v Yorkshire CC1 @ Taunton Friday 6 June 2008

Scorecard

Thanks to Mike once more for the excellent photos

A Championship side with Caddick in it....what an unusual sight in 2008.  The first of the season at home in front of a significant crowd wit a midday start because of the hme side getting back from Kent after yesterday's reserve day loss in the FPT quarter-final.

Langer goes into this game with the following 11.

Trescothick, Edwards, Langer, Hildreth, Blackwell, de Bruyn, Kieswetter, Phillips, Thomas, Caddick and Willoughby

No Trego who is still suffering from a side strain and Jonah misses out after the bit of a mare yesterday in the one dayer.  Loadsa seam, few all rounders.

The visitors won the toss and chose to have first belt so they faced the fit Caddick in the first morning.  A fairly credible 6 for 23 in that initial spell.  No wickets but a over rate under 4.

First blood came early to Willoughby at the other end who got Lyth (?) to tickle one to Edwards at second slip.  McGrath and Rudolph put the innings back on the straight and level with a 35 run partnership before McGrath seemed to have a complete head rush and smacked one from Philips to Thomas in the deep for no apparent reason and to the surprise of everyone on the pitch - including the batsman - 59 for 2 as I arrived.

As we come up to lunch Caddick is getting it to ask a few questions and looking like he's never been away.  They are giving Alfonso a bit of a run at the OP end but he isn't exactly making the batsman play a lot.  He does look like he's lost some weight though which is quite a feat if anyone has seen Thomas - he's not a big bloke.  Some worries about Blackwell it seems who twisted awkwardly in the field and was off for a while and is now fielding in the slips.  At lunch, Yorkshire re 93 for 2 with 30 overs gone.

The afternoon starts with Caddick and it sets the tone for the rest of the session really.  He goes for 9 and they go to 100 and although we use Willoughby and Phillips in tandem with Blackwell (who went off to have his ankle treated with longish hair and returned with a kind of distinguished shaved head with grey highlights) not a lot happens as Rudlph moves past 50 on a moderately benign pitch in glorious conditions.

Ian gets Gale after he has put on over 100 with Rudolph for 61 at 185 but that is it really.  The Rudolph hundred comes inevitably around the 200 up for Yorkshire and Brophy lets us know that he's not particularly affraid of the condtions with a boundary off his first ball.  Everything is a bit late and it's nearly 5 before Tea comes with 64 overs down and 238 for 3 on the scoreboard.

And after Tea the punishment continues and there's no real relief.  Ian B wheels away at the OP and Thomas and de Bruyn try their arm at the other but the score move on towards 300 and passes it in the 81st with neither batsman in any kind of bother with Brophy going past 50 and Rudolph heading towards an inevitable 150. At the end of the 83rd the partnership is 130 and it's 315 for 3 with 13 overs to go. 

Then Brophy gets an absolute shocking decision and is LBW (I have no idea how) for 70.  He was on one knee sweeping, missed a ball going down the side and gets called halfway up the first run.  The bat goes swinging as he looks skywards and the Press box, to a man, call the decision 'eccentric'.  But it will be 315 for 4 n the morning papers and Brophy walks.

The Rudolph ton and a half comes off 266 balls with a six and 16 fours and the Tykes go to 329 off 87.  This is not a result pitch at the moment so expect some post somewhere from Kentish Townie before the end of Friday.  But Blackie starts the 'fightback' as he foxes Rudolph and has him caught behind for 155 at 330 for 5.  Yorshire only have 4 supposed recognised batsmen so it may still turn out to be a better day than it looked a mere 15 minutes ago.  Rashid nearly becomes an early victim as he drops a chance very close to Neil Edwards diving to his left in the close fielding position.

He finally goes to de Bruyn to another LBW at 335 and the pendulum swings to the home side as Langer keeps the old ball and gives Blackie his head.  336 for 6 and instead of expecting Yorkshire to go over 350 in the day we now wonder if Somerset can get the whole lot out before stumps.

At 339 with 6 balls to go Langer takes the new ball and gives it to Willoughby to employ around the wicket.  First ball is a considerable distance down the leg side.  The second is a much nicer piece of bowling across the batsman. The rest is quite a fair bit of new ball stuff but no more wickets and it's 339 for 6 at the end of a long day.

Day 2

After the first day's play I would have happily put money on Yorkshire batting until Monday afternoon but things change.  After Rudolph, things seem to have been a little easier and Willoughby  cleared most of the tail very eqrly with very few runs added.  Bresnan and Pyrah went at 341, Wainwright at 351 and Patterson lasted alittle while longer before expiring at 372.  The damage was not extensive and the conditions suggested that we had a long slog but on a low and slow wicket.

Didn't quite work out that way though.  Trescothick set himself for a big innings but both Edwards and Langer went in the early 20's and from then on we were chasing a game that Bresnan and Patterson were determined to take away from us. 

The conditions didn't seem to change but we certainly found ways of getting out quite regularly. Hildreth hit just over 40 but went one side of 100 while Marcus passed 50...just beforfe going the other side.

Kieswetter put down an anchor but only Caddick (28) and Willoughby (18) stayed with him.  The latter managed to get through to the end of play and then on...

Day 3

...got us past the follow on total before being the last one out at 258 leaving Craig not out on a very useful 67.  We were about Rudolph's score behind at this point and facing a hard fight to stay in this one.

But Willoughby and Caddick got down to business and removed Rudolph and Lyth in the first 5 minutes of the second phase of the game - 2 for 0 and hope in the eyes of another impressive crowd.  McGrath, Gale, Brophy and Bresnan all made a start but found Alfonso Thomas in better form this time around. 

 He took the first three and left the hard working Blackwell to have the fourth caught behind with only 104 added to the score.

Rashid and Pyrah put up more of a fight but Willoughby and Blackwell worked with the rampant Thomas (5 for 46) to ensure that Yorkshire only managed 208 before we pulled the curtain down.

We need 323.  We finished the day with 12 but all 10 wickets.  Possible?  Most definitely? Probable?  Well the first session will tell us that story.  If we get to lunchtime with few losses and a decent scoring rate (we need about 3.5 an over - higher than any innings in this game so far) then we have the resources.  Do we have the will and the confidence?  

We've taken a number of games in the back stretch after looking lame in the first part of the race... can we go into the short stuff with another one in the bag?  Well it's there to win or lose. 

Day 4

Opened with all three possible endings available.  Not something anyone would have predicted at the end of Day 1.  Our bowlers had kept us in this game but we had been chasing it for the majority of the time and now we were chasing 323 to pull off a remarkable victory and we had a day, over 90 overs and 10 wickets in the bag.

Unfortunately it didn't stay that way for long as Bresnan tempted first Marcus and then Neil to rash big heaves, both taken in the safe hands of Wainwright. 25 for 1 and then 33 for 2 was not what we were looking for and the loss of those two batsmen was going to come back to haunt us later in the day.  Hoggard increased the misery by having Hildreth LBW (doubtful I believe - bad luck for the second time in one game) for 2 and then Patterson got the prize wicket of Langer for a mere 10 and we'd lost 4 for just over 50.

The chase looked lost and the game also looked lost when de Bruyn joined Blackwell at the wicket but the two men started to put the wheels back on the Somerset 'bus' and added nearly 100 before Ian was caught by Brophy off Hoggard at 142 for an excellent 64.  It's a shame it went that way because the gentleman is in some kind of rich form and is only presently being pipped for the top spot in the Championship MVP by Tim Bresnan who is haiving a hell of a start to a season.

Kieswetter joined Zander with a whole bunch of stuff to do to save this game and they both got down to the job.  Zander was taking absolutely no chances and seemed totally determined to see this game out.  While these two were at the wicket there was a chance of a result for the home side and try as Yorkshire might with numerous bowling changes, the Somerset pair kept their eye on the ball and off the boundary fence into the afternoon.

At the 100 partnership point disaster struck as Craig was LBW to Patterson for 41. An excellent and very mature knock but there weere still over 20 overs to go! Alfonso Thomas arrived to partner his country man past 100 and hopefully towards 150 and safety.  He is really no slouch with the bat and he provided sollid defence for 40 minutes and over 50 balls for his partner, allowing Zander to a fine century.  The backbone of the second innings produced in a very difficult situation off 243 balls with nly 5 boundaries.  Patience personified.

Thomas was finally bamboozled by Rashid, expecting one thing, getting another and losing his stumps at 277 with 5 overs of the day remaining and a Somerset victory well and truly not going to happen.  What was required now was stolid defence from both de Bruyn and the newly arrived Caddick.  It looked possible as we entered the fifth over from home but Rashid wasn't finished and he got one to rise a bit, passed Zander's defensive push and cliped his stump.  Charl Willoughby stood before Yorkshire with 24 balls to survive and only Caddick for company.  But the over was finished and Andy at least was on strike.  But it didn't matter much because bresnan got one past him and bowled him with the first ball.

All over.  We lost an absorbing contest by 40 runs...and di well to get that far really after rather lacklustre batting displays.  If Marcus and Niel had kept their heads a little more would we have got the runs?  Maybe but you win some and you lsoe some.

As somene said on this thread.  If we'd been offered a second place spot in the Championship with a two point buffer after losing Caddick for most of the first third of the season would we have taken it?

Damn Right.  We have lots to do but that's all going to come after the short stuff which starts in earnest on Wednesday. 

 See you there.

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