v Nottinghamshire LVCC1 @ Taunton Wednesday 6 August 2008

Scorecard

Last year this was the vital rubber against Notts at home and away.  We came out victorious at their place and went on to take the title.  This year the two up and coming counties are battling it out at the top of the next division and the results of the 40 pointer could decide the County Champions for 2008.

Our form has taken a dip in general and there is no doubt that the longer format offers the best chance of honours in this season.  However the weather isn't helping and our time away from home has been long and not particularly inspiring.  It is hoped that today any rumours of divisions and loss of form are put aside and we get down to the impoprtant stuff from the start (at present the weather suggests that it will be on time).

Somerset have named 12 but Steffan Jones will have a late fitness test and so I would suggest that the likely eleven will not include him unless there are no doubts about him while others need treatment.  Niel Edwards seems to have fallen out of favour for an opening spot so the captain will open and Zander will take the number 3 spot

Therefore I expect the following to be out there at 11;

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

I'd argue it is our strongest line-up but it wouldn't be lessened by Edwards taking his place in a more 'English' line-up. However, Zander would have a case for performances picking the side and he has been a most consistent addition to the line-up.

Strong seam attack in overcast conditions I would suggest with Ian Blackwell providing our only spin option.  I'll be there for some of this game (weather permitting) so there will be updates on both the frontpage and the forum during playing hours.  See you down there or online.  The side is almost as suggested but Steff passed the 'fitness test' and took the place of Ben Phillips

We nearly started on time (11:05) and I get there just before the 10th over with us batting with the princely sum of 16 (and I saw 4 of them) for 2!  The pitch is almost in front of the new River stand - the sight cover is actually on the far side of the Botham stand and the rope is a good 5 to 8 yards from the boundary on the scoreboard stand.  But the outfield is very heavy...boundaries to the new stand side along the ground aren't making it so there's no real chance of fours on the surface to the much longer "shop" side.

The damage?  Langer LBW Shreck with 2 on the board and Mr Trescothick said hello to Mr Pattinson for the first time by wafting a catch to Ealham on the same score.  Notts are attacking with 3 slips, a gully and a sort of short mid off while Hildreth and de Bruyn try and sort out the damage and get this innings going.  It's very overcast but a bit humid so the two Nottinghamshire bowlers are putting their all into making this a true disaster.  Big innings from both our men are required for this day to get back on track.

For the 13th pver Notts change the bowler at the River and we see Andre Adams for the first time in this game. But when Zander drives at a full length ball and deposits the snick into the hands of third slip, it is off Pattinson instead.  He goes for 9 and we have the massively impressive 23. In comes Peter Trego at number 5 - some may look at this in surprise but given the present position on the pitch he is probably a better bet than either Craig or Ian and hopefully will be the savious of this dire first hour! 

But no!  It gets even worse as first Trigger is comprehensively cleaned up by Adams with only 1 to his name and then the man in need of a good score, Ian Blackwell,  misjudges one from Pattinson, fails to keep it down and plops it in to a fielders hands for another single.  24 for 5.  I come back upstaris to report on this just as Hildreth puts a wide one towards first slip and Lo and Behold! the fielder doesn't drop it - fielding practice and his first loose shot just when we don't need it 35 for 6.  Alfonso is in at number 8.  What kind of total we can expect I have absolutely no idea but 3 figures is a pipe dream at the moment!! 

The first real supporting applause finally arrives in the 26th over when Thomas goes down on one knee and smacks a boundary to the new seating to bring up the 50.  But four runs later the pain of watching this game intensifies as a defensive stance from Kieswetter to Adams doesn't keep the ball out and his middle stump goes flying past the wicketkeeper.  54 for 7 and Steffan has had almost no time to settle down for a bit of a rest before bowling.  It's just before 1:00 in the first day and we are trying to make this look even slightly like a reasonable total by asking the bowlers to hold our innings together and get it over 100 by some miracle.  Even Mark Ealham, who has taken over from the OP end just before lunch, looks menacing against us!!

Lunch beckons at 59 for 7 with 28 overs completed.  We're three from one of the lowest score milestones (62 against Notss at Bath) but we are a little further from making this game naything like competitive.  There were calls for Justin to shut up shop and bring the boys in to give our lot a chance with the conditions as he did last season in a losing cause.  Not sure myself.  The weather doesn't look like it is going to break today either way and we don't look long for this batting lark so we may get a chance at them after lunch unless Alfonso and Steffan have other plans.  If the sun comes out of course we will find the conditions change drastically and we may find  ourselves facing the Notts batsmen on a dry featherbed with three days to go.  The weather sggests another scenario....and at present there are few Somerset suporters on the ground who would not give up their day at the cricket for long, heavy and prolonged rain.

We pass the 62 mark and at least Steffan shows the rest how it should be done with two majestic straight drives to the boundary off Pattinson - best two shots of the day so far.  Unfortunately Alfonso hasn't got his eye in as well as he leaves one that's a bit too close and he is bowled by Adams for 19.  It's a real sad way to go when you've got your bat above your head and the wickets come apart!  77 for 8 with our last hope Mr Andrew Caddick striding out.

Pattinson has something to show young Andrew after the latter's comments about his selection ahead of Hoggard and Harmison for the a Test.  At 90 he gets one to move away ever so slightly and Ried takes his first catch of the innings to send the elder statesman back to the hutch.  Charl comes out in bright sunshine and the pitch is set to dry out and give our bowlers no help whatsoever. 

Steffan moves to top scorer with another impressive smash to the boundary off Mr Pattinson.  So Charl decides to get us to a hundred with an sort of 'forearm smash' to the Botham off Adams for four. A single brings the Welshman down on strike and after refusing a single he follows suit with another smash to the same place.  It all comes to an end as Charl tries to smack one into the churchyard and is caught by Shreck in front of the CA and it's all over for 106.  Five for Pattinson and not a lot at all for us!!

The Reply

Welcome back Matt Wood who strides out to open the Notts innings.  Unfortunately Andy Caddick is there to welcome him as well with the best ball of the day which bounces and leaves him - but with just enough of a tickle to give Langer a first slip catch ad our first wicket with 2 on the board.  It's a miracle Woody doesn't walk back up the wrong steps!  Willoughby comes in to bowl the River end opener in brilliant sunshine - is it all going to be different? Well it had better be different because the pitch inspector is here and we've lost eleven already at 2:50 with Caddick getting predigious bounce and 4 runs off the first 3 overs of the Notts reply.

And it's 90 minutes of cat and mouse with the advantage going between the batsmen and the bowlers.  Alfonso being given some clatter to the 'shop' and then going past the bat and having a very considerable LBW appeal turned down (probably because the batsman hit it).  Charl doing a lot of around the wicket stuff and making them play on more than one occasion. Caddy looking good from both ends with steepling bounce.  But nothing to hand and the score moving steadily towards our meagre offering.  Just before the tea interval we se Pete Trego for the first time and he makes the breakthrough with a neat little inswinger that fools Shafayat and takes his bails off.  67 for 2 and a possible decider of a session to come given the rain forecast for the next few days.  We need a good spell and the pitch inspectors involved because over 14 wickets have gone down to really think we can get anything from this game.

According to the umpires the ball is still doing something but our bowlers aren't quite getting it in the right places and so Notts are getting too many four shots off the backfoot.  It is looking a bit easy after Wagh fires a sixe into the new seats.  But Trego keeps at him and he complacently flips one in the same general direction to be caught by Thomas diving to his right for 46.  82 for 3.  We could have been 84 for 4 in fact when Justin misses a slip catch from Voges.  There were questions about whether it carried but the fact that the captain stays down for a considerable period of time suggests that it did.

He therefore sighs a huge one of relief when Voges is flumuxed by Willoughby's swing and is found to be LBW in the 28th at 89 for 4.  The 14th wicket of the day and the inspector is still here. 

The visitors pass our total with a boundary to non fine 'Third Wurzel' in the 31st and the Patel and Swann look steady.  We still haven't seen Steffan Jones in the attack but Trego gets another one to go away and Swann edges his defensive shot to Trescothick at 108.  24 overs to go and we're halfway through the second innings!!

It's therefore time to check the possible fine situation.  Thanks to David Green in the press box there is a conversation with the inspector (Mr Jameson) who suggests that though the ball was swinging too much this morning the conditions didn't justify a 106 total.  The difficulties of preparing for this game given the rain was also taken into account.  The game's present position has far more to do with technique than preperation and so it is highly unlikely that any action will be taken against the pitch - good news. Thank you Mr Green.

With 20 overs to go it's 119 for 5 and with 17 to go Steffan Jones comes on for his first spell with the rag that is the ball!! 130 for 5 - can the man from Wales a) get the ball changed? b) do anything to take this game into another interesting period? The box of balls is coming on and the umpire is going off with them, up the steps into his changing room and back down with something.  We then get spectacle of Barrie Leadbetter sprinting back onto the pitch with a ball he likes better than any provided.

The 150 arrives before the "10 to go sign" goes up but Steffan and Andy are making no real headway against two batsmen now well set.  The light is getting dark and gloomy by 6 o'clock and there are doubts we'll make it to a 6:45 ish finish.  There's enough time for Patel to go to 50 off 72 balls with 7 fours at 168.  He and Ried are starting to move away now at it is soon 179 as the byes start to flow and both batsmen go looking for runs. Charl nearly gets Patel but the ball falls just short of him.  There's another discussion about the ball and Barrie does some more sprinting to get another one.  While that is going on of course everyone has to have a drink and then we are back in play with 9 to go and 200 looking likely.  Thomas bounces Patel in poor light and we all think he's trying to get off.  But that isn't the case.  The next one he sends down, Patel tries to cut and de Bruyn catches him in the deep at 182 for 56 - he looks really god this guy.  Mark Ealham comes out to face the last 8 overs with Trego replacing Caddy at the OP.

But the umpires decide it is bad light with 7 to go at 185 for 6 and we've finished a truly strange days cricket with 16 wickets gone and 291 runs scored.  What the hell happens with the rest of this game is down to the weather I'm afraid.  Notts are 79 runs ahead with four wickets in hand and that could be a winning situation in this game!!

More to come tomorrow?  Who the hell knows.

Day 2

There's a bloke who plays for Notts called Chris Read.  He keeps wicket and a few years ago he kept Rob Turner from his just desserts - an England tour by being heralded as the young pretender for Alec Stewart's gloves.  Well he's been pretty much ignored since then - partly because of some daft misjudgement against the West Indies (I think) where he squatted to avoid a bouncer and was bowled through his legs by a well disguised slow ball.

I tell you this bloke could be a possible candidate for that place Ambrose and Prior are fighting over. He keeps well and, when he's only got the tailender to keep him company he farms the strike so well that Shreck manages 2 while he takes the Notts end total to 230 and is own score to 74 not out - adding 41 to his overnight score.

In between, Thomas and Trego got among the back end of the Notts order Ealham at 186 (Thomas), Adams at 189 (Trego) and Pattinson (Thomas) at 193. But the 124 lead the visitors end on has a lot to do with their captain.  Good batting under pressure at the tail end?  Now which side needs some of that from a man who wears gloves?

And so we manage to pull ourselves back into this game by the seat of our pants and thanks to the efforts of our bowlers.  Now we need the front end to actually do its job for a change and get us more than a Langer and Trescothick partnership to defend in their second innings.  Getting past 128 is the first target.

Well it looks like Justin has given himself a good talking to and threatened himself with being dropped down the order if he doesn't pull his socks up.  Because he does.... Marcus and the boss take it to the opposing attack and go past 50 in 8 overs - mostly at the expense of Mr Pattinson who goes for 40 off just under 6.

114 when the rain takes hold at about 4:15 but 15 shots for 4 in that so it's patience with a smack for the bad ball (and our England prospect seems to have bowled quite a number).  It's 5:45 and the rain is bucketing down with the whole ground swathed in covers and no-one sitting outside.  It's unlikely that we'll see any more today because it is grey and very very wet.

Play is abandoned for the day at 5:00 with the rain still lashing down.  We've put this game back on a semi-even keel and start tomorrow 10 runs adrift with everyone ready to contribute.  Can we all pray that they do and spare a particular bit of your discussion with your chosen diety for Mr Ian Blackwell who needs something in the bank from this game in terms of above average performance figures.

Day 3

A better start to the day weather-wise.  Bright and clear with a fresh breeze that might keep the rain away. Justin and Marcus are back at the crease with a big day ahead with luck.  But the luck isn't there and Justin snicks one to second slip from Shreck with only 22 added to the overnight 114 but at least we clear the deficit with only one down. For them Shafayat is keeping wicket because it looks like the dislocated finger that forced Read off in the afternoon yesterday has kept him away from the gloves again today.  I suppose that is in the hope that they can deal with it in case he needs to bat to save the game!!

Zander comes out to help MT put the score past the 150 mark in the first hour.  We hope for the same again before he or Marcus leaves the field for anything other than lunch breaks.  The pair are pushing the score along with a number of well run twos alongside the normal Trescothick boundaries.

Too good to last?  Well seems so as Marcus follows his captain with a slip dismissal.  This time it's Andre Adams providng the ball and Mark Ealham providing the hands but the result is 168 for 2 and our big gun gone for 81 after providing the little edge.  Now we do need to see something because this is the part of the game where we seem to stall or falll apart.  After the two openers leave the field the middle order has been struggling to keep up the scoring rate while keeping their wickets intact and we cannot have that today under any circumstances.  Therefore it is down to James Hildreth to start the move of the recognised batsmen to a score that we can use to either bring this game to a draw or even a win.  That means batting out the day without relying on the tail to scrabble the odd 20 or so each with whichever member of the 3,4,5 or 6 has a bit of form in hand on this occasion.

172 for 2 after 50 overs with Zander looking to push the score on as James looks to settle himself and it all looks good until they put their spinners on.  de Bruyn starts by slog sweeping Swann to the new seat boundary but the next ball he tries to drive and loses his off bail as the ball goes through the gate - 186 for 3 and Langer puts Craig Kieswetter into the fray who starts with a straight six into Old Pavilion off the second spinner Patel.  But the spinners gain the psychological advantage by keeping the two batsmen stranded on 199 during the lunch interval despite their best efforts in the last two overs.

After the break we move over the barrier with the first ball from Swann.  The theory seems to be that Craig is in as a kind of 'lunch watchman' to ensure no collapse either side of the break.  He seems to have the role of steering Hildreth to a big score while the 'big guns' of Trego and Blackwell wait in the wings for a big push should this partnership establish a decent base.  But there are plans and then there's reality.  Kieswetter snicks Pattinson for 8 and it's 208 for 4 (or 85 for 4 depending on how you want to look at it).  In comes Ian Blackwell with a situation made for him to put all the 'conspiracy theorists' out of their misery. Can he do what we really all want him to do? 

NOPE.  He tries to put Pattinson into the new stand seats and is caught on the boundary by Franks with 223 on the board.  Justin will be unhappy...and he has the right to be I'm afraid.  99 for 5 is not a position we wanted to be in and I'm afraid Ian was probably not sent in to hit the skin off the ball wth huge sixes into the crowd.  Peter Trego now has a real job to do alongside James who is doing what is certainly required of him and staying there!  

So....I do for the young man who for some inexplicable reason comes dancing down the pitch to Swann, gives the ball a huge swipe and skies it into Shreck's hands at 230.  Justin will be apoplectic and has every right to be - daft as a brush and no need whatsoever for it. Alfonso is the next man in to try and return this innings to some vestige of sanity but I think this one has gone and probably will do so today!  And in all honesty it deserves to based on our batting efforts to win it.

Thomas does his job commendibly and he and Pete move the score on by 42 before Pete is the one to feather one to Shafayet at 272.  It's not enough but the tail is once again showing the front end how to hang around!!  Jones strides out, without a lot of fear and they put Pattinson on with the new ball to fire him out.  He bounces him, tries to york him and then tries a second bouncer which Steff helps over the in field to the boundary.  So Pattinson sends a rocket down which our Welshman sends back past him to the OP boundary.  The England man then bounces him twice to finish the over...but we take the honours I think.  I only hope they keep trying to bounce and intimidate Mr Jones because he's better than that and will belt them all over the place if they assume he's some kind of late innings rabbit.

Meanwhile at the other end A Thomas is continuing to do his job but that ends when Shreck gets one past him and takes his off stump out. 291 for 8 - with Andy Caddick in at 10 and together they take us over 300 with a Jones boundary. By Tea it's 312 for 8 with Jones putting up a real fight and Caddick giving him as much of the strike as possible.  Excellent stuff  why the hell can't we see this earlier in an innings?  Once again we start dicussing the strategy of reversing the order and getting the bowlers to take the shine off the ball so the 'real' batsmen can play the ball with a little less 'fizz'.    Hmmmmmm!

Day 4

Well we're playing.  It's grey but windy and it's 85 for 3 at 11:15.  Caddick and Thomas are bowling to a crowd of about 150.  The bowlers are sending down a lot of four balls or Notts have been told to get on with it.  Someone came out from the opposng dressing room and they've started hitting out.  Adams was caught on the boundary but off a no ball from Caddick and his next ball went into the new stand as the 'runs required' moves under 100.  It's ominous but getting brighter and Notts look more likely to win it than we do.  Having said that Adams then tris to drive off Caddy and he absolutely totals him!!  116 for 4.  In comes Voges as Willoughby takes over from Alfonso at the River end.

Well we seem to have lost the last two hours worth of posts so I'll recap!!

Charl bowled one ball before they took the sides off for rain at 125 for 4.  After a light covering of water with only the pitch covered, the umpires returned to the pitch and seem to have decided that they would bring them out again.  However, as the Somerset side congregated to come down the stairs, Phil Frost waved them back in and then the covers came on in force as the drizzle continued.

There was a Somerst conference with Justin, Andy Hurry and Phil just before lunch and then a lot of rain which resulted in all the covers coming on.  Lunch was taken at 1:00 as usual.

It is now brighter but the covers stretch right from the new stand to the other boundary with the hard one's on the wicket and the run-up's under canvass.  Even if they inspect after lunch (1:45?), there'll be no play for an hour after that.

First possible playing time?  3:00-ish and that is assuming no rain at all between now and then. Which is highly unlikely although not beyond the realms of possibility.  Notts would probably like to get out there for about 15 and put us out of our misery.  We'd probably now like to stay inside and take our points and a third place spot behind them and Durham.

I'll do the rest from home though because it's one of those days you hate where there is a tantalising possibility of something but it's probably not going to happen!!

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