Somerset
And the rain came down!! Gloucestershire Bristol 4 dayer
By Farmer White et al
May 23 2021
After the rain washout at the Oval we come South West to Bristol to try again against the leaders of our group and local rivals. Will the rain have too much of a say in this one as well? Seems so. Farmer expands
County Championship Group 2. Gloucestershire v Somerset. 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd May 2021. Bristol.
Gloucestershire. K.C. Brathwaite, C.D.J. Dent (c), J.R. Bracey (w), T.C. Lace, I.A. Cockbain, R.F. Higgins, M.A.H. Higgins, T.M.J. Smith, M.D. Taylor, D.A. Payne, D.J. Worrall.
Somerset. E.J. Byrom, T.A. Lammonby, T.B. Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, G.A. Bartlett, L.P. Goldsworthy, S.M. Davies (w), C. Overton, L. Gregory, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach.
Toss. Gloucestershire. Elected to field.
First day 20th May – It’s good to be back
In some ways nothing had changed. In others everything had. I arrived at the ground, as was always my wont, in a tight race with the umpires, players, clouds and rain for the eleven o’clock start. Nothing new there. I was not the only one. I arrived outside Nevil Road’s Ashley Down Road entrance with a last-minute surge of similarly anorak-attired, backpack-carrying men, most of them just beyond a certain age. Nothing new there either. What was totally new was the small element of variety that had been introduced. It consisted of an array of different colours and designs of face masks and coverings with which the faces were adorned. The new world meeting the returning old. A quick scan of my ticket and an exchanged smile with the steward who scanned it and I was in. The old world again.
Then the new world intervened for a moment. “Do you know where you are sitting sir?” asked one of a host of yellow-jacketed stewards. A gentle reminder that all seats were allocated for this Championship match even though the crowd only numbered several hundred. No doubt the weather had deterred as many as were determined to defy it. And so, I ascended a flight of stairs at the rear of the Mound Stand to the block containing my allocated seat. When I reached the top, spread out before my eyes was a first-class cricket match and several hundred supporters. I had, of course, missed the first over but no matter, that was par for the course in the old world, at least in mine. Somerset were 4 for 0. I breathed a sigh of relief. No wickets.
As I stood at the top, looking up and back, from one end of the Mound Stand to another, the crowd had a slightly odd look to it. People were dotted about, rather as they might have been in the old world of the Somerset Stand at Taunton on a busy day. With such a crowd in the Somerset Stand at Taunton you would expect to see the rest of the ground crowded. Here, the rest of the ground was deserted, with no stand along the side which the temporary stand occupies for T20 matches. The crowd in the Mound Stand was like an oasis from the old world set in the desert of the new.
The way the crowd was dotted about did look slightly odd, another result of the new world. It looked rather like the awkward spacing of garden plants where the planting has attempted to replicate the randomness of nature. It never looks natural, at least to my eye. And this crowd didn’t look natural either. The crowd of course had not randomly distributed itself as it would have done in the old world. The new world, at least the regulations designed to protect people against the coronavirus, had distributed them differently. People were seated in alternate rows and, if attending on their own, in alternate seats. Families and, I presume, coronavirus bubbles sat together.
Once I was in my seat, the old world almost came back, or the Gloucester CCC seat-allocation computer is a Somerset supporter. Two rows in front of me was a Somerset supporter of my acquaintance. A row in front of that, two more, and two rows in front of them another. Within five minutes of my arrival another came to his seat, two along from me. I didn’t know him, but he knew the couple sitting four rows down. It was almost like old times at an away match. Somerset supporters present in comparative abundance. Not entirely like old times of course, none of us could move to sit with the others as we might have done in those days. Not that that stopped the chat or the banter, it just waited for breaks in play. It was as if the 20 months since we last sat and chatted at a cricket match had not happened, even if there was a slight air of unreality about it all.
And then Tom Lammonby was run out for three in the second over. The cricket was real enough and the run out sharpened the focus. He had turned a ball from Higgins towards square leg and set off for a single. He must have been the only person in the ground who saw that single. Eddie Byrom sent him back, but Ian Cockbain was on the ball in a flash and the stumps were broken with Lammonby clearly short of his ground. “What!?” said one disbelieving Somerset voice to equally disbelieving Gloucestershire cheers as Lammonby’s nightmare summer continued. It was then that it sank in that I had not watched cricket from side on since the end of the 2019 season. I often sit square, especially when Somerset are batting. When the only option is the live stream, the cricket is always from behind the arm. It is an excellent view for watching a batsman’s technique, a bowler’s skill, or moving, turning or flighted balls, but variety is the spice of my cricket-watching life and this, at last was heaven.
It is not so easy to assess the movement of the ball, but an element of playing and missing and gasps and groans from the slip cordon and batsmen frozen in the pose of a committed forward defensive stroke that failed to connect with the ball all told the same tale. Batting was hard work and the threat of a wicket ever-present. It held the attention like the ever-present band of dark cloud moving quickly, but unbroken across the ground. Early, Byrom and Abell worked the ball into the on side for singles, Byrom realised two from a smooth on drive which slowed on the outfield and produced some neat deflections to the deep fine leg fielder. As the batsmen established themselves the crowd began to find itself. Applause began to ripple across the stand for a good ball, a beaten bat, a good stroke or a good ball kept out. The old world was re-establishing itself. Then the chatter began to build, there was even a bit of a buzz at times.
As Payne and Higgins, and then Taylor, continued to test the batsmen Byrom and Abell played with the utmost care and attention. When James Bracey came up to the stumps to draw Abell back into his crease the movement the bowlers were obtaining was emphasised and someone said, “I wondered how long it would take for Bracey to stand up.” As the bowlers probed away, continuing to beat the batsmen, Somerset eschewed risk and dug in hard. This was batting of the old, see off the new ball and protect the stroke makers to come, type. As Somerset supporters held their metaphorical breaths, the hearts of Gloucestershire ones leapt in hope whenever a batsman was beaten and the applause rippled, 9 for 1 after four overs became 18 for 1 after 13. Byrom and Abell were building a base for the Somerset innings, if a precarious one.
When Worrall replaced Higgins the batsmen began to move Somerset forward. Byrom glanced through the air to fine leg for four. There was risk, the ball evaded the diving Bracey by a yard or so, but Somerset were moving. An Abell pull from outside off stump off Taylor rocketed to the long on boundary at the Ashley Down Road End. “That was a bit of a shot,” said the Somerset supporter two seats along from me. From where we sat it certainly looked spectacular. When Byrom steered Worrall to third man, an authoritative Abell could clearly be heard, his voice carrying to us on the wind, “Yeah. Two.” And two it was.
In the next over, from Taylor, Abell took two more from a turn just behind square and then drove straight to the Ashley Down Road End with that perfunctory drive of his where the bat stops dead as the ball leaves it. Byrom followed with another straight drive, this time off Worrall, to the Pavilion End, as smoothly executed as Abell’s was perfunctory. More applause from Somerset supporters making their presence felt along the stand. Since Byrom had marked the acceleration with that glance, Somerset had added 27 runs in seven overs. And then, with Somerset making real progress and with the embryonic match nicely balanced, the rains came. The players left the field with Somerset on 45 for 1 with Byrom on 22 and Abell on 19, three innings nipped in the bud.
And that was it for the day, at least in terms of cricket. The umpires and groundstaff were active in keeping things moving in case an opportunity arose to restart play. The umpires inspected several times, continuing to inspect even in light rain and set relatively short timescales for further inspections. The blotter was active even as the cloud that delivered the rain that finally sounded the death knell for the day thickened. The groundstaff battled with plastic covers billowing a dozen feet in the air. At other times they would be attempting to move covers on or off as they rippled like waves across a windswept sea. It was not just the waves. They were preceded by lines of spray blowing off the top of the rippling waves. Cricket, and the English summer, were back.
And around the ground the old scenes returned, with masks added. People standing under whatever cover they could find, if in smaller groups than usual, amiably chatting among themselves or with the stewards who were visible in numbers. Some spectators were from a younger age profile than the group I had entered with and those who tended to attend Championship matches in the old world. Perhaps that was a wisp of hope for Championship cricket in the new world. All were looking at the sky. Wondering if there was any prospect of further play. Discussing the state of the Group 2 table and which team needed to beat which team to aid their team. Then there were the half dozen people dotted about, naturally this time, still sitting in their seats cocooned in waterproofs, hunched under umbrellas, one person under two umbrellas, trying to keep their seats dry. There were hopeful looks at the sky when the sun appeared alongside the smallest imaginable patch of blue sky. But, as Shakespeare’s Feste said of the Surrey match, “That’s all one,” and it was.
So, in the end, just 20 overs and two balls, one wicket, four boundaries, carefully distanced seating, masks and a storm better suited to a night at sea. It was cold too. But it all fitted with the warmth of a pair of old slippers newly re-discovered from the old world. It was enough to warm the cockles of a cricketing heart. And, if you were a Somerset supporter, the Byrom-Abell partnership had been a wonderful piece of Somerset cricket against some good Gloucestershire bowling. “Well played lads,” someone said. But, above all it was just good to be back.
Close. Somerset 45 for 1.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:25:16:01:21 by Grockle.
Still, a draw wouldn’t be disastrous, whereas a defeat would be really bad. If today’s forecast proves accurate, then I suspect 2.5 days worth of play is about what we’ll get.
From the Gloucs’ point of view, it might be worth gambling on a green top and the toss since a win would be great for them but a loss not a disaster. If I were them, I think I’d take the gamble.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:20:01:52:42 by Grockle.
Draws are too many points and Hamps well in touch with the top 2.
I would personally consider resting Lewis , although it is a must win game so we'll have to wait and see. Roelof and Leach may both sit this out.I suppose we have a week off to re coup after the Gloucester game.
Craig and Jack play
Can't stand Bob Hunt.
I like MDL and think he’s bowled well at times but I’m getting the impression that instead of signing a conventional overseas player I.e one that gets picked almost all the time, we seem to see him simply as a direct replacement for Jamie Overton and, therefore, he will only play in situations in which we would have played Jamie, had he still been here?
I mean what’s the cricketing justification for playing Leachy with this awful forecast? Nightwatchman?
Or is this just all about the fact that our pace bowling resources are so thin that we can’t afford to play more than three in any given game?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:20:14:06:32 by AGod.
Superb effort from these 2 in tough conditions.
Pathetic crowd, 400 max and plenty of familiar Somerset faces part of that too.
50% refunds for any there today too 👍👍
'Where oh where was Lammonby going?" Answers on a piece of paper please...... "Back to the pavilion coz it was cold" is my response.... Oh dear oh dear.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:20:19:15:36 by Bagpuss.
[farmerwhite.co.uk]
Farmer
[www.martynhicks.uk]
So two teams chasing bonus points. But the bullish approach if there looks to be some play on Sunday would be for the captains to get together to set up a run chase. I'm not generally bullish but if Somerset are to have a shot at winning the Chsmpionship they need to to through to the final rounds of the competition close to parity with the other team from our group, which at the moment looks likely to be Gloucestershire. Starting those final four matches a dozen or so points behind a team we will not play again, along with a deficit against others we will, is quite a disadvantage. Meanwhile for Gloucestershire the opportunity to win and go through with a 20+ point advantage over Somerset and probably a substantial cushion over others would be quite the carrot.
Won't happen though.
EDIT: might change my bullish proposal - Hampshire have Leicestershire 10-4 in the 6th over! Follow on target is 84.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:21:12:01:20 by Bagpuss.
Fortunately Leics do not play Hants or Surrey in this group again, and it is day 3 at the Rose Bowl so one would hope for a draw there. However Hants play Surrey in July when it may even be sunny. There is still a lot more required from Somerset to finish in the top 2
Quote:AGod
So... is MDL deemed too much of an injury risk for back to back games?
I like MDL and think he’s bowled well at times but I’m getting the impression that instead of signing a conventional overseas player I.e one that gets picked almost all the time, we seem to see him simply as a direct replacement for Jamie Overton and, therefore, he will only play in situations in which we would have played Jamie, had he still been here?
I mean what’s the cricketing justification for playing Leachy with this awful forecast? Nightwatchman?
Or is this just all about the fact that our pace bowling resources are so thin that we can’t afford to play more than three in any given game?
What an absolute waste of an overseas signing that would be if you were correct AGod.
It seems crazy to have used a TWO YEAR overseas spot on a player who wont make our 11.
The whole point of overseas players is to give you a bonus, an x factor player, BETTER than what you already have.
Ours appears purely a squad player who i guess we would all agree is number 4 at best when it comes to ranking our seam options, and as we currently deem the balance of the side to only need 3 he is stuck carrying drinks.
A proper overseas player is Siddle Harmer Abbas Abbot Amla Roach. Quality players who walk into the side and are BETTER than what you already have.
Whilst Harmer Abbott Abbas etc are winning games for their counties.
I guess we arent finding a 2nd overseas for T20 until Devon shows up for match 6......
However that doesn't make AGs premis fact and there's been a distinct laxk of cricket in the past week or so to base speculation on.
AG asked a question but running with it as if its an irrefutable fact does not stop other possible options being equally possible
Maybe give it a week until Craig and Jack leave us? It"ll still have a chance to become bleak for the whole future of the club but you never know. ...
I cant ever recall us employing an overseas player NOT good enough to make our first xi.
Please advise?
Quote:wsm fan
Grockle. The fact is we are paying an overseas who isnt playing. That is a waste.
I cant ever recall us employing an overseas player NOT good enough to make our first xi.
Please advise?
Well, there were the Mendis and Rehmann debacles but in terms of pace bowlers I don’t remember one *but* we seldom employ overseas pacemen. A bit of Vernon Philander.. some Damien Wright... I think that’s about it in the past 20 years or so for overseas pacemen.
That said, of course, since Craig is off to England, then MDL is likely to have to play most games, fitness permitting, from now on. Perhaps he was signed, above all, to cover Craig’s role as a big, hit-the-deck merchant (albeit that MDL is unlikely to be given the new ball).
If MDL plays every game instead of Craig then I suppose he would play 7/10 first-stage games.
jJust for a change, we seem to be losing our way, a lot down to captain Tom for bonus points
You also tend to assess a players contrubution and the manager's process towards the end of a season rather than a month in. but hey! It rained so.
Need the present pair to hold during this spell and then add a few coz we could do with as much bonus stuff as we can get.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:22:15:25:47 by Grockle.
Quote:AGodQuote:wsm fan
Grockle. The fact is we are paying an overseas who isnt playing. That is a waste.
I cant ever recall us employing an overseas player NOT good enough to make our first xi.
Please advise?
Well, there were the Mendis and Rehmann debacles but in terms of pace bowlers I don’t remember one *but* we seldom employ overseas pacemen. A bit of Vernon Philander.. some Damien Wright... I think that’s about it in the past 20 years or so for overseas pacemen.
Richard Snell springs to mind.
@#$%& Overton gone!
Bat as close to 110 as possible and then get em in!!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:22:15:49:39 by Grockle.
Grizzers
Quote:Goonie goo goo
These guys were all not what we expected at the time but they did play . Point is MDL isn’t even playing !! Think that was what wsm was meaning
Exactly.
This really is straight forward.
An overseas player is signed to better what you have. He should walk into the side.
He should be your star player, or near to it.
It is a waste of money to just have him on the fringe. Do we see Hamps leaving Abbot or Abbas out, of course not.
You are also assuming he is on the 'fringe' simply because he is not playing here? Is he injured? is he fit? Is he partly fit?
Is he being kept back because Craig may not be here but he is now?
Do you rate him at all and is that colouring your view of the use of him at all?
Has the plan changed because of the issues with Brooks?
Is MdL what we don't have? Well he has pace we don't have. Maybe he is the straight replacement for JOVE and he is with us simply because he was available.
Maybe he was cheap? How much is this (I assume) massive amount of money we are 'wasting' on him?
Are high pace bowlers bowled full bore all season because they have been paid for?
Well not in any side I've seen unless they are Devon
You make a number of assumptions and then assess the position on the basis of those assumptions. You are welcome to do that and moan yourself into a tizzy simply because of it.
I wonder if things go according to some other plan you'll be going - 'well I didn't think of that' ?
I don't know what that plan may be other than 'conserve the resources when you don't need to push it' but I'd go with that if it turns out that WAS the plan
Charl L and Nixon McLean certainly DID what they were asked. Charl played his part in the 2005 T20 win and Nixon the year before this was our most economical bowler I think
Snell was before my time Mendis certainly wasn't a great buy though he did all but win the cup for Sri Lanka later in the same year I believe. He certainly was no 'mystery' spinner in that summer. That tended to be the rule with our Sri Lankans bought for the early part of the season
Ahh well sometimes you beat the bear and sometimes the bear beats you
On towards 4 batting points hopefully.
What a shame MdL isn't playing!!
No wild assumptions needed. An overseas player HAS to play. Its not 1 game rest. Its 3 games now out of choice.
He was playing football at 10.30 so i can report no sign of an injury.
Anyway FANTASTIC day here at Bristol. Eddie Lewis & Skipper Tom have been quite superb.
Great company in the sun watching with friends, almost worth the 20 months wait.....
A chance of getting three bowling points, weather permitting.
Hopefully not and it will be seen as a declaration to move a weather affected game along.....
We've declared as the only way we can win the match is to bowl Gloucestershire out twice.
They also of course, get two bites of the new ball
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:22:18:31:42 by Grockle.
What chance three SCCC players appear in the Ashes squad ?
Grizzers
C' mon JD?
You sign an overseas player to play. Thats it.
Dress it up differently if you like but it really is not a tricky one.
Anyway, 1 down here, 19 to go.....
And it's not really a 'dead' point because we only actually got 2 to be fair.
We'll probably all be in a position to make an actual assessment of the results some time in the future
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:22:19:09:05 by Grockle.
Sounds as though that could be it . Craig rushed back to his mark for the last 2 deliveries to try to get the extra bonus point.
Edit - yes Grockle Craig's first over was fantastic. I couldn't se much wrong with the not given lbw shout - perhaps justice was done next ball if the batsman didn't hit it.....
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:23:12:16:48 by Rod1883.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
More dismal bowling figures from Craig as well.
What kind of 'spring' is this ? It's like the middle of November !
Grizzers
Somerset 300/8, Gloucs 27/6, but points are Somerset 13, Gloucs. 10.
Don't know what the answer is, but the above does seem pretty daft.
Can't beat the weather though.
Grizzers
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:05:23:22:13:04 by cricketjerry-mouse.
Answer is 7.9 🙈
We'll all have to wait until Hampshire to see if anything improves so if its a hole in the sand or a head wrapped in a wet blanket there's gonna be more than 10 days of it.
Not aware Hamps are missing any. I assume they will select their 2 overseas players, lets see if our only one makes the 11.....
Better hope a rest helps then !
Grizzers.
Is there some reasom why Marchant should not be available for selection? One could assume that the decisions over the last couple of weeks was geared towards using him once Craig and Jack were no longer available.
The question is whether they include a second slow man or what other options are available besides RvdM. MdL isn't really the issue. The form of Jack Brooks is mote of an issue surely.
Kasey Aldridge was bowling this weekend
Quote:Grizzers
Trying to explain cricket points scoring system to a non-cricket fan would be a challenge after today.
Somerset 300/8, Gloucs 27/6, but points are Somerset 13, Gloucs. 10.
Don't know what the answer is, but the above does seem pretty daft.
Can't beat the weather though.
Grizzers
We scored 300 runs, while they quite frankly didn't. I don't think a non-cricket fan would be surprised by that, even if they didn't know the precise system.
S/he might have assumed, from the scores alone, that the referee had stopped the fight to save Gloucestershire from further punishment.
I suppose it's an artefact of an eternal problem in cricket: how much credit you give a side for coming away with a draw. They get the same points for a 2-day rearguard action, with the last pair surviving the final hour, as they do for getting outplayed and saved by the rain.
I suppose it's the same in other sports really. An underdog which battles back from 3-nil down with an injury-time equalizer gets the same points as a team which complacently throws away a 3-nil lead.
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