By Grockle
May 23 2025
Up to the North East for the last of the first 7 games of the 2025 Championship season versus Durham. Matt Henry fully in the side now after knocking the rust off against Sussex and Somerset arriving with 2 wins in the last two games and hoping for a third. The internationals have started but James Rew has been released for this game though Tom Banton will be with the white ball sqaud as will Potts and Carse. We come out of it one better probably. Kasey Aldridge and Thomas Rew miss out from the squad as Andy Umeed is recalled to the side.
CC1 V Durham @ Chester le Street Friday 23 May 2025
There are questions within this side about who will play where and who will bowl. We come to Durham with two wins in two and hoping for a third. The selectors have included Andy Umeed and James Rew (released from the Test squad). Banton, Carse and Potts are not available because of white ball internationals next week so the side is;
Andy Umeed, Archie Vaughan, Tom Lammonby, Tom Abell, James Rew, Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Josh Davey, Migael Pretorius, Matt Henry, Jack Leach
Thomas Rew misses out on his first sqaud call up as does Kasey Aldridge. There is some debate about where Lewis Gregory will bat and whether he will bowl as he didn't at Taunton last week. There is also a quastion about the positioning of Josh Davey (the website team list does not include a bat logo with Josh just a ball - rather dismissive really!!)
Durham win the toss and decide to bat and we come out just before 11 am. Matt Henry starts the Somerset new ball attack and Lees is back in the hutch before 11 o'clock as he plays on first ball and is bowled for 0. Josh Davey opens at the other end and Gay and McKinney have to reset immediately. By the 10th over they have reached 34 in the face of tight bowling and at that point Pretorius replaces Henry while Craig Overton takes over from Davey.
The 15th arrives with 48 on the board without further loss as Gay especially settles into his job. Though he nearly hits one to Jack at square in the next Miggy P over while on 27 (though it would have been in the edge of his fingers if it carried). The next ball brings up the 50 for the home side.
With the first ball of the 21st Josh Davey shapes one back in to McKinney and Rew takes the catch to dimiss him for 30 with the score at 65 for 2. In comes the South African Bedingham with about half an hour before the lunch break.
Matt Henry returns and sets up Gay with Tom Abell on the boundary. He gives it some steam and Gay top edges it straight to the set fielder. It certainly looked like a plan and with about 12 minutes before lunch he goes for 41 at 88 for 3, Robinson arrives and we have a bowling bonus point. Henry has 2 for 15 from his 8
Lunch arrives with Durham at 96 for 3 with Robinsomn on 1 and Bedingham on 3. The durham commentator sees this as now being the most important pair at the crease. If we break this partnership it seems we may well be into the soft underbelly of the Durham batting. I'l wait to be convinced but a good morning for the visiting county after being asked to bowl first.
After the break Migael Pretorius starts the afternoon session and haas Bedington LBW in front with his 6th ball just after Durham have moved over the 100 mark to 105 for 4. This brings Ackerman out to the crease so the danger is not yet over.
Matt and Craig keep the batsmen honest but Ollie Robinson is determined to get the score moving and although Matt is looking particularly dangerous, the Durham bat does move past 50 at a run a ball while the pair move the score beyond 150. During the 43rd over Henry finally gets a thick outside edge from Robinson which is collected by a diving Rew and he goes for 52 at 161 for 5.
By the 47th Durham, through Clark and Ackerman, have moved the score to 169 for 5 with Jack Leach into the attack containing one end while the very dangerous Matt Henry is causing all kinds of problems at the other end.
When Josh Davey replaces him for the 50th over after bowling very well for his one wicket in the morning, he gets some immediate reward when he gets one past Clark into the gloves of the keeper for 15 at 185 for 6. Ben Raine is the next man in and he looks to make some runs from Leach as he tries to move his county on past 200.
Ackerman takes the side past 200 in the 54th and the pair move the score on against Davey and Overton until Pretorius returns replacing Josh for the 58th at 215 for 6 with Raine on 21 from 14 and Ackerman on 28 from 72. Craig continues for the 59th and drops a very sharp caught and bowled off Ackerman off the 5th delivery of the over. Very hard but he would be mad he didn't take it - it was sharply driven and is one of those that sticks or doesn't as the bowler puts his hand out. It seems to get him going though because he cleans up the Durham man next ball taking out the off stump. Ackerman leaves for 30 at 219.
One brings two as Ben Raine is cut in half by one from Migael in the 60th and is adjudged LBW at 221 for 8 before Tea. He goes for 25 from 25 though the bat seemed to think it was too high. Killeen and Yusuf find themselves holding the line until the interval. They do manage to stay in and leave the field at 227 for 8 with Killeen still not off the mark from his 10 and Yusuf with 5 to his name from 14.
After Tea we continue the day in the same vein with Henry taking a wicket in the first over (for the third spell in a row) as Killeen leaves without asking the scorer's to register any runs to him and it is 227 for 9. He is caught by Gregory at first slip and in comes the opener from the week before - James Minto. Jack opens the third session from the other end and goes for just 4 byes so no runs off the bat yet this session. Minto clears the field to the boundary in the 67th to start the 'after Tea' account. Henry is looking for a five-fer at 4 for 43 with 3 slips waiting for any error but there is no mistake in the 67th.
Once again, a tail partnership stands tall. Yusuf and Minto keep off Henry and see Leach replaced by Overton as they push the score on to over 250 and a batting bonus point. Young Minto looks much better than a number eleven for his 16 from 30 while Yusuf is playing a decent supporting role with 9 from 33. There are 23 overs left in the day and we are 7 overs from a Somerset new ball if these two stay in.
Minto is put down at second slip with 25 to his name and 40 runs to the 10th wicket partnership. This is becoming a frustration, something that has happened more than once this season. A 50 partnership arrives at 277 for 9. With that achieved, Minto dollies one up into the legside and is caught for 34 by Lammonby off Pretorius at 277. He finishes with 3 for 63.
With 17 overs left in the day. Somerset open their first innings account. Lewis Gregory and Josh Davey once again open for their county - to the surprise of some people watching and those on the stream. It seems to be a plan for more than one game - though it will end for the time being after this game so the question will remain about whether it is a long term plan. Nevertheless Raine and Minto open the bowling against our new opening partnership. Minto has two shouts for LBW against Davey at the start of the second over. After two overs Somerset are 8 for no wicket with 3 off the bat to Josh Davey.
With the second ball of the fourth, Lewis is caught in two minds about a ball from Minto after driving the first for four. He doesn't leave the ball enough and a large bottom edge takes out his middle stump at 13 for 1. The captain leaves for 5 and in comes Tom Lammonby with 13 overs left in the day.
In the 15th over Josh drives straight for four and takes his side over 50 for the loss of 1. Unfortunately he then looks to drive Yusuf once again and is caight by McKinney for 24 off 41 balls. 55 for 2 as Jack Leach comes out to face the 14 balls left in the day's play. Unfortunate for Davey as he had looked good up to that point.
Thern.... oh dear Killeen gets one to leave the left hander and Tom Lammonby has to leave at 55 for 3 and Durham have to day as we finish at 63 for 3 with both Rew and Leach with 4 each to their name. A disappointing last sessiomn for Somerset after a good rest of the day. They let Durham get 50 runs for the 10th wicket and then lost 3 wickets before the close. Ahhh well tomorrow is another day as they say.
DAY 2
There are weather worries about today and it is grey at the start of the morning. But the sides start on time with Raine and Minto bowling against the not out pair of Jack Leach (5) - doing nightwatchman duties from last night and James Rew (8) coming in at number 5. Chasing the Durham 277 with the possibility of disuption during Saturday. There are 95 overs in the day though how many we get may be a bit of weather lottery.
James Rew does not last long unfortunately when at 73 for 4 he is caught in front by Raine and he departs for 8 from 7 balls faced. In comes Tom Abell with quite a job to do. Jack has put up stoic defence and played some shots well above a number 10/11. However he finally is caught by Gay driving Raine at 102 and he leaves the crease for 30. Andy Umeed is the next man in with a need for a significant innings in first class cricket.
I wish I didn't see Andy hitting sixes off the 8th ball of his innings though... not sure why he thinks this is the way to play four day cricket I'm afraid. No problem with playing the loose ball but the number of times he falls early doing it suggests he's not great at doing it. However, today is another day.
The next breakthrough however, is Tom Abell being caught in front LBW by Killeen who now has 2 for 17 and Somerset slump to 116 for 6 with Abell departing for 5. Archie Vaughan arrives at the middle. It is not the last credible partnership we have but it is becoming a bit of a problem in the larger context of the game as the visitors are still the wrong side of the follow on total of 127 and looking in quite a lot of trouble.
With 6 runs needed to save the follow on, Killeen hits Umeed's back leg LBW for 14 from 17 and it is 121 for 7 with the arrival of Craig Overton who disappointecly only stays for 1 ball as Killeen takes a second consecutive wicket as Overton gets a leading edge as it is going down the leg side and is sharply caught by Gay in the gully. 121 for 8 and Killeen is 4 for 21 off his 8 overs.
Pretorius is the next man in to try and get his side past the follow on score. Archie achieves this with a slap to the boundary behind the slips in the 32nd so Durham will not be enforcing anything today. However, he is not long for the middle as one run later Killeen gets his 5-fer courtesty of a brilliant slip catch from Ackeerman and Vaughan leaves with 8 from 14 balls. It's 128 for 9 149 behind.
Migael is joined by Matt Henry who has yet to get any real batting time and was struggling for form for his country during the winter games against England. There is little doubt that these two will look to move the score on qhile they can. Henry is not waiting about as he hits 3 fours from Killeen's 10th - they will probably rest him after this one. Pretorius hits another boundary off Raine to move the score over the 150 mark and he is coming up the wicket so we are not going to be left wondering with these two. Henry is 21 from 12 at the end of the 36th and these two have moved the score to 170 by the end of the 38th with Pretorius going at a run a ball to chase his partner. However Cody Yusuf bowls Pretorius, taking his leg stump out of the ground at 172 finishing a last wicket partnership of 44.
With about half an hour to go before lunch the second phase of the game starts after a session where Somerset lost 7 wickets for 109 with most of the defiance coming from the people classified as 'tail end bats' once again. The first innings troubles continue for the men from the West Country.
The wicket is offering something and one has to believe that if the home bowlers can get something from it then so can the visitors. Matt Henry proves that very point by removing McKinney in the third over for 0 from 7 at 9 for 1 before sending Gay on his way 2 balls later caught at second slip without scoring either. 9 for 2 still in the third. It seems that Thomas Rew has started the second innings with the gloves on as he took the first wicket. The second was a slip catch by 'birthday boy' Lewis Gregory. Out comes Bedingham to take Durham through to 18 for 2 at lunch with Lees on 13 and the aforementioned on 5.
Starting the 5th session of the game - probably the most important of the competition, Josh Davey and Matt Henry look to push Somerset further down the wicket tally. Bedingham and Lees look to push the lead along and early on, in the 10th over, Josh Davey gets first blood as he has Bedingham caught by Craig Overton for 8 at 32 for 3. Lees is then joned by Robinson and they look to solify the base. Although it is slow they do reach 50 at the end of the 15th over
There is news on the absence of James Rew in this innings. It seems he got a knock on a finger and has gone to a local hospital to have it checked. This is why Thomas is making his debut first team appearance as a sub with the permission of the umpires to keep. This could be useful as we lose two of our four keepers for the start of the Vitality Blast because Tom Banton is already with the England white ball squad while James huiumself is captaining the Lion's one day games next week which correspond with our start in the Blast on the 30th. TKC also keeps but it seems a little vague when he last kept in any major game so Thomas may be getting a useful 'feel' for the bowling as he may find himself debuting for real in a whioiote ball game before the end of May.
Pretorius opens his second innings account in the 18th over by having Lees LBW for 35 from 50 balls at 63 for 4. This is followed in the next over by Craig also opens up with the wicket of Ackerman caught behind for 4 at 68. Halfway through the durham line-up with less than a 200 run lead is more than we probably could have hoped for but it does suggest that the 50 runs put on by the Durham 10th wicket pair on the first day may have been a significant score in a seemingly above average 277 all out.
Clark has joined Robinson and at the end of the 20th over of the innings the score has moved on to 78 for 5. In the 22nd over, Robinson drives the first delivery from Miggy P for four to take the score to 88 but he then guides the second to Andy Umeed in the gully to leave the fight at 88 for 6 with 33 to his name. The lead is moving towards 200 but the number of wickets left for Durham to add to this is declining at a pretty regular rate as Raine walks out to join Clark.
At the end of the 23rd over this pair move the lead over 200 and the innings score close to 100. Henry returns for the 25th and Raine pulls the 3rd ball for 2 to take Durham past the 3 figure mark in thei second time at the crease. Matt replies by having Raine caught by Tom Abell at 108 for an individual score of 9. Henry goes to 3 for 49 from his 9 overs. Minto joins the game once more.
Tea arrives at 131 for 7. Durham are 236 ahead with 3 wickets left Clark is on 29 from 38 and Minto has 1 from 25. There are 39 overs left in the day and then 2 days left for this game to reach a conclusion. Don't think the draw is on any more do you?
Once again in the first over of the next session Migael Pretorius gets a wicket with his fourth ball! Clark is out for 29 from 41 balls at 131 for 8. This brings in Killeen to partner Minto. But within 4 overs at 138 for 8 Killeen is caught at first slip by Lewis Gregory off the bowling of Josh Davey and the game moves on once more. Hogg is in to bat 7 runs from a 250 run lead. They take it over that number in the 40th of the bowling of our South African.
For those wondering, Yusuf who should have come in at number 11 has suffred a concussion in the game and has been replaced by Daniel Hogg. Hence the change in batting line-up. The new pair take the second inings score over 150 in the 42nd over as Hogg gets into his stride with 16 from his first 15 balls as opposed to Minto who has taken three times as many delilveries to reach the same score.
Craig is re-introduced for the 44th and he has Minto clean bowled at the end of the over for 17. Durham are all out for 159. 264 runs ahead with 29 overs left in the day. One might say "Game On" but we may want to wait unti the end of Day 2 to see if that is the case.
ONly two days into this game and we are in to the fourth innings of the match as Josh Davey and Lewis Gregory come out to work through the rest of the lsast session of Day 2. There are about 27 overs left in the day and Durham would like to finish today where they were yesterday at the close with only about 60 on the board and three wickets in the bag.
It doesn't quite go to plan as it is 13 overs before the home side make a break through. Josh Davey is cleaned up by Killeen with 15 to his name off double that in terms of balls faced and Somerset are 35 for 1 at the endof the 13th. Tom Lammonby takes on the role (it's too early for a nightwatch option) but he looks less scratchy than he was last night and gets down to the task with his captain. The lights come on as the weather closes in a little - we've done very well today with only a short delay during the lunch break where we had a little drizzle. BUt the light is going a little now.
By the 22nd over there have been no more problems for the visitors and the score has moved on to 71 with Gregory on 37 and Lammers on 19. That is it for the night as the umpires take the sides off probably for light as they are staying out checking. It is very dull and it is probably the end of play.
Day 3
And so we move to the final day of this game one would assume. The wind is high this morning and the 'heavy' bails are on. Somerset start 193 runs behind with 9 wickets in hand. Killeen and Raine will open the bowling against Gregory and Lammonby. Onw would assume that if the visitors don't lose a flurry of wickets in the first session they should be in the driving seat. Again there is no time pressure on this one as there are well over 90 overs to be bowled today and roughly the same tomorrow. Fans will be praying that they have patience. However, Ben Raine gets an outside edge from the skipper and Gregory adds only 1 before leaving the field at 73 for 2 before he is caught behind. In comes James Rew whose finger injury does not seem to be causing him problems (though we could speculate that he is in early to try it out as well). He has no break on the finger and one hopes it willnot affect his batting this morning.
Concussion replacement Hogg comes on for the 34th and Rew sends his first ball to the midwicket boundary to bring up the Somerset 100. Lammonby has 31 and Rew has 19 to his name and at the end of the over another Rew boundary has moved that to 107 for 2. Somerset need 158 to win.
In the 37th, Durham turn to spin for the first time in this innings (first time in the game?) as Ackerman comes on with the Somerset pair on a 48 run partnership. That becomes a 50 partnership with the last ball of his over as the visitors move to 123 for 2 with Lammonby on 41 and Rew on 29.
However, Ackerman juistifies the choice by getting Rew to drive and his leading edge goes as far as Lees and he retires from the effort with a score of 31 at 128 for 3 at the end of the 39th. Tom Abell is the next man in looking to help his side and his partner hit targets. He does this as Tom Lammonby goes to a very welcome 51 off 71 at 135 for 3 Somerset are halfway there!!
As with all these games the last innings is a series of achieved targets and the next one is to move below 100 runs required. Raine is back on when Somerset pass the 150 mark and by the 50th over they have moved to 162 for 3 with Abell on 10 and Lammonby on 62. The partnership presently is 33 and hopefully it will continue. Abell knocks Killeen through the covers to take the runs required below 3 figures as they end the 51st at 167 for 2. 98 needed to win with about 15 minutes to the lunch break.
At lunch the Somerset pair walk in at 174 for 3 with Tom Lammonby on 65 from 108 balls and Tom Abell on 20 from 53. The county needs 91 to win the game and things are looking promising for a third win. To be honest the wicket has done much less on Day 3 than it was doing this during the morning session yesterday and we are benefitting from that.
We move into the last session of this game with Ackerman and Hogg trying to make a breakthrough while the two Toms look to put this game away. The 200 arrives in the 64th without any further loss. Lammonby has moved on to a solid 75 while Abell is operating once more in a supporting role with 36. 65 runs required and Durham seem to be running out of options as Raine is called back into the attack. The heroics of Killeen have not been repreated and Minto has not had any real success either. The young bowling attack thrown into this game because of the call ups of Carse and Potts has found the demands hard on the third day.
As Somerset move below 50 runs required, Lammonby starts to look in full command and better than he has for quite a while. Both bats move to individual milestone scores as the total moves into the 230s and their partnership goes over the 100 run mark. As we start the 72nd over Lammonby is on 99 and the re-introduced Mitch Killeen gives him the single he needs off his third delivery. It comes off 149 balls and the second half was really classyin the vien of his 2020 innings. 235 for 3 and 30 to win.
His partner is in no real hurry but in the 75th over Tom Abell passes 50 from 122 balls at 244 for 3. A great supporting role in the second game running when his county really needed his strength and patience. The 250 arrive in the next over and then there is simply on total left to pass.
Tom Abell now seems keen to get it done and he puts on 19 from not a lot to leave his side needing 3 at the end of the 77th. Killeen bowls the first and Tom A hits it for four and raises his fist as Somerset complete another solid win in a fourth over chase. 267 for 3 with Lammonby on 104 and Abell on 73. A 139 ball partnership to put this one to bed!! A win by 7 wickets and a winning Phase 1 with 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses.
Things is looking up as we move into the white ball competition in a much stronger Championship position than we had at the end of April.

