Month: September 2024

The Tamar Valley Line

An account of a trip on the Tamar Valley line, complete with large photo gallery.

Yesterday was the first full of my stay in Cornwall, and this post describes my main activity for that day. Today the weather is truly vile – high winds, lashings of rain and more recently to add to the mix fog as well so that the lighthouse that is usually clearly visible from my parents apartment is currently entirely shrouded from view.

A PLAN MISFIRES

I was dropped in Plymouth yesterday with a view to purchasing a Devon and Cornwall railcard (cost £12) to gain a 1/3 discount on all train fares in the region for a year. Unfortunately such a card can only be obtained if documentation relating to an address in the area can be produced and I had no such documentation. However I bought a return ticket to Gunnislake, northern terminus of the Tamar Valley Line, cost £7.90. I had over an hour before the next train to Gunnislake was departing, so filled some of the time by gaining greater familiarity with the environs of Plymouth station. Pedestrian access from the station to other areas of town comes by a way of path that leads under a roundabout. The central area of the under-roundabout path is dedicated to wild flowers and is pleasant walking. The hour of my journey arrived…

A SCENIC JOURNEY

The journey to Gunnislake could be described as a journey of two parts in two different ways:

  1. For the first small portion of line (Plymouth – St Budeaux Victoria Road)the stops are frequent and the surroundings urban, specifically a commercial port area whose best days were long in the past, before the line then becomes very rural in character and the stops become much more widely spaced.
  2. The route has a hairpin at Bere Ferrers, so that the train reverses its direction fo travel for the last three stops on the route (Bere Alston, Calstock and Gunnislake).

Also, as I failed to realize for the outbound journey the windows on the side of the train from which you board at Plymouth and at Gunnislake for the return journey offer much finer views than the other, which is why the majority of my best photos from the two train journeys were taken on the return one where I positioned myself correctly.

GUNNISLAKE

Gunnislake village is down a significant hill from Gunnislake station, and Tamar Valley is still further down (I did not venture right down into the valley). The Cornish Inn offered an acceptable pint, and also a view of what I suspect to be Gunnislake’s most intriguing resident, an African Grey Parrot named Ozzy, complete with warning notice written from his perspective.

THE RETURN JOURNEY

It was sufficiently warm that I removed my jumper while in Gunnislake. The train (a two coach crawler, and fairly basic, though less spartan than the laughably misnamed ‘sprinters’ that used to do the Sheffield to Barnsley run when I lived in that part of the world) was due to depart at 15:14, and it actually did precisely that. The return run went well, and I made up for not having had many successful pictures on the outward run as you will see. I think that if I make a second excursion on this line at some point I will book to Bere Alston, walk from there to Bere Ferrers and pick up the return train at Bere Ferrers.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are the pictures I took yesterday…

This one was taken through the window of my parentt’s apartment.
A few pictures from Plymouth Station and its immediate environs.
The Tamar Valley section of the gallery begins here.
The view from Maker Heights on the way from Plymouth to Fort Picklecombe.
The lighthouse mentioned in the introduction, taken from outside the fort yesterday.

Cornwall 2024 – The Journey There

An account of my journey from King’s Lynn to Plymouth yesterday, with a fine photo gallery.

I am in Cornwall, staying with my parents for a few days. I travelled down yesterday, and that journey will be the subject of this post.

KING’S LYNN TO LONDON

I was booked on later trains than I would have liked – leaving Lynn on the 1:42Pm and arriving into Plymouth where my parents would be meeting me at 8:13PM. I set off from my home in North Lynn an hour before the train was due to depart from King’s Lynn, and was on the platform with huge amounts of time to spare. The train suffered a couple of minor delays en route to London but I still had over 50 minutes to get from King’s Cross to Paddington. I arrived at Paddington half an hour before the train to Plymouth was due to depart, but it took a long time for the platform information to be confirmed, and I had only a few minutes to make my way to my seat by the time that happened.

PADDINGTON TO PLYMOUTH

I was on a train that was stopping at more places than usual for a journey to Plymouth – Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary between Reading and Taunton. I got some good pictures between London and Exeter, but it was dark by the time I got to the seaside section of route between Exeter and Newton Abbot, and that meant it was hardly possible to take pictures due to the interference of reflections owing to the extreme contrast between the brightly lit train interior and the near darkness outside. The train arrived into Plymouth almost exactly as per schedule, which I understand is not a frequent occurrence with GWR long distance services. Apart from the overcrowding on the Hammersmith & City line between King’s Cross and Paddington the journey went well overall.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my pictures to go with this post…

A One Day Clash Between Past and Present

Two XIs – ‘Blasts from the Past’ – an XI who would have been excellent in limited overs cricket given the chance – and an XI picked from the best English white ball players of modern times. Also a photo gallery.

During the bit of commentary on yesterday’s third ODI between England and Australia that I was able to catch (between work and a weather induced early finish not nearly enough for me to write about) there was some discussion about greats of the past who might have fared well in limited overs cricket had it been a thing in their eras. I therefore offer a clash of two England XIs – an XI exclusively from before the era of limited overs cricket and an XI from the era of limited overs cricket. Usual one day rules apply.

BLAST FROM THE PAST XI

  1. Charlie Barnett (Gloucestershire) – right handed opening batter. He once had 98* to his name going into lunch on day one of an Ashes match, having told his opening partner Leonard Hutton not to worry about trying to give him the strike in the final over before the interval because “we’ve given them enough cause for indigestion”.
  2. Lionel Palairet (Somerset) – right handed opening batter. He scored pre-lunch hundreds off scratch no fewer than five times in his first class career. He may also have had the most stories per match of anyone with more than one international cap – his two England appearances were Old Trafford and The Oval tests of 1902, the first a pulsating encounter that the Aussies won by three runs and the second “Jessop’s Match”.
  3. Frank Woolley (Kent) – left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner. A fast scoring batter, a genuinely front line spinner (he achieved the “batting all rounder’s double” of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets in first class matches in the same season no fewer than four times.
  4. Denis Compton (Middlesex) – right handed batter, occasional left arm wrist spin bowler. He was capable of scoring at a breath taking rate and his penchant for unorthodoxy would have stood him in good stead in a limited overs setting.
  5. +Les Ames (Kent) – right handed batter, wicket keeper. His aggressive batting (winner of the Lawrence trophy for the fastest first class hundred of the season twice in the first three years of its existence) he was the only candidate for the gauntlets in this side.
  6. Gilbert Jessop (Gloucestershire) – right handed batter, right arm fast bowler. If ever there was a guaranteed selection for a side of this nature it was he. The most consistently rapid run scorer the game has ever known, a useful fast bowler and an outstanding fielder, he had all the attributes to have been a key member of any limited overs side.
  7. *Percy Fender (Surrey) – right handed batter, right arm leg spinner, captain. Still holds the record for the fastest first class century against legitimate as opposed to declaration bowling, 35 minutes against Northamptonshire. A fine leg spinner and an astute captain as well.
  8. Frank Foster (Warwickshire) – left handed batter, left arm fast medium bowler. A good enough batter (and attacking by instinct) to have a first class triple century to his name, and a good enough bowler to have been one half of one of the great new ball pairings in test cricket alongside the guy at number 10 in this side.
  9. Billy Bates (Yorkshire) – off spinner, right handed batter. A fine all rounder in his day, and a notably economical bowler.
  10. Syd Barnes (Warwickshire, Lancashire, various league sides) – right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter. He would doubtless grumble about only being allowed 10 overs in the innings, but he would undoubtedly be a challenge for anyone to play, and in this XI he would be sharing the new ball with one of his favourite partners, and would be well handled by skipper Fender.
  11. Alfred Shaw (Nottinghamshire, Sussex) – right arm medium/ right arm slow bowler, right handed batter. The man who bowled more first class overs than he conceded runs at that level – to me almost as much of a cast iron pick for this XI as was Jessop.

This XI features great batting depth, with everyone down to Bates capable of major contributions there, a stellar collection of bowling talents – Compton would be eighth choice bowler in this side, a crafty and astute captain and a great wicket keeper.

THE MODERNS

  1. Alastair Brown (Surrey) – right handed opening batter. He was unlucky in terms of England caps because his prime was before England had really grasped the concept of separate squads for test and one day cricket. However he produced some devastating performances for Surrey, including 268 v Glamorgan, which remains the highest by an English batter in a limited overs match.
  2. David Gower (Leicestershire, Hampshire) – left handed batter. He did quite frequently open in limited overs matches, and was one of the first English batters to have great success in the format.
  3. Kevin Pietersen (Nottinghamshire, Hampshire, Surrey)- right handed batter, occasional off spinner. One of the most explosive talents ever possessed by anyone.
  4. *Joe Root (Yorkshire) – right handed batter, occasional off/leg spinner. The best England batter to appear in my lifetime, and certainly among the top half-dozen the country have ever had. I have reservations about his captaincy.
  5. +Jos Buttler (Somerset, Lancashire) right handed batter, wicket keeper. Excellent as an ODI finisher, the role he has here, and also as a T20I opener.
  6. *Ben Stokes (Durham) left handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler. A great match winner (cf his heroics in the 2019 world cup final), and as he has shown in test cricket a fine captain as well, which role I have given him in this side.
  7. Liam Dawson (Hampshire) – left arm spinner, left handed batter. A high quality all rounder who has been poorly treated by England – the fact that he will not be on the plane to Pakistan for England’s next tour is frankly scandalous.
  8. Moeen Ali (Worcestershire, Warwickshire) – off spinner, left handed batter. An excellent white ball cricketer.
  9. Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) – leg spinner, right handed batter. Without question the best white ball spinner of any kind England have ever had, and as such a shoo-in for this XI.
  10. Darren Gough (Yorkshire) – right arm fast bowler, right handed batter.
  11. Jofra Archer (Sussex) – right arm fast bowler, right handed batter. When fully fit he is absolutely devastating.

This side is strong in batting, and has a well varied bowling attack. There are only three pace options – Gough, Archer and Stokes, but there are three genuine spinners plus Root and Pietersen as back up options.

COMPARISONS

First to clear up a small point for regular readers, I have decided to omit the usual honourable mentions section from this post as if I did such a section any kind of justice it would be longer than the rest of the post put together. Please feel free to volunteer your own suggestions, though please remember to consider who you would replace from my selections and how that would affect the balance of the side(s).

The ‘Blasts from the Past’ are better equipped in all departments, and I would not rate Fender an inferior leader to Stokes. If a time machine enables these sides, with all 22 players at their peak and uninjured, to contest a five match series I would expect the ‘Blasts from the Past’ combo to win 4-1.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

An ECB Muck Up and a Hat Trick of Somerset Near Misses

A look at the scheduling of the One Day Cup final, the match that we eventually got, a day late and less than half the scheduled length, and at Somerset’s season. Also a photo gallery.

The final of the One Day Cup, between Glamorgan and Somerset at Nottingham, should have taken place yesterday, but after a complete washout then the two sides reconvened on today, the designated reserve day, and fought out the final over a reduced duration of 20 overs (but still according to One Day rules, so the power play was only four overs, rather than the six in an official T20). Before looking at the match, and what it means for Somerset’s season I will take aim at the ECB over certain matters.

MISTAKES AND PROBLEMS

The biggest single mistake in the scheduling of this final was to make the main day a Sunday and the reserve a Monday. When the Sunday was completely rained out many had no option but to return home disappointed, and today’s action took place in a very sparsely populated Trent Bridge. Having decided to have a reserve day in case of potential weather problems, which is probably sensible, and proved necessary in this case, it would surely have been better to aim for a Saturday final, with the reserve day on a Sunday – the drop off in attendance after a washout on the intended day would surely be much smaller.

It is also curious to say the least that there is a huge time lag between the semi-finals and the final, and it would be better for these key matches to be much closer together.

This competition would rank third among the county competitions even without other factors, but the fact that the group stage overlaps with The Hundred means that rather than being third among near equals it is a sideshow, involving mainly reserve and youth players.

TODAY’S MATCH

Somerset had many players available to them who were not so during the group stages but had decided to stick with the players who had got them to the final. This meant that they were a much less experienced XI than Glamorgan. It also meant that the reduction from 50 overs per side to 20 was much worse news for them than it was for Glamorgan – there were not many players in the Somerset XI who would have been picked to play a T20 match for the county. However when left arm seamer Alfie Ogborne took two very early wickets Somerset would have been hopeful. Will Smale hit 28 off 14 balls before he was third out, to a superb catch by Sean Dickson off Kasey Aldridge. Colin Ingram did not really click, contributing 11 at a run a ball. Initially Sam Northeast also appeared to be struggling. However Northeast, one of the best county batters never to have got an England chance, showed the value of experience, as he turned a sticky start into the key innings of the final. Billy Root hit 39 of 28 balls before the 5th, 6th and 7th wickets all went quickly. Timm van der Gugten smashed 26* off nine balls at the death, out of an unbroken 28 that he and Northeast put on. This left Glamorgan with 186-7, and Northeast 63* (49) having enabled the big hitters to really go for things in the knowledge that wickets would only be falling at one end.

George Thomas and Andrew Umeed had scored 14 together, 13 of them to Thomas, when Umeed completely ignored Thomas’ call for a run. Thomas was thus run out, with Umeed having contributed rather more to the dismissal through his failure to respond to Thomas’ call than did Northeast with what was a good throw. Goldsworthy never got going, making 11 off 13, by which point Somerset were miles behind the required rate. Umeed had batted well, though he was never scoring fast enough, when he took on medium pacer Andy Gorvin, got an edge and was caught by keeper Smale. Four runs later James Rew’s spirited 19 came to an end, caught by Smale off Kellaway. Incidentally Kellaway, an ambidextrous spinner (he can bowl both off spin and left arm orthodox spin), extracted enough turn to make Dickson’s decision not to bowl Jack Leach (who would never be significant with the bat in a limited overs match) look even odder than it already did. The fifth wicket stand between Archie Vaughan and Sean Dickon represented Somerset’s best period of the innings. By the time the last over came round Somerset needed 23 to win. Dan Douthwaite restricted them to just seven, and Glamorgan had won by 15 runs.

Somerset fought hard, though Sean Dickson did not have great day as skipper in my opinion. As well as his failure to use Leach I think his decision to hold himself back until number six, by which point the match was pretty much lost was a poor one. He played a fine innings once he got to the middle, scoring 44 off 20 balls, but Goldsworthy for one was unsuited to the situation in which he found himself batting, and although Archie Vaughan fared decently the skipper should surely have come in ahead of him.

Somerset have thus lost in the finals of both the T20 and the One Day Cup, while they have one last match to play, a four day game against Hampshire which will settle the runners up spot in the County Championship. When Somerset beat Surrey to close the gap in the County Championship to eight points with two matches remaining they had legitimate hopes of sweeping the board, but in the end it looks like an ‘Eratosthenes‘ season for them – second best in everything (Eratosthenes was Librarian of Alexandria around 250BCE, the plum academic posting of the era, and one rival is alleged to dubbed him ‘Beta’ on the grounds that he was the second best in the world at everything).

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England’s Poor Start to ODI Series

A look back at the first two matches of the ODI series between the England and Australia men’s teams and a photo gallery.

The England men’s side are finishing their home season with a One Day International series against Australia. This post looks at developments in that series so far.

ODI ONE – A GOOD START GOES BAD

At 214-2 with plenty of time to go in their innings England seemed set for a 350+ score. Then Ben Duckett and Harry Brook got out in quick succession in near identical fashion, each giving Marnus Labuschagne return catches. That put the skids under the innings, and wickets continued to fall. In the end England were all out in 49.4 of their 50 overs for 315, a total which was at least 50 short of what it should have been. Labuschagne, a batter who bowls rather than a genuine all rounder, had figures of 3-39. It was soon obvious that England would have their work cut out to defend this score. In the end Travis Head, who played a quite magnificent innings, was joined for the killing partnership by Labuschagne. Head, unlike Duckett who had thrown his wicket away for 91, batted right through to the end, which came with six whole overs and seven wickets to spare, topping 150 in the process, while Labuschagne was unbeaten on 77 at the other end. Scorecard here.

MATCH TWO – A TACTICAL BLUNDER SETS UP DISASTER

In the second match, which took place yesterday, Australia found themselves batting first, and England bowled well. When Australia lost their ninth wicket at 221 a 1-1 series score looked likely, even though Brydon Carse had been shockingly expensive. However England now resorted to the tactic of feeding Carey singles so that they could bowl at the number 11, Hazlewood. Hazlewood is a genuine number 11, but even he is capable of presenting a straight bat to a couple of deliveries per over. With no real pressure being imposed due to the decision not to attack Carey the last wicket accrued 49 before Carey was caught off the fourth ball of the 45th over for 74. Hazlewood was unbeaten on 4, but he had done all that the combination of Carey’s good batting and England’s poor tactics had required of him.

One result of this last wicket stand was that instead of heading into the innings break on the back of a clatter of wickets (the 7th, 8th and 9th had fallen quite close together) the sides returned to the pavilion with the momentum definitely with Australia. Australia had Salt and Jacks out fairly quickly, with just 28 on the board. Brook fell with 46 on the board, and then at 65 England suffered a double blow, as Duckett (32) was out to a fine return catch by Hardie, and then Livingstone feathered the next ball behind and Carey held another fine catch. Jamie Smith and Jacob Bethell added 55 for the sixth wicket, before Bethell gave Starc a catch off Maxwell. Carse then joined Smith for what might look like a respectable seventh wicket stand, but the problem was he failed abysmally to rotate to the strike – 56 balls were bowled between the fall of the sixth and seventh wickets, and Carse faced 40 of them, which is not what the balance of strike should be between a front line batter and a bowler who bats. It was Smith who was seventh out, for 49, a dismissal that more or less sealed things, although Adil Rashid did his best from number nine. England did just top 200, being all out for 202, giving Australia victory by 68 runs. Scorecard here.

Australia are thus 2-0 up in the series with three to play.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Surrey Give Stewart Super Send Off

A look back at the two matches which in combination set the seal on Surrey’s third successive county championship title, a link and a photo gallery.

Just over half an hour into day four of the penultimate round of county championship fixtures Anderson Philip, a West Indian pacer currently playing for Lancashire, bowled James Rew for 31 to give his side victory by 168 runs. Lancashire thus enter the final game of the season with a chance to avoid relegation. At the other end of the table, with Surrey having cleaned up Durham yesterday afternoon, it meant that the gap between Surrey and Somerset was now 28 points, which is too many to be bridged in a single match, since only 24 can be taken in one match. Surrey have thus secured a third straight title, a feat last achieved by any county in 1968, when Brian Close skippered Yorkshire to a third straight title.

SURREY V DURHAM

On day two Surrey built a huge lead over Durham, with Ryan Patel scoring a career best 134. Durham then sent a nightwatch into open their second innings, 153 adrift, and when that tactic failed promptly doubled down by sending in another nightwatch. The second nightwatcher did make it through to the close, but Durham were in a total mess. Day three was a work day for me, and my attention once home from work was mainly on the first ODI of a series between England and Australia. Durham lost two wickets very early on day three, and although they did avoid the humiliation of an innings defeat they only managed to take a lead of 24. Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley unsurprisingly knocked these runs off without being separated. Scorecard here. Alec Stewart is leaving the position from which he has overseen the recent Surrey ascendancy at the end of this season, and this result and that of the Somerset match confirm that he will bow out on an appropriately high note.

LANCASHIRE V SOMERSET

After both sides had been all out on day one, Lancashire batted right through day two. There was a controversial incident in their innings when George Balderson was run out by at least a yard but umpire O’Shaughnessy failed to give it out. At that point Lancashire were just over 270 in front, and they were add a further 120 to their lead before they were all out. Somerset, needing 393 to win or 392 to tie (or rain to intervene and save them) to keep their championship hopes alive (a draw or tie would leave Surrey able to secure the title on bonus points alone irrespective of the result of their final game, while a loss would end Somerset’s challenge right there) reached the close of day three on 204-6, with Kasey Aldridge having been dismissed by what became the last ball of the day. Day four started atrociously for Somerset, with the first ball of the day, from Luke Wells, bowling skipper Lewis Gregory for a first ball duck. A few moments later a ball from Anderson Philip kept low to pin Craig Overton LBW for 4 and make it 209-8. The ninth wicket added 11, 9 of them to Brett Randell, before James Rew misjudged and took a single with four balls of a Luke Wells over to go, exposing Randell to Wells’ mixed spin, against which the Kiwi could be expected to be less comfortable than against pace/seam. Sure enough, Wells produced one that was too good for the Kiwi and bowled him to make it 220-9. Four runs later came Philip’s delivery that got through Rew and ended it with Lancashire home by 168 runs. Scorecard here. Somerset’s final match against Hampshire will decide second and third spots in the table, but the title is securely in Surrey’s hands. Elsewhere Sussex did enough to confirm that they will be in division one next season, securing promotion with a game to spare, and results were bad enough for Kent that their relegation, a formality for some time, was finally confirmed, again with a match to spare.

DOMINANT PERIODS

As mentioned in the introduction it is 56 years since any county secure three straight championships. However there have been longer streaks of dominance. Surrey themselves hold the record with seven successive titles in the 1950s (1952-8 inclusive). Yorkshire won four in a row in the 1920s. Surrey had a sequence of six outright wins and a shared title in the late 1880s and early 1890s , though that started before the competition was put on a fully organized footing in 1890, as did the whole of Nottinghamshire’s dominant period in the first half of the 1880s. All of these sides, and the Yorkshire side that won seven titles in total during the 1930s had stellar bowling units, and that is also the present Surrey outfit’s greatest strength. Other sides may have first choice bowlers of similar stature to Surrey’s, but Surrey have incredible depth. Surrey can (and at times this season have) be without a fistful of first team regulars and still put a formidable XI on to the pitch, whereas for most other counties the soft underbelly starts to show with a few absentees.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before my usual sign off, a link to an article from futurity.org which connects closely with my photo gallery since it is about bees.

Now for my own photos…

County Championship Crunch Contests

A look at goings on in the two most important county championship fixtures of this penultimate round of games – Lancashire v Somerset and Surrey v Durham. Also a large photo gallery,

After the previous round of County Championship matches Surrey held a slender eight point advantage over Somerset at the top of the table (Hampshire are the next closest challengers but they would need a quite remarkable series of events to unfold for them to get past both of the top two) thanks to Somerset beating Surrey. Surrey are bidding for a third successive title, a feat last achieved by anyone in 1968, while Somerset have never won the title, or been named ‘Champion County’ in the years before 1890 when the competition was first put on an organized footing. This post looks at what is going on in the matches involving these counties in this round.

LANCASHIRE v SOMERSET

Both were for different reasons in need of a big haul of points from this match. Lancashire are looking relegation full in the face, while Somerset have that eight point gap to close on Surrey – and the weather forecast for the time of the final round of fixtures is not hugely promising. Unfortunately the ground staff at Old Trafford did not get the memo, and left a large amount of grass on the pitch, meaning that the seamers had a fine old time. By the end of yesterday both sides had had their first innings, and while each got the full haul of three bowling points they also each collected zero batting points. Lancashire mustered 140, Somerset 146. Lancashire have batted better second time round, and their lead has recently crossed 150, with six second wickets still standing. Josh Bohannon made a fine 60, and first class debutant Harry Singh batted a very long time for his 31 (142 balls). Currently Rocky Flintoff (son of Andrew) is batting alongside Lancashire keeper Matty Hurst, and the score is 162-4, a lead of 156. Matty Hurst has just gone, playing a loose shot off Randell, giving the Kiwi seamer has second Somerset wicket, in his third bowling innings for the county, Craig Overton taking the catch in the slips. Lancashire, 164-5, lead by 158 overall. Rocky Flintoff has been absolutely done by a beauty from Jack Leach which has bowled him for 27 to make it 168-6, the youngster having just hit a boundary. Lancashire 162 ahead now.

SURREY v DURHAM

Durham, batting first yesterday, scored 262, Colin Ackermann leading the way with 78 not out. Surrey are currently 214-5 in response. Rory Burns made 55, Ryan Patel is currently 47 not out, and Durham have given away 35 extras. While I have been recording a couple of Lancashire wickets falling Surrey have moved on to 220-5, with Ryan Patel now past 50.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A flying dragonfly
A heron in evidence at the edge of the Great Ouse.
The heron, four cormorants, and West Lynn church all in a single shot.
A perfect conker (two pics).


Glory for Gloucestershire

A look back at the finale to the longest day of the English cricket calendar, the T20 blast final between Gloucestershire and Somerset. Also a photo gallery.

I covered the semi-finals yesterday, immediately after the second of them concluded. This post looks at the final, between the two west country sides, Gloucestershire and Somerset.

APPLYING THE SQUEEZE WITH THE BALL

Both sides were unchanged from their semi-final successes. Gloucestershire won the toss and decided to bowl first. Somerset started fast, but Matt Taylor got Will Smeed with the first ball of the fourth over to make it 28-1. Taylor ended that fourth over by removing the other Somerset opener, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, for 20. Then in the sixth over James Rew became Taylor’s third victim. The third ball of the seventh over, bowled by Oliver Price, got through the defences of Dickson, one of the batting heroes of Somerset’s semi-final victory, for a duck, and Somerset were 42-4 and in a pile of trouble. They never really extracted themselves from this predicament, though skipper Lewis Gregory fought his way to a half century. Gregory’s innings was terminated by David Payne with the penultimate ball of the 19th over, with the score on 123. It was Payne’s 33rd wicket of the tournament, equalling the all time record for a single year of this competition, set by Alfonso Thomas of Somerset some years ago. Only one further run accrued before Jake Ball was out with two balls of the innings left. A toral of 124 left Somerset in ‘miracles required’ territory 0 the previous lowest ever total defended successfully in a final was 145 by Somerset themselves last year and by Leicestershire a few years back.

KILLING THE CHASE

Somerset needed early wickets to have any chance at all of defending their decidedly modest score, and they did not get them. Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft were soon scoring at well above the required rate. A ten wicket win looked likely when both were going great guns. By the time Bancroft finally fell to a catch by Smeed off Davey there were only 13 more needed for the win. Bracey fell cheaply, but by then only six were required. Miles Hammond was there at the end, 58 not out from 41 balls (as compared to Bancroft’s 53 from 42 balls), but it was the new batter, Oliver Price, who ended the chase with a six. Gloucestershire had eight wickets and five whole overs to spare, meaning that overall in their semi-final and final they had 16 wickets and 11.2 overs to spare on their opponents. In losing only four wickets on finals day while winning the trophy they had set a new record – the previous fewest wickets lost on the day by a trophy winning side was five by Northamptonshire. Full scorecard here.

Matt Taylor, whose three early wickets put the skids under the Somerset innings, was correctly named Player of the Match. This is Gloucestershire’s first ever T20 Blast trophy, though just a few years before the launch of T20 cricket they had a very successful one-day side. They were named ‘Champion County’ three times in the 1870s, being unbeaten in two of those seasons, and have been runners up six times since the County Championship was put on an organized footing in 1890. Somerset still have shots at two trophies this season – they are in the final of the One Day Cup, and are challenging hard for the county championship (see here).

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off (remember to click on images to view them at a larger size)…

This cormorant (three pics) was swimming in a stretch of the Gaywood in which I have never previously seen one, which runs more or less past the back of Gaywood Tesco.

How a West Country Derby Final Came to Be

A look at the two T20 Vitality Blast semi-finals, Somerset v Surrey and Gloucestershire v Sussex, and a large photo gallery.

Today is finals day in the T20 Vitality Blast, the longest day of the English cricketing year – both semi-finals and the final take place on one day. The venue this year is Edgbaston, and since none of the four teams involved are based there I will use strict alphabetical order when referring to the matches. This was the second straight time that all four semi-finalists were from the south group. The format of the day is that the first semi-final starts at 11AM, the second at 2:30PM and the final, which is still to come and is played under lights, at 6:45PM. This post looks at the two semi-finals.

SOMERSET v SURREY

Somerset are the holders, Surrey have such strength in depth that they are a threat in any competition. Somerset won the toss and opted to bowl first. Surrey started well, and it looked ominous for Somerset when skipper Gregory inexplicably allowed a ball passing within half a metre of him to go the boundary without even trying to stop it. However, Gregory made amends with the ball, helping to put the skids under Surrey’s good start. In the end it took a bit of a final flourish to get Surrey up to their final total of 153-9, no more than respectable.

It looked a good deal more than respectable when Somerset were 7-3. However Sean Dickson and James Rew proceeded to settle in and then share an all time finals day record partnership for any wicket, 144 in total before Dickson perished in the moment of victory for 78 off 57 balls. New batter Gregory hit his second delivery for six to secure to the victory, and to add insult to injury for Jordan Clark it was also called no-ball meaning that it cost him eight runs in total. James Rew was 62 not out from 44 balls in what was his debut in this competition. This makes it twice in three days across formats that Somerset have put one over on Surrey. Full scorecard here.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE v SUSSEX

Gloucestershire were probably the least fancied of the four semi-finalists. Sussex had boosted their own stocks by absolutely annihilating Lancashire in their quarter-final. Sussex won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision they soon had cause to regret. David Payne was supremely economical, taking 1-9 from his four overs of left arm seam. At one stage Sussex were 44-5 and then 64-7. The eighth wicket stand between Jack Carson and Oliver Edward Robinson was worth 37 and at least spared Sussex the humiliation of having less than 100 to defend. The first ball of the 19th over ended the innings with the score 106, leaving Gloucestershire with an easy task. Miles Hammond, who had taken four catches in the field, the most ever by a non-wicket keeper in this competition (not the first Hammond of Gloucestershire to feature in such records – the legendary Wally Hammond once pouched ten in the course of a first class match, still a record for non-keeper a century on), was out cheaply for just 7, but Bancroft and Bracey had a good partnership for the second wicket. Cameron Bancroft reached 39 before he was second out, and Oliver Price joined James Bracey. Bracey was especially impressive as this pair moved towards victory. Just before the end Robinson, who had bowled his four overs of right arm medium pace for 23 runs but no wickets, excellent in most circumstances but here failing to answer Sussex’s biggest requirement, shelled a very straightforward chance from Bracey, a single accruing. Price took another single, and then Bracey secured Gloucestershire their place in an all west country final by driving one down the ground for six. Gloucestershire had eight wickets and 6.2 overs to spare, dealing even more ruthlessly with Sussex in this semi-final than Sussex had dealt with Lancashire in their quarter-final. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before my usual sign off, the toss has just happened for the final, with Gloucestershire winning it and opting to bowl first. Now for the photographs…

Flowering Ivy features heavily today – at this time of year it is vital for pollinators, there being a limited amount of stuff still in flower.

County Championship Race Going to the Wire

A look back at the top of the table County Championship clash between Somerset and Surrey at Taunton, and a huge photo gallery.

A round of county championship fixtures took place this week, starting on Monday and ending on Thursday. Days two and four were thus work days for me, limiting what I actually got to hear about at the time. The big tie of the round was between second place Somerset and leaders Surrey. In county championship fixtures there are 16 points for a win, eight points for a draw and no points for a loss, with each side able to earn up to eight bonus points. These points, awarded in the first 110 overs of each team’s first innings are slightly lopsidedly awarded, five for batting and three for bowling. The bowling points are awarded for taking three, six and then nine wickets, the batting points for reaching scores of 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450. This post now looks back at the Taunton summit meeting with these extra details in mind.

THE FIRST TWO INNINGS

When Surrey arrived in Taunton they were 24 points clear of Somerset, meaning that a win would effectively close the deal on their third successive title, a draw would still leave them firm favourites and a defeat would open the race right up, though unless Somerset took a maximum of 24 points (16+8 as described in the introduction) and Surrey 0 the visitors would still be at the top of the table. Somerset batted first, and their first innings was precisely contained within the first day, their last wicket falling on the stroke of time with their score at 317. Tom Banton made a superb 132 and there were useful supporting contributions from Tom Abell, Archie Vaughan (son of Michael, and there will be much more about him later in this piece) and James Rew. Shakib Al Hasan, at Surrey on the most temporary of temporary contracts, claimed four wickets and Daniel Worrall three. This, since the innings was done inside 110 overs, meant that Somerset took two batting points and Surrey a full haul of three bowling points.

When I was able to join the coverage on day two it looked like Somerset were headed for a big first innings advantage – Surrey were almost 100 adrift and had only three wickets standing. However at this point Tom Curran, playing his first first class match in almost two years (he is a white ball specialist, and has played plenty of high level limited overs cricket in that period) proceeded to swing things back towards Surrey, ending with a score of 86 off 75 balls, and getting Surrey to 321. Archie Vaughan had 6-102 with his off spin, and veteran left arm spinner Jack Leach had 4-105, having wheeled through 48.2 overs. Although Surrey had faced over 110 overs in total they had passed 300 before the end of the 110th, and Somerset had got them nine down by the end of the 110th, so with the game now a one innings shoot out each side had claimed a total of five bonus points. This meant that there were now three possible final points scenarios at the end of the match: Surrey lead by 40 if they win, Surrey lead by 24 in the event of a draw and Surrey lead by eight if Somerset win.

THE SECOND HALF OF THE MATCH

Tom Banton was injured and not expected to bat for Somerset in their second innings. Surrey worked their way through the Somerset second innings. At 153-9 it looked like they had a decent chance, but then to general surprise (and not a little criticism on social media) the injured Banton hobbled out to the middle to join Craig Overton. By the end of a truncated day this pair had extended the Somerset score to 194. I was to find out that they had added a further 30 on the final morning before Banton was out for 46, leaving Overton unbeaten on 49. Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan set to work on getting through Surrey for a second time. When I checked in on the score at Fakenham library it looked like time was Somerset’s enemy – Surrey were three wickets down at that point, with Sibley and Foakes batting together, and only two hours or thereabouts left. By the time I got home Surrey were nine down and desperately trying to bat out time for the draw. With the final ball of the 78th over, and almost certainly time only for one more over after it had the wicket not fallen, Leach got one on to Worrall’s pads and the umpire raised the finger to confirm that it was LBW. County Championship games are not generally televised, and this one wasn’t, so even if it might have saved him Worrall had no recourse to DRS and Somerset could start celebrating as soon as that finger went up. Surrey were all out for 109, giving Somerset victory by 111 runs. Jack Leach had 5-37 for that final innings, and young Archie Vaughan had the other five, for only one run more, giving him 11-140 in the match as well as that first innings 44. This was a classic match, and even as someone who grew up in south London, a short trip along the Northern line from The Oval, I say without hesitation that the final result was a good one not just for Somerset, but for the County Championship, which is now a genuine contest at the top, and indeed for the game of cricket. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…