Finishing runner-up in all three competitions last year was a sign that Somerset were the best side in the country but just needed a bit of oomph to go one better. The county made some good signings in the close season and skipper Marcus Trescothick oozed confidence about the summer ahead. Warwickshire at home looked a nice easy way to start the campaign, and were perhaps surprisingly put into bat on a sunny April morning, hoping for some Willoughby swing and Hussain seam to bite into the opposition's normally weak batting. That was the plan....
Within two days, the Bears were 642 all out, with opener Varun Chopra scoring a maiden double-century and number eight Chris Woakes making a run-a-ball 129. Somerset were six wickets down at stumps and well before the end of day three had been dismissed twice, the second time for a derisory 50. The margin of defeat, an innings and 382 runs, was the worst in Somerset's history and the largest in the Championship for ninety years. By all accounts, it was dreadful batting rather than sensational bowling to blame, but Trescothick and co need to turn things around this week against Lancashire. He can't simply wait for Thomas and Kartik to return from the IPL; Somerset will be out of the running and facing relegation. One consolation: they lost their first two games in 2010, too, before a Kartik-inspired recovery.
Five of the seven matches played were completed a day early, including Nottinghamshire's first of the season. The champions fared better than the runners-up, making light work of title hopefuls Hampshire. Last year's leading wicket-taker Andre Adams opened his 2011 account with eleven more, while Samit Patel put his burgers to one side, got some exercise and struck 116 in the first innings. Durham went top by beating Yorkshire by 146 runs, although Bairstow, Pyrah and Sidebottom did their best to bat through the final day. They made it to 5.15pm before Borthwick ended Pyrah's gritty resistance.
In Division Two, Northants were impressive victors over Kent. Andrew Hall led from the front with 146 before his balanced bowling attack skittled the visitors for 119 to complete an innings win. Derbyshire also won without having to bat twice, an unusual experience for them! Tim Groenewald took 8-97 in the match, while opener Wayne Madsen compiled a painstaking century and Greg Smith a somewhat swifter 99 before being trapped LBW by Malik. Leicester's top half capitulated too easily, and the margin of defeat would have been even more emphatic had it not been for spinner Claude Henderson getting a third of his side's runs (excluding extras).
Middlesex won a low-scoring affair at Lord's. Intriguingly, in their first innings, eight of their players reached 20 but none reached 40. However, Essex's reply was very feeble and neither Cook nor Bopara made it out of the teens. Essex (but not Bopara) did a bit better second time around but Berg and Finn (remember him?) took seven wickets between them and secured an eight-wicket victory. At Cardiff, Gloucestershire were twice dismissed for under 200, thanks largely to bowlers James Harris and Adam Shantry. Needing 385 to win or, more realistically, just to bat out the final day, Gloucester capitulated from 164-3 to 195 all out, when Chris Taylor was fially prised out of the crease on 83. Both sides suffered mid-match injuries, which isn't a good sign so early in the season!
Glamorgan will need Allenby and Wagg back for their game against Surrey this week, while this week's winners Derby and Middlesex also meet. Northants and Essex will also be confident of dismissing Essex. I wonder when Chaminda Vaas will get his first 'five-for'. The weather is set fair so this could be his moment! In the top flight, Yorkshire and Notts could be a tight affair but I reckon Durham will extend their lead by beating bottom club Sussex at the Riverside. Dale Benkenstein will fancy his chances of scoring a third hundred in as many matches. Warwickshire will be on a high and neighbours Worcestershire must hope to catch them on an off day. Meanwhile Somerset must simply forget last week's debacle and remember how to bat against Lancashire in Liverpool.
