By Grockle
September 14 2003

Well I went today more to see the last Championship day than to see a Somerset win...guess what! We clapped and we pushed and we pressurised and we ohhh'd and we ahhh'd and we won a good game. I was suppposed to be writing tonight about how the hell a team where one player produced an individual score of over 250 could lose a game. That was what was on the cards last night when we were finished off in the penultimate over of the day for 214 leaving Derbyshire just 224 to get in a day for victory.

This morning when De Venuto started doing what he does and they were 40 for 0 I put 70p in thee car park machhine because 2 hours was about what we'd last.

I saw a Somerset side clapping each other. I saw a team pattiing each other on the back and encouraging everything. I heard noise out on the field aand players ran from one end to the other at the end of each over.

At 1:15 I went and put some more money in, just before a brilliant catch by Gareth Andrew of a full blown, middle of the bat shot gave us hope. I got jittery when Blackwell came on to Cork who couldn't resist the temptation and came up the wicket to him - only to be comprehensively stumped by a re-juvenated Rob Turner (who took two quite stupendous 'slip' catches at full stretch in this game..

I watched Simon Francis going past the bat time and time again and generating pace I didn't think he was capable of. I saw Nixon giving batsmen a going over that made them good pickings for Blackwell who was producing predigious spin and enjoying every last moment of this game. He doesn't seem to like his old skipper if the celebrations when he went for one were anything to go by. The rumours of him considering a return to Derby are greatly exaggerated.

Finally, I saw Gareth Andrew get two in two balls and Frankie finish them off and a Somerset victory by 18 or 19 runs. Yes, they are weak and they capitulated a bit with the end in sight. Yes, it could have gone either way at any time. Yes we were poor in the second innings but we stuck at it and finally got some desserts and I don't give a toss how it came - we needed this one and it felt good to get.

I'm glad Blacky is staying. I like the look of so many of the new boys.. If Nixon isn't coming back I thank him for his efforts and applaud his application. If Dravid and Ponting arrive they'd better come looking to get this place going and not just for the money. I'm not so sure that the achievements of Australia are down to Ricky and although Dravid looks a class act I worry about the bowling if we take both of them at the expense of a paceman. But today we were happy. Sparse but happy and tomorrow? Well that's another day isn't it?