in London.

Overnight: Somerset 399 and 339 for 7 dec. Yorkshire 320 and 8 for 2. Yorkshire need a further 411 runs to win with 8 wickets standing.

And now, back in Somerset after a circuitous return from Leeds, here is my final day report from Headingley…Read More »

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 »

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 »

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 »

County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Yorkshire. 28th, 29th and 30th April 2018. Taunton. Final Day.

Somerset had worked themselves into a powerful position over the first two days of this match and the weather forecast for the final day had cleared. Even so Yorkshire had fought hard to keep themselves in with a chance with a solid performance in bitter conditions on the second evening.

Overnight: Somerset 216 and 200. Yorkshire 96 and 49 for 1. Yorkshire need 272 more runs to win with 9 second innings wickets standing.

If this match could be summed up in a millisecond Tim Groenewald’s catch to dismiss Jack Brooks on the last afternoon would serve perfectly.Read More »