Note the street name

By Rogers and Out
July 12 2016

Rogers and Out reports on another dramatic day in the life of Middlesex cricket. We get a virtual tour of the ground and its many stands, before reading abut the stand that really mattered at the end of the day, by batsmen very appropriately named given the name of the street and the church just outside the ground. Note the name of the shop in the picture as well. So far all going according to that name.

A remarkable day of cricket was witnessed at Taunton as Middlesex ended in a strong position at the end of day two on 361/8, with a lead of 125 runs.
A day of three halves saw Somerset gain the ascendancy before lunch with some fine bowling by the under appreciated Jim Allenby. We hit back in the middle session with a good innings by George Bailey then we took control after tea with a great unbeaten partnership of 149 between James Harris and James Fuller.
My day had started after a good breakfast at the Corner House hotel, where I had shown Eskinazi-style durability the night before when sending my dinner bill back twice when the waiter had attempted to over charge me.

One of many stands and pavilions at Taunton

I took up residence for the pre lunch session in the upper tier of the New Pavilion which offers great views of the cricket and the Quantock Hills, although it can be somewhat breezy and chilly.
Craig Overton opened the day's proceedings from the New Pavilion end and from the very first ball, Eski clipped him into the grateful hands of Hildreth at mid wicket and we stood at 51/2. His seven runs had taken 52 balls, but his effort the evening before to stay in with Gubbo should not be under estimated.
Dawid Malan was next man in and looked good with a couple of boundaries. However, Margate's former number one Peter Trego castled him for ten leaving us on 74/3. In the over before AC's dismissal, Gubbo was fortunate when he should have been caught and bowled by Craig Overton. The bowler would have taken a simple return catch had he not turned to the umpire appealing for leg before.Nick Gubbins battled away but could have been taken twice by Trescothick at second slip, before the veteran eventually did pouch him off Allenby in the 36th over. Gubbo had made a valiant 67. Simmo departed soon after without scoring to the excellent Allenby, caught behind by Alex Barrow.
Our position worsened as General Franco left a ball from Allenby and was bowled. At 133/6 before lunch, we looked to be heavily reliant on George Bailey and fortunately, he did not disappoint.
Myself and Barmy Kev had a pint in the Ring of Bells at lunch and I voiced the opinion that I'd be happy if we made 200 for a batting point. Time would prove me to be completely wrong once more.
We watched the post lunch cricket from the Somerset Stand as we'd upset a local fan by having the temerity to celebrate a Gubbins boundary earlier on.
George Bailey was digging in and along with Ollie, we were creeping toward the Somerset total. Our cause was helped by young substitute fielder Calvin Harrison who deputised for the injured Jamie Overton. He allowed Ollie to hit an unlikely boundary when misfielding and he later misjudged another aerial strike, although he did redeem himself with some athletic work towards the end of the day.
Ollie produced a stoic innings which ended leaving us on 177/7 when he edged Craig Overton to Allenby at first slip. Gorgeous George was keeping us in the hunt with the odd good shot to the boundary but primarily chipping away with singles.
James Harris followed Rayner's lead with some decent defensive shots as the 200 came up. Just as we looked likely to achieve parity with Somerset's total, Bailey played a loose shot off Allenby and was take by Craig Overton in the slips and we were 212/8. George's innings of 71 had been vital and set the scene for what was to follow.

Nice views from whatever stand

After tea, we joined Margaret, Tony, Frank and a few other Middlesex faithful further along the Somerset Stand and witnessed a marvellous session for us.
James Fuller looked initially to be going all guns blazing and his timing was somewhat out. It looked as though he was certain to get out sooner rather than later, but the steadying influence of James Harris seemed to calm him and they both started to accumulate runs in ones and twos. We overhauled the Somerset score, then JK went into overdrive, clubbing several fours and sixes, ably assisted by Harris.
Myburgh missed a difficult chance at mid wicket but the two Jameses batted superbly, bringing up 300, a one hundred partnership then amazingly, 350. Fuller ended up on 84 not out, and Harris unbeaten on 69.
It must be said that the pitch definitely got easier for batting as the day went on, but it was still a mighty achievement by these two lower order batsmen. The Somerset bowlers became more and more disillusioned and Craig Overton was most dispirited at the end.
Undoubtedly Somerset will find batting easier tomorrow but we have an opportunity to pick up an excellent win. The only down side of my day was seeing a sports headline that Sam Allardyce is going to be interviewed for the England football manager's job.