posted by John Winn
Sunday's play at Taunton fell neatly into three parts in the first of which we treated to a splendid batting exhibition by Conway and Davies which continued after lunch until the clouds which had been building up brought heavy rain for about an hour. During Act 2 I acquainted myself a little more with the ground, unrecognisable since my last visit in 1999, while, once the rain had stopped the ground staff worked hard to enable more play. Tea was taken early and play resumed shortly after 4:15 with about twenty overs having been lost.
The final chapter in the day provided a reversal of fortunes with seven wickets falling before some stubborn resistance from van der Merwe and Davey prevented further calamities. Davies was the first to go but Conway went serenely on to what seemed would be an inevitable century but after a brief partnership with Goldsworthy who went for 3 the New Zealander was bowled by Parkinson for 88. One expert had been heard to say that the spinner was only on to speed up the over rate but there again I've been wrong before. Batsmen then came but just they seemed to have their feet under the table they went and Somerset were 224 for 7.
Act Two
18 more runs were added before stumps and we reassembled on Monday morning when lovely sunshine and a good forecast brought a larger crowd than Sunday. A man who had travelled from Plymouth and who I had not met before thought my completion of the 153 pursuit worthy of a wider audience and within minutes I was mentioned in the BBC commentary accompanying the live stream on Youtube. The faithful and a few others, I even saw one from Leicestershire, were then treated to a monster tail wagging with century partnerships for the 8th and 9th wickets and nos 8,9 and 10 all scoring 75 or more, the first time this had happened in first class cricket since 1910. 461 for 9 declared and maximum batting points in the bag.
The Foxes reached 95 for 3 by the close by which time I had begun the first leg of my journey home. The match did not unfold as expected however for thanks to more bad weather and splendid batting from Swindells and Barnes when the players finally shook hands on Tuesday only four more wickets had fallen, the Foxes had secured four batting points and the unbeaten eighth wicket stand stretched to over 200.
With Gloucestershire finally breaking down Middlesex's resistance yesterday and with one match remaining for each county, Group 2 remains beautifully poised. 1, Somerset 134 points, 2, Gloucs 129 3, Hants 123, Surrey 112 and 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3 starting on Sunday. Leicestershire who might argue they are not out of it play the hapless Middlesex. Bring it on. There is of course plenty to look forward to in the other two groups for in group 3 although Lancashire and Yorkshire have secured qualification for the top group in the next stage there are points to play for half of which will be carried forward. Yes I wondered too. In Group One Durham probably need to beat Notts at The Riverside and Essex in fourth travel to Hove and will not have given up of competing for their title come August 30th when the next stage begins.
I finish by repeating a post I made on the Somerset CCC Official Facebook Group after my visit to the County Ground.
' 'I am on my way home to North Yorkshire after two great days at The County Ground. I have now seen every county play every other county, a total of 153 matches. Nowhere in my travels has been more welcoming than the stewards and supporters of SCCC. Thank you all.'
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