Tag: Somerset v Surrey

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…

Action Underway In All Championship Fixtures

A look at the county championship, solution to yesterday’s mathematical teaser and plenty of photographs.

The game between Somerset and Surrey has just got underway after the first four sessions fell victim to the weather which means that all matches now have some play. This post scouts round the grounds to see what is going on.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Essex v Derbyshire: Essex batting first are 138-1 after 34.5 overs (no play yesterday). Sir Alastair Cook is unbeaten on 58, while big Billy Stanlake has the one wicket to fall but has been expensive, going at almost five an over. Nick Browne, the man out, scored 59, and Westley is at the crease with Cook.

Durham v Worcestershire: Durham scored 246 batting first and Worcestershire are 98-4 in response. Ben Raine has 2-11 and Chris Rushworth 2-38 for Durham and Tom Fell 40 not out for Worcs. Lees made 99 for Durham, with Brydon Carse second top scorer with 38 not out. Tongue claimed 5-39 for Worcs.

Sussex v Kent: Sussex are 177-4, already 32 ahead of Kent with six first innings wickets still standing. Tom Clark is 36 not out and Ben Brown 21 not out. Stiaan Van Zyl made 52. Darren Stevens who made his FC debut five years before Clark was even born, has 2-45 and Nathan Gilchrist 2-46.

Glamorgan v Yorkshire: Glamorgan are 96-7, play having started a day late due to the weather. Harry Brook, mainly a batter, has 3-15 with his medium pace, Steven Patterson 2-15 and Ben Coad and Jordan Thompson each have a wicket. David Lloyd made 31 and Billy Root 23. At the moment Michael Neser and Andrew Salter are batting for Glamorgan. Glamorgan’s other Aussie, Labuschagne, managed just 10. Glamorgan were 69-2 at one point before slumping to 82-7.

Middlesex v Hampshire: Middlesex are 163-9. This match saw one session of play yesterday and most of today’s scheduled play although there was an interruption for bad light. Gubbins made 51 for Middlesex, his fourth 50+ score of the season, while Blake Cullen scored 27. Kyle Abbott has 5-44 and Mohammad Abbas 3-42.

Somerset v Surrey: Surrey are 14-0 in the fifth over. There is no brother v brother element in this game as Craig Overton is not playing for Somerset. Leach is also rested, which means that Roelof van der Merwe is playing. Burns has 6 not out, Stoneman 7 not out. Gregory and Davey are bowling for Somerset, with De Lange first chance and Tom Abell possibly bowling ahead of van der Merwe in the circumstances. Craig Overton has been rested at the request of the ECB, which suggests that an England recall beckons for the Devonian giant.

#BBCCRICKET SELECTION GAME: PICK XI FOR 1ST TEST

The XI I picked is shown below (go here to try it yourself), and then I provide some supplementary notes:

You are given a list of options for each position, and some of the choices they provide are obviously flawed. My own selection is uncontroversial as regards the top seven – Woakes has to be an automatic pick in England, and absent Stokes who is recovering from injury, he is the only one fitted to play the role of genuine all rounder. I opted for Craig Overton at eight, because Oliver Edward Robinson was not available to be selected there, though Archer was. I could have picked Archer at eight and Robinson at nine and then explained that I would actually reverse their batting positions but decided to go for Overton instead and explain the situation in more detail. Overton is in magnificent form and I am not too worried about this personnel change. Archer bowled beautifully for Sussex yesterday and is clearly fit and firing, though Olly Stone could also be awarded that slot and the Durham duo of Mark Wood and Brydon Carse are also both possibles. Leach has to play if fit (if not Parkinson comes in), and I have gone for Anderson out of the veterans.

SOLUTION TO YESTERDAY’S MATHEMATICAL TEASER

Yesterday I presented the following:

The answer to the above is 18. I offer two of the published explanations, first a masterpiece of brevity from David Vreken:

David Vreken
May 11, 2021

By casting out the nines, (E+A+R)+(E+R+A)−(A+R+E)=A+R+E(E + A + R) + (E + R + A) – (A + R + E) = A + R + E(E+A+R)+(E+R+A)−(A+R+E)=A+R+E must be divisible by 999.

Out of the given options, only 181818 is divisible by 999, so A+R+E=18A + R + E = \boxed{18}A+R+E=18​.

For those who prefer a more thorough approach here is a complete explanation from Inesh Chattopadhyay:

PHOTOGRAPHS

Time for my usual sign off:

As I prepare to put this up, Surrey have moved on to 50-1, Stoneman back in the hutch, Burns in to the 20s, continuing his strong start to the season, and Amla just starting.

County Championship Round Six Preview

A look ahead to the county championship fixtures that start tomorrow and some of my most recent photographs.

In this post I look at the six county championship fixtures that will be starting tomorrow morning.

ESSEX V DERBYSHIRE

If this one has a definite the result the loser will be heavy favourite to finish bottom of the group – a win for Derbyshire would move them ahead of Essex with a game in hand on the latter, while a win for Essex would put them more than a maximum points victory ahead of Derbyshire meaning that the latter would stay last even if they won their game in hand. A draw would probably leave both teams looking at being in division three when the group stage ends. For Essex Dan Lawrence needs runs to keep himself in the England frame. For Derbyshire Matt Critchley will be looking to continue his excellent recent form with the bat – he is an outside prospect for England, who might bat him at number seven and hope that his part time leg spin will be good a few respectable overs at test level.

SUSSEX V KENT

Kent are in a dire need of a win, and Sussex are also having a less than stellar season, though a lot less bad than Kent. The big news is that Jofra Archer will be playing for Sussex. There is also a clash of (almost) homonymous players: Oliver Edward Robinson will share the new ball with Archer for Sussex, and keeping wicket and batting in the middle order for Kent will be Oliver Graham Robinson. Also look out for young off spinner Jack Carson, who has been a revelation so far this season.

GLAMORGAN V YORKSHIRE

Glamorgan have had one very impressive victory over Kent but otherwise things are not going too well for them. Yorkshire are duking it out with Lancashire for top spot in the group and with the red rose county not in action this round will want to take the opportunity to go clear at the top. Adam Lyth has been scoring a lot of runs for Yorkshire, although as so often the real trump card for the white rose is its bowling attack (see the 1900s side, the early to mid 1920s side, the 1930s side and the 1960s side, all legendary combinations, for examples of dominant Yorkshire bowling attacks).

MIDDLESEX V HAMPSHIRE

Middlesex have had one good result this season, the hammering they administered to London rivals Surrey, but have tended to pay a high price for having one bad session in a game. Hampshire won their first two matches of the season, but then Gloucestershire defied them to snatch a draw in game three, Surrey thrashed them out of sight in game four and Somerset gave them another hammering in game five. They will be hoping to cash in on Middlesex’s inconsistency to reignite their season – if they cannot do so a top two position in the group and with it progress to division one at the end of the group stage will be effectively gone.

DURHAM V WORCESTERSHIRE

Durham have been faring quite well this season, and a win here would put them well and truly in contention for a place in the top two in their group. Worcestershire are flattered by their current third place in the group – the extra points given for draws this season have helped them as they have drawn all five of their games to date, not looking terribly much like winning any of them. David Bedingham of Durham is in with an outside chance of reaching 1,000 first class runs for the season before the start of June. The strict feat of 1,000 first class runs in the month of May has been achieved three times, by WG Grace in 1895 (May 9th to May 30th), Walter Hammond in 1927 (May 7 to May 28, the final innings the of sequence 192 made out of 227 scored while he was at the crease, with five sixes and 27 fours) and Charles Hallows of Lancashire who got there by scoring 232 on the 30th and 31st of May (190* batting all through day one and the remaining 42 on the second morning). In addition to these Tom Hayward in 1900, Don Bradman in 1930 and 1938, Bill Edrich in 1938, Glenn Turner in 1973 and Graeme Hick in 1988 have all had 1,000 FC runs for the season before the start of June, but in each case with the assistance of runs in April, and it is this latter group that Bedingham is in the hunt to join.

SOMERSET V SURREY

This for me is the tie of the round. Both sides are in decent nick at the moment, and with Gloucestershire not in action this round Somerset will be especially determined to win and thus head the group. Tom Lammonby needs runs for Somerset, Tom Abell will be hoping to build on a strong start to the season, and Lewis Goldsworthy to continue the impressive start he has made to his first class career. Jack Leach, indisputably England’s first choice spinner at the moment, will be in action for Somerset as well, while Surrey will have Amar Virdi and possibly Dan Moriarty endeavouring to outdo the England incumbent. This match also features brother being pitted against brother: Craig Overton who has had a magnificent start to the season for Somerset, while Jamie Overton has been patchy thus far for Surrey. Also the Somerset keeper Steven Davies is a former Surrey player which lends things a little extra spice. Surrey have two England batters in their ranks, Rory Burns and Ollie Pope.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I am in the pleasant position of having more photographs than I can comfortably share in one post, so here is the first part of my latest collection: