v Nottinghamshire LVCC @ Taunton Friday 31 July 2009

Scorecard

Commentary

The eleven forbrthis game includes one surprise name.  Wes Durston is picked to replace James Hildreth who has a stomach bug.  As Mike suggested yesterday on the forum, Dave Stiff stays with the seconds and max Waller comes in as the spin option.  Other than that the side is as predicted;

Marcus T, Arul, JL, ZdB, Wes, Pete, Craig, Alf, Max, ARC and Charl

We win a toss!! We choose to bat in fresh and bright conditions. An apt description of our first few overs facing Sidebottom from the OP and Pattinson from the River. Marcus is in full flow and we take 23 off the first 3 overs with Banger in front with 18.  A swat to the Somerset Stand confirms our man's position as the permier English born batsman in his position as he becomes the first to pass 1000 - surprised that it's this late in the season but no surprise that Marcus is the man.

However, he doesn't stay long after that as a ball gets past his forward defensive and is snicked to first slip where Ali Brown says 'thanks'.  It's 45 for 1 but the conversation is about things like Bobby Robson's demise, Steffan playing for Derbyshire against Kent and wickets falling in clumps at Edgbaston.  Here, out comes Justin to a muted welcome.  

I'm not sure what I expected on his first appearance after breaking the Aussie run record but there's nothing special about his walk to the wicxket at his home ground today.  Nevertheless he gets down to work with his partner and they work at accumulating three figures before lunch with Arul producing some absolutely sublime straight cover drives illustrating his confidence at feeling he is an established part of this side for probably the first time in his Somerset career.  The 100 comes up off Ealham in the 24th and we go in at lunch with one wicket down and 110 runs on the scoreboard.   

Back from lunch and Adams opens at the OP and normal service resumes very quickly.  Langer is playing the scoring role here while his partner acts as anchor playing the odd cover drive to great effect but allowing his skipper to make the running. It is JL who passes 50 first - 58 balls and 7 fours - (although coming from a double figure defecit at the start of his innings) at 128 in the 34th over.  He's made  a score into the high 60's as his side move past 150 in the 40th off the first over of spin by Patel.  Arul is seemingly marooned in the mid 40's and presently you'd put money on Langer getting to a hundred before our opener passes the mid point.

However after 126 balls and 6 fours he goes past the five zero with another superb squarish drive at 167 for 1 in the 43rd.  But an excellent established innnings is cut short by a great lifting ball from Sidebottom which catches his bat as he pulls it out of the way.  Loads of lift surprise our man and his hands aren't soft enough and it's 167 for 2 with Zander taking his place.

We then come up against the Ryan Sidebottom talked about for Test places!!  He gets a spell together which sees the back of Justin at 172 for 76 with a straight one he plays around and Wes follows him 2 balls later snicking one going away to Read (don't let us sponsor you if we ask guys!!).  172 for 2 becomes 172 for 4 and Sidebottom shuts us down in the next two overs with some hostile bowling - the first we've seen really.  Craig joins ZdB for the pull to Tea but it's a slower Somerset who push past 200 in the 54th and look to the break to calm the Notts attack down.

As the 50 partnership comes up on 222 Patel comes back into the attack and the wind starts to pick up suggesting we may not miss that afternoon rain that was predicted to be heading this way from the tip of Cornwall.  I'm on the radio after the Tea break so you'll have to hear up to date stuff there and I'll fill in the gaps later this evening.

Tea comes and goes with no more problems for the two Somerset batsmen and after the break the two settle into a specific couple of roles.  Ealham and Patel continue for the visitors and Zander becomes the 'strike rotator' of the pairing while Craig looks to push the score along, especially off Patel.  This works to some extent although mark ealham is no slouch and a canny cricketer.  Despite the fact that the young keeper steps to leg and cuts the spinner and deposits one of his deliveries into the Tone they do not get away and Notts hold us in check.

The field placings are promoting the drive and both players take the opportunity when it comes.  Unfortunately one drive by Kieswetter is not really there for it and gets 'big' on our man so he edges it to Read and departs for a good 67 just before the new ball is taken.

He is replaced by Peter Trego with Sidebottom and Adams taking the new ball and some 18 overs of the day still available and the home side at 280.  The fields become attacking and everything is designed to promote Zander to off dirve Sidebottom, nick it and go.  he simply drives square into a huge gap and takes the england man for 8 off two balls.  They stop this idea.

Adams takes the new ball at the River end to try and temp Trego but that doesn't have the desired effect either and we continue to accumulate over the 300 run mark.  The weather has started to turn and we have spots of rain but nothing too serious.  However the officials beg to differ in their opinion of the position and after three discussions they take the players off for bad light with only 2 overs of the new ball completed.  It's 316 for 5 and that is the end of the first day.  the crowd know they aren't coming back well before the officials call it a day and we all leave the ground in conditions that would suggest winter hasn't yet finished rather than summer is halfway through.

Back tomorrow though.  Everyone pray for another dry day.  We took this one I think.  We were talking to a group of Aussies over from Melbourne for a wedding and after showing them the place where Justin changed up to a month ago and the fact that both Jamie Cox (the 'run machine' as they called him) and Shane Lee played here, we asked them what they had enjoyed.  All three said that watching 'the man with guts' Marcus Trescothick bat was their highlight.  "Thank God he doesn't play test any more" was one statement. But they all gave him huge amounts of credit for coming out and making his situation plain for all to see.

Good on ya mates.

Day 2

The rain ensures that the day doesn't really start until 3:50 in the afternoon when the weather breaks.  The great thing is that we got 42 overs in with a 7:50 end to proceedings although it nearly wasn't that promising because Sidebottom had another international spell and we staggered past 400 with a Caddick flash over the slips and declared with full bonus points on 401.  Excellent innings from Zander de Bruyn, solid performance once again from Peter Trego. 

402 to get 251 to save the follow on.  Big session this evening with a good weather day forcast for tomorrow and a patchy last day forecast.  Matt Wood walks out with trialist Scott Newman to show us hw he has developed and he does that with a really confident start against Willoughby and Caddick in particular (who opens the bowling suggesting that the selectors now think he is in the zone).

If Newman is on trial as a possible opener for the visitors then on the basis if that evening's play I'd get his name n a cntract as quickly as possible.  You would have been hard put to identify which was the newcommer to this side, he looked like he had been opening for Notts for his whole career.  It's a hard session for the batsmen though because although it isn't raining it's warm and overcast.  That becomes the problem for Matt who gets bogged down on 9 and eventually doesn't go fully at a ball and flips an easy catch to Suppiah.  First blood and with 15 overs to go they send in a nightwatchman in Franks (although we did think later it was probably to keep the left/right combination going rather than to protect other batsmen).

It doesn't matter much because Charl gets him to nibble one to the keeper at 37 and Notts revert back to the normal batting line-up by sending in Voges in next (still left/right partnership though).  He looks more of the real deal and the two men move the score on against the triumvirate of Caddick, Thomas and Willoughby.  ARC is not the speedy force he once was but he is getting bounce and he is making sure that no batsman assumes he is aspent force by fooling them n a regular basis if they get complacent.  He is by no means a passenger in this side and this is re-inforced when the next wicket goes to him courtesy of an absolutely superb diving catch from that man Arul from the bat of Voges 3 for 73.

With Ryan Sidebottom arriving at the wicket as the second nightwatchman and with about 4 overs to go, Langer turns to spin from Arul.  He causes Newman so many problems that it makes him turn to Waller for the last couple and he nearly has Sidebottom who misses one and is fooled by another.

End of the day and Notts at 77 for 3.  There are prospects for us to get somewhere in this game with a good spell tomorrow.

Day 3

There is a smattering of hope as the third day dawns cloudy and overcast.  It gets better when Willow dismisses Ryan moving in front of his stumps and not hitting the ball before 100 hits the two working scoreboards (97.  However, Newman is still making the most of his debut and Patel is a worthy partner as the two Outlaws put on 50 before Caddick gets Patel caught down the legside by Kieswetter at 147 and Arul has the opener LBW without an increase to the score for a vitally important 87 for his side.  Hope rises again but Notts bat a long way down and two of the wickets are tailenders so we are still in the Notts middle.  Read and Brown are at the crease and determined to take their side over the follow on pooint of 251.  They look certain to do it as well as they go past 200 in the 63rd over and Justin turns to the spin of Max to try and manufacture a breakthrough in the 220's.  Not a bad situation to be in for an up and coming spinner.  Being asked by your record breaking captain to come on and worry Ali Brown with the score on 222.

What more can you do than have the great man caught behind off your 3rd delivery trying to cut a ball too close to him.  Yayy!!! Goeee Max! But Read is not to be swayed from his task as captain and just after he goes past 50 (off 71 balls with 11 fours in the 73rd over, he steers his side past the follow on total.

Wesley gets his opportunity with the ball in the 78th to many people's surprise and the captain turns to spin at both ends bringing Waller on at the OP in the next over.  However the rain stops the scoring before that and the umpires take the sides off at 3:05 just before an almost tropical rainstorm and we arrive at Tea a little early with Notts at 272 for 7./

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