On Wednesday it rained in Taunton. So much so that not a ball was bowled at the County Ground which was a little disappointing for me as I had hoped to spend my day off watching Somerset build on the strong start they had made in their match against Kent. But it was not to be – the covers remaining on the square throughout the day, something I saw for myself as I stole a glance through the Vivian Richards gates as I drove along the Priory Bridge Road late that morning.
I was in town to do a bit of shopping and having failed to find what I was looking for on the virtually empty shelves of Wilco I found myself in a coffee shop looking down from an upstairs window on the boarded up and increasingly tatty frontage of Debenhams, yet another victim of the economic downturn. And all the while the rain continued to fall from an unrelentingly cloudy sky.
The world seemed a rather grey place that morning. It was all a far cry from the blue skies and warm sunshine I’d enjoyed when I had last made it to the county ground for a championship game at the end of June. Since then work, life and a certain franchise competition had meant I’ve not seen as much four day cricket as I’d have liked.
Much has already been said about the squeezing out of what really should be the jewel in the crown of county cricket to the least suitable months of the season for playing what is, after all, a summer game, but it does seem to me a shame that the slow burn satisfaction of the longer format has been sacrificed on the alter of instant gratification supposedly provided by manufactured teams sponsored by potato based comestibles, a packet of which you barely have a chance to consume in the limited time afforded by the truncated games duration.
And so I sat and wondered if this ‘must have it now’ attitude, so ubiquitous in the ‘Amazon Prime’ world in which we live, is the one that drives the discontent that too frequently manifests itself in the criticism that pours out of those who seemingly cannot wait for good things to develop.
This week I experienced another example of such complaining after posting something positive on the Somerset supporters Facebook page. On Day One of the game against Kent, Tom Lammonby, somebody I described as ‘a fine player who has had more than his fair share of criticism this year’, scored a century in difficult conditions and under what must have been intense personal pressure. I was rash enough to suggest that his had been a superb performance.
As previously, I had not expected this to be a controversial point of view on a forum for Somerset supporters but once again I was wrong because, apparently, I had failed to understand that Tom Lammonby isn’t as good an opening bat as former Somerset players like Jimmy Cook and Marcus Trescothick.
What a sad world we live in if we can only praise those who are the very, very best. This is the attitude that leads to instances such as occurred a few years back when an athlete who had just missed out on a place in an Olympic final felt it necessary to apologise for letting everyone down. How tragic when being ninth or tenth best in the world is considered failure.
Who knows if Tom Lammonby will one day be remembered as one of the very, very best but currently he is just 23 years old and is, I imagine, somebody who would readily accept that he has a way to go before being classed as one of Somerset’s greatest. But let’s give the lad a chance, let’s give him and others like him the time it takes for genuine class to emerge. And let’s give credit where credit is due because withholding any encouragement until someone reaches legendary status isn’t going to motivate anyone to keep on trying.
In the afternoon, with no prospect of the covers at Taunton being removed, I took the opportunity to visit a small show put on by three local artists in a village hall just a short drive away from Taunton town centre.
The most striking piece on display was a self portrait of one of the artists wearing her mothers wedding dress, the bright white of the gown a vivid contrast against the painting’s pitch black background. But there were many other fine pieces to enjoy – a herd of cattle huddled together in the corner of a field, a scenic representation of rural Dorset and an impressionist depiction of a gentle game of village cricket. Each painting, all no doubt the result of many hours work, enriched my day and I was glad to have been able to see them.
Now there will no doubt be those who, had they been there with me, would have seen fit to complain that the standard wasn’t that of a Pierre-August Renoir or a Leonardo da Vinci but to have done so would have served only to discourage those who had tried to create something of worth.
And how we need such folk today, those who keep on trying to make this grey old world a little more colourful. We need those who play, be it with a paintbrush, a cricket bat or with some other means, and in so doing bring about a little happiness in the lives of those who are sometimes sad. We none of us need to be the best to do something of value and we must not allow others to discourage us from doing the best we can by raining on our, or anyone else’s, parade.
And so my watching cricket is over for another season but there will be more games to enjoy next year. Rain or shine, I for one, am looking forward it, confident that it’ll be well worth the wait.
***************
Leaving all that aside and on an altogether lighter note, somebody who seemingly is always ready to play is Hector, our new Labrador puppy. Even so, rain does dampen even his enthusiasm for outdoor activity as you’ll see in the clip of him below:
Still unvaccinated he can’t yet accompany me to Somerset games but in preparation for next season, I thought that, with the weather forecast for Taunton being what it was, I could usefully spend some time explaining to him how you can be given out LBW. He seemed keen to learn, understandably, I suppose, given how he’d be vulnerable to a ball pitching in the ‘ruff’!
He still lacks full understanding of the command ‘Wait’ so I suspect he may also be liable to getting himself run out. More concerning still, however, is his long tail – something which may also prove a problem in the future.
Even so, as this next video shows, he was wholehearted in expressing his delight at the news of Tom Lammonby’s century!
Other related posts:
To read ‘Only a game’, click here
To read ‘Online criticism: it’s just not cricket’, click here
To read ‘Lewis Calpaldi – Retired Hurt?’, click here
To read ‘Professor Ian Aird: A Time to Die?’, click here
To read ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’, click here
To read ‘’The Medical Condition’ or ‘Hannah Arendt is completely fine’’, click here
To read ‘Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now’, click here
To read ‘A Sorrow Shared’, click here
And to read ‘Don’t forget to be ordinary if you want to be happy’, which has a more theological flavour, click here
To read ‘A Dog Called Hector’, click here
Other cricket related blogs:
To read ‘The Hundred: is cricket amusing itself to death?’, click here
To read ‘A Tale of Two Tons’, click here
To read ‘Scooby Doo and the Mystery of the Deseted Cricket Ground’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Taunt’, click here
To read ‘Brian and Stumpy visit The Repair Shop’, click here
To read ‘The Somerset Cricket Emporium – 2023’, click here
To read ‘A Cricketing Christmas Carol’, click here
To read ‘sharing the important things: on introducing your grandchild to cricket’, click here
To read ‘Cigarettes, Singles, and Sipping Tea with Ian Botham: Signs of a Well Spent Youth!’, click here
To read ‘Bazball, Bazchess, Bazlife’, click here
To read ‘Twas the week of the final’, click here
To read ‘for the third time of asking, CRICKET’S COMING HOME…surely’, click here
To read ‘Cricket: It’s All About Good Timing’, click here
To read ‘At Season’s End’, click here
To read ‘A Historic Day’, click here
To read ‘On passing a village cricket club at dusk one late November afternoon’ click here
To read ‘Cricket – through thick and thin’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Brian’, click here
To read ‘I’ve got a little CRICKET list’, click here
To read ‘My love is not a red, red rose , click here
To read ‘Stumpy – a legend reborn’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Tea Kind of a Day’, click here
To read ‘A Day at the Cricket’, click here
To read ‘The Great Cricket Sell Off’, click here
To read ‘How the Grinch stole from county cricket…or at least tried to’. click here
To read ‘How Covid-19 stole the the cricket season’, click here
To read ‘Life in the slow lane’, click here
To read ‘Frodo and the Format of Power’, click here
To read ‘If Only’, click here
To read ‘Eve of the RLODC limericks’ click here
To read ‘Somerset v Nottinghamshire T20 Quarter Final 2023’, click here
To read ‘It’s coming home…’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Ben Green’, click here
To read ‘Enough Said…’, the last section of which is cricket related, click here
A Jack Leach Trilogy:
To read ‘For when we can’t see why’, click here
To read ‘WWJD – What would Jack Do?’, click here
To read ‘On Playing a Blinder’, click here
To read ‘Coping with Disappointment’, click here
And now a couple of cricket blogs with a theological flavour
To read ‘Somerset CCC – Good for the soul’, click here
To read ‘Longing for the pavilion whilst enjoying a good innings’, click here
Some musings 
Hi Peter,
I have considerable sympathy with you about this and at least one other post in which you’ve referred to negative comments on Facebook. I don’t look at Facebook about SCCC (much as I increasingly don’t go to the County Ground because of work and poor scheduling!) but I know what it’s like. As he’s a product of the Devon youth system I’m biased in favour of Tom and have been a little disappointed with his lack of progress over the last couple of seasons, but he remains an excellent prospect who’s still young enough to make a far stronger impression, including at a higher level. I thought this was a crucial season for him (and I’m glad he’s finished it with a ton) but that’ll be even more the case in 2024.
All the best,
Brian Carpenter
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Brian,
Thanks for taking the time to read my my ramblings – and commenting on them too. It’s much appreciated.
I agree that Tom Lammonby hasn’t quite fulfilled his early promise but I’m hopeful that he’ll come good in the end.
Like you I have a sift spot for him – some years ago my son met a lady in Taunton who didn’t know the way to the cricket ground and, as he was heading in that direction, he showed her the way. They got chatting and it turned out it was Tom’s Mum back when he’d just joined the club. Ever since we’ve joked that when Tom becomes a famous England player, my son would be able to say he once met Tom Lammonby’s Mum!
I don’t blame you for not following the SCCC Facebook page. There’s a lot of negativity there which goes well beyond constructive criticism. And even if the players don’t see it, it’s clear that some of their relatives do. It can’t be easy seeing their children reviled in public.
Thankfully supportive posts are always received far more positively than the critical ones and I was pleased by how well this most recent blog went down.
Thanks again for your comment and hope that all is well with you and yours.
Very best wishes
Pete
LikeLike
It’s good to hear that the positive outweighs the negative.
I’ve had the odd interaction with Tom over the years and he’s always seemed like a very nice lad. His mum can be proud of him whatever he achieves (or doesn’t) in the game.
Keep up with the writing and I hope we can meet at Taunton next season if I can manage to get there a bit more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Brian – and yes it’d be good to meet up sometime next year. Have a good winter!
LikeLike