County Cricket: Record-Breaking Somerset Bag the Blast

It can be difficult supporting Somerset. Not that we are bad. We’re not. We have been in the top tier of the County Championship longer than most, won the One-Day Cup at Lord’s in 2019 and are regular qualifiers for the Blast Finals Day. It’s just that, like England Men’s football team, the expectation is that we will probably bow out in the semis or final. Coming second is what we do best, and it can be sickening. 

Cricket has changed since the late Seventies and early Eighties, Somerset’s golden era. Year after year, we could enjoy performances by the likes of Richards, Garner, Botham, Rose, Marks, Moseley, Denning et al. These days, you never know who might appear on the team sheet, such is the schedule minefield of global international and franchise cricket. However, it only takes one blistering innings to win a T20, whoever they may be. 

In the first semi at Edgbaston, it was Tom Kohler-Cadmore whose 81 laid the foundation for Somerset’s defeat of Lancashire. Ben Green, Lewis Gregory and Migael Pretorius completed the job with the ball. In the other semi, reduced to eighteen overs, Northamptonshire never really got off the blocks. Earlier in the tournament, they had racked up three of the four highest totals but when it really mattered, they amassed only 158-7. When Hampshire replied, Saif Zaib caused all sorts of problems, but not to veteran Aussie Chris Lynn. Despite his long career, I know little about him but his amazing 108 not out included no fewer than eleven sixes and the game was won with plenty to spare. 

And so it was Hampshire vs Somerset under the lights. I have been to only two live one-day finals supporting my county and both featured the same opposition. At Cardiff in 2012, Somerset capitulated miserably to Dmitri Mascarenhas’ Royals at the semi-final stage but in 2019 I witnessed Tom Abell lifting the 50-over cup after a surprisingly smooth chase. What would 2025 deliver? 

Hampshire’s successful 2012 Blast side featured James Vince and, now 34 years of age, he was again in good nick. Lynn was caught on the boundary early on but Vince and Toby Albert blazed away with abandon, adding 97 in just under ten overs. Vince also fell in the deep, for 52 but young Albert, the competition’s top scorer, continued to 85, when Gregory clipped his off stump. The momentum was lost but a total of 194-6 challenged Somerset to achieve a record run chase in a final if they were to take the crown. It looked unlikely. 

Would Kohler-Cadmore repeat those heroics? No, but it was to be the day for his opening partner Will Smeed to excel. Still only 23, the Taunton-educated right-hander has never played top-level red-ball cricket but is one of the most destructive T20 batsmen in England. On 94, he crunched Scott Currie hard and flat on it way to the six which would have given him the first-ever Final century, but that man Vince was in the way. Sean Dickson and Gregory still had plenty to do. The former was fortunate to watch Currie drop a sitter, which could have altered the course of the match but it was the ever-dependable captain Gregory who eased the tension with two sixes off Currie’s final over, the winning flick sailing over square leg. 

I don’t know how many of this team will be there to defend the title next summer but as long as you have Lewis Gregory and a squad filled with economical spinners, strong seamers and match-winning openers slotting in as required, anything is possible.

Greedy Essex win final two trophies in five days

It’s been a long week. While I’ve been relaxing in the Algarve, two trophies have been decided. And both went to Essex, which is just plain greedy. It all began in Edgbaston on Saturday….

The Vitality Blast served up two exciting encounters on Finals Day. Firstly, Moeen Ali’s miserly bowling helped Worcestershire to the final, where Essex left it to the final ball of the match to take their maiden T20 title. Simon Harmer claimed 4-19 then 3-16 to cap an immaculate Finals Day performance.

He was also the leading wicket-taker in the Championship’s top division as his county travelled to Taunton for the decider against long-time leaders Somerset who had to win to fly the pennant for the first time in their history. It was bound to be a ‘result wicket’, destined to finish early. That was assuming friendly weather, which the season’s climax thoroughly merited. It wasn’t to be. Only 72 overs were possible in the first three days, which made Tom Abell’s team with a near-impossible challenge. On Day four, we had to take twenty wickets for a pittance. Well, the spinners Leach and Van der Merwe did half the job before, in desperation, Abell forfeited their second innings. They had to bowl Essex out in just an hour, while Essex required only 63 to win. The openers made the game safe but, while they could easily have whacked the runs to seal the Championship with a tenth victory, they settled on a draw just seventeen short.

It was devastating to me and the county faithful to miss out by such a tight margin, runners-up for the third time in four seasons, but how must Marcus Trescothick feel? At least he received the ovation he deserved when making a contrived shuffle to the middle as a sub fielder, his final contribution to the county in a staggering 26-year career. It was a nice touch by the Essex players to join in the applause.

As for the supporting cast, they also fell victims to the rain. Hampshire finished in third place, Keith Barker taking five Kent wickets. At The Oval, centuries by Scott Borthwick and Ollie Pope frustrated Nottinghamshire’s flimsy hopes of a first triumph of the four-day season. Edgbaston saw play only on day one, time for Tom Kohler-Cadmore to amass an unbeaten 165.

It was all draws in Division Two, too, which meant that Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire will join Lancashire in the top tier next year. The two sides met at Bristol but could only play seventy-three overs in total. I reckon the home side can’t honestly have expected promotion but good on them. At the end of August, anyone but Leicestershire could have made the top three. Middlesex and Derbyshire slipped back, and Sussex’s season also ended in a dam squib at home to Worcestershire. At a rain-swept Chester-le-Street, BJ Watling struck an unbeaten ton from the Glamorgan attack, and at Leicester, Richard Gleeson took nine wickets for Lancashire.

So the County Championship may have suffered a soggy conclusion but I will grudgingly congratulate Essex for their second pennant in three seasons and second title in a week. At least Somerset proved worthy winners of the One-Day Cup but they’d have traded that for that blasted Championship. While Surrey’s all-star squad slumped in 2019, we have been remarkably consistent. Lewis Gregory’s absence hit us in mid-summer, but those defeats to Yorkshire and Hampshire last week proved decisive. Maybe next year…. 

Final team of the Week: Borthwick (Sur), Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Moeen Ali (Wor), Watling (Dur), Pope (Sur), Hosein (Der), Van Buuren (Glo), Harmer (Ess), Van der Merwe (Som), Barker (Ham), Gleeson (Lan)

Essex, Derbyshire and Eoin Morgan storm into the last eight

The Vitality Blast group stage provided an exciting climax, especially in the South Group where the quarter-finalists weren’t decided ‘til the last evening. Sussex and Gloucestershire had done enough to qualify by the Thursday night. Michael Klinger may be in his 40^th year but the 8^th T20 century of his career, together with Ryan Higgins’ three wickets, ensured a five-run defeat of Kent at Canterbury. The top two met on the final day and a Van Buuren six from the last delivery meant Gloucestershire could book their Bristol home for the knockouts.

Come Friday evening, former leaders Kent were still in the hunt for one of the other places, along with Somerset, Hampshire, Middlesex and Essex. The Eagles looked down and out last week but pulled off a fabulous week which consisted of a tie with Hampshire and two close wins against Surrey and Sussex, before ending Kent’s hopes with a ten-run victory at Chelmsford. Ravi Bopara capped a fine individual week by striking 47 not out and taking 2-27. Mohammad Amir also bowled consistently well, conceding fewer than 30 runs in each of the four fixtures. They’ll need his pace and guile if they are to reach the semis.

At Taunton, it was a winner-takes-all clash between Middlesex and Somerset. Tom Abell’s improvement in white-ball batting looked complete when he reached a maiden T20 century off the last ball to set Middlesex a massive 227. That would prove impossible for most opponents but this side boasted a formidable top-order of Stirling, Malan, Hafeez, De Villiers and Morgan. They raced to 50 inside three overs and never really took the foot of the pedal. Every time I switched channels to watch, AB or Eoin Morgan seemed to be swiping sixes, and it was the England captain’s 29-ball 83 which swept the pink princes to victory with three overs still remaining.

Elsewhere, Hampshire’s chances were extinguished at Cardiff where Glamorgan finally registered a two-point result in fourteen attempts. When the sides met earlier in the month, the Welsh were dismissed for 84. This time they amassed 216-5, including thirteen sixes, which proved beyond even Vince and Northeast. 

In the North group, the top four had already broken away by Friday, and Lancashire held onto the top spot with a five-wicket defeat of Leicestershire. Aided by the return of Alex Hales, Nottinghamshire finished second despite losing to Durham, but it was Derbyshire who finished stronger than anyone in the country. They smashed Northants and Leicestershire each by nine-wicket margins, before overcoming the table-topping Lightning courtesy of Wayne Madsen’s 69 and Ravi Rampaul’s 3-19, propelling them into third.

Moeen Ali’s unintended stint with Worcestershire yielded plenty of runs this week, just about keeping the chasing pack at bay. Yorkshire were just one victory over Notts from stopping them. Their opening pair of Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Adam Lyth did everything you could hope for, not just for their runs but also Lyth’s ten wickets, but the rest of the attack let them down a bit.

And so the quarter-finals beckon later this week. Old Trafford is otherwise engaged with some Test match or other, so Lancashire’s home tie against Essex has been shifted cross-country to Chester-le-Street. I’d rate the ‘home’ side narrow favourites. Nottinghamshire v Middlesex is closer to call. Neither have shone particularly brightly but if AB can turn out for Middlesex, they will have the edge. Sussex’s array of spinners could well stifle Worcestershire at Hove next Friday, while in the concluding match, Derbyshire’s squad look particularly useful in the Blast and may well edge Gloucestershire for a place in Finals Day in three weeks’ time.

Team of the Week: Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Lyth (Yor), Klinger (Glo), Moeen Ali (Wor), Morgan (Mid), Bopara (Ess), Carey (Sus +), Abbott (Ham), Shutt (Yor), Batty (Sur), Mohammad Amir (Ess)

Surrey County Champions!

If last week was a haven for spinners, this one was definitely one for the pacemen. The outcome was the same: wickets tumbled and you were lucky indeed for games to stretch into a fourth day. Only seven centuries were scored from the nine Championship fixtures but it was significant that the highest aggregate by an individual player was the 188 attained by Rory Burns, whose Surrey side win yet again to clinch the Championship pennant for the first time since 2002.

They had to survive a spirited challenge from Worcestershire, notably by opener Tom Fell, but it was fitting that Morne Morkel and Rikki Clarke were at the crease to wrap up the three-wicket triumph which propelled them to an unassailable 62-point lead at the top. In a dismal week for county wicketkeeper-batsmen, Ollie Pope picked up a couple of near-50s but Burns’ first-outing 122 and Morkel’s second innings 5-24 were the crucial contributions. Surrey may have enormous resources but they had by far the best blend of youth and experience, sufficient to withstand various international call-ups for the Curran brothers and Pope and, like Essex in 2017, had a trouble-free cruise to the title. Strange that they were so useless in the one-dayers!

Surrey’s only obvious rivals in Division One were – amazingly – Somerset. However, having escaped censure for last week’s spinners’ wicket at Taunton, we were hammered inside two days at the Rose Bowl, where South African seamers Kyle Abbott (5-31 and 6-40) and Dale Steyn ran riot through the Somerset batting, for whom only Marcus Trescothick reached double-figures twice. With his county destined to be runners-up yet again, I wonder if Tres will now relinquish any smidgeon of hope of winning the elusive crown and call it a day.

Essex leap-frogged Nottinghamshire into third place, defeating their rivals by eight wickets at Trent Bridge. An opening stand of 204 by Tom Westley and India’s reject Murali Vijay finished things off. It seems odd that the Headingley Roses clash should be such a 32-pointer, as it were. Had Lancashire won, they would have left Yorkshire in deep do-do. However, it was the White Rose blooming proudly as Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s runs then Ben Coad’s wickets helped secure a 95-run victory. Jack Brooks’ Leeds farewell resulted in nine more wickets. The ‘Headband Warrior’ may be 34 but hopefully he can do a great job for Somerset, too, next season.

If Yorkshire beat Hampshire next week, Lancashire and possibly Worcestershire will be doomed. If Somerset can end Surrey’s spectacular sequence of successes, they’ll be confirmed as runners-up: an unwanted consolation prize.

The Division Two promotion race saw Sussex stumble on as they approached the finishing straight. They were well-beaten at Chester-le-Street by Durham, for whom Cameron Steel struck the county week’s highest score (160) and Chris Rushworth claimed the best wicket haul (12-100). Skipper Paul Collingwood subsequently announced his retirement at the end of the month. He has bowled infrequently this year although still capable of some decent innings.

Elsewhere, Warwickshire beat Leicestershire by an innings, Keith Barker starring with the ball, and Kent recorded their ninth victory of the summer, ending Middlesex’s hopes of a sift return to the top flight. Darren Stevens showed he’s not yet ready to slip over the horizon, taking seven cheap wickets and striking a 64. They now sit 21 ahead of Sussex with two games to go.

Derbyshire had a gutsy Harvey Hosein half-century to thank for their exciting one-wicket triumph at Northampton, while at Cardiff Glamorgan sank to another innings defeat, Gloucestershire this week’s beneficiaries. The Welsh side’s batting woes show no sign of ending, as it was their tail-enders doing most of the scoring. Robert Croft has a real job on his hands to get Sophia Gardens singing again in four-day cricket. They will struggle next week to beat Kent, for whom victory will ensure a long-awaited return to Division One.

Team of the Week: 

Steel (Dur), Burns (Sur), Fell (Wor), Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Taylor (Glo), Stevens (Ken), Hosein (Der +), Barker (War), Abbott (Ham), Brooks (Yor), Rushworth (Dur)

Hampshire’s 100% start in One Day Cup

The first week’s fixtures in the Royal London One-Day Cup have generated the expected variety of trouncings and nail-biters, predictable and surprises. Hampshire are the only side to have won all three matches they’ve played, while in the North division, Worcestershire’s 100% record comes from only two yet is enough to top the table.

On the South coast, it’s been Riley Rossouw rather than Hashim Amla who has provided South African runs for Hampshire while Worcestershire’s best performances have come from the lower order. Somerset got off to a cracking start, thumping Surrey in double-quick time with Craig Overton’s 4-29 outstanding. An amazing 159 from the in-form James Hildreth helped defeat Glamorgan but his subsequent 87 couldn’t prevent a loss to Sussex for whom Luke Wright reached three figures. The county’s medium-pacer Ollie Robinson has also been one of the most consistent wicket-takers so far.

Poor Glamorgan. Despite the arrival of Colin Ingram for the white-ball season, they’ve yet to register a victory, falling an agonising two runs short against Middlesex. However, Kent sit below them in the South table despite two solid starts by Daniel Bell-Drummond. Gloucestershire are faring somewhat better, beating the Welsh as well as Essex along the way. Their H men, Hankins, Howell and Higgins have been especially useful with the bat.

Further north, another H man, Sam Hain, struck two centuries for Warwickshire while Paul Horton also struck 103 in Leicestershire’s opener at Northampton. However, for consistent run-making, you had to look at the Roses counties. Horton’s replacement at Lancashire, Keaton Jennings, racked up 278, while Tom Kohler-Cadmore accumulated 292, including 164 in Yorkshire’s 142-run win over Durham. His colleague Cheteshwar Pujara has also found form at last. Normally considered a red-ball specialist, the Indian star produced an impressive run of 82, 73 and 101 so it is perhaps surprising that Yorkshire have only one victory to their name.

It hasn’t been a great week for bowlers. Robinson’s team-mate Chris Liddle, Harry Gurney (Notts) and Lancashire’s young leg-spinner Matt Parkinson head the wicket table with nine apiece but the May sunshine has been kinder to the willow-wielders.

Nottinghamshire’s formidable squad looks tailor-made for retaining their title and they amassed an impressive 409-7 against Leicestershire. Samit Patel celebrated his new contract with a 63-ball century and a couple of wickets. However, they lost easily to Northamptonshire whose poor start in the Championship has been set aside to allow new confidence in 50-over cricket to take over. With Division One strugglers Worcestershire also riding high, it’s encouraging that there are no dominant counties across all formats. Long may it continue.

Team of the Week:

Jennings (Lan), Davies (Lan, +), Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Pujara (Yor), Hildreth (Som), Hain (War), Bopara (Ess), Ingram (Gla), Berg (Ham), Parkinson (Lan), Robinson (Sus)