Back in my student days, I used to live in the St Paul’s area of Bristol, a part of the city that, back in the 1980’s at least, was not without its problems. Even so, despite living there for the best part of a year and frequently walking the streets close to City Road nor far from where I rented a flat, I was never, unlike my flatmate, offered any illegal substance. Now don’t get me wrong, I would, of course, have declined all kind offers made to me by any business partner of a South American drugs baron, but it would, I think, have been nice to have been asked!
Perhaps it’s because I had an innocent face that I was never considered as someone who was likely to make a habit of consuming poppy based relaxants. And maybe it’s because I still have a look of youthful innocence that my recent visits to the county ground in Taunton to watch championship cricket, have been occasions when those charged with checking my bag for unauthorised items have taken a very relaxed approach to match day security.
Or maybe it’s because there is a tacit acknowledgment that a polite enquiry as to whether ‘Sir’ has anything dodgy in his bag, is more than sufficient to root out ne’er do wells and thus ensure the safety of those already seated comfortably around the boundary edge.
Now whilst it would be nice to think I still have the appearance of one who in his early twenties, in truth I hope it is the latter explanation that is behind the cursory inquiry into what I carried into the ground today.
Because we need to believe that there at least some places where we can go without being concerned for our safety.
And surely there can be few places on earth less perilous to spend one’s day than a venue where four day cricket is being played – a place where the only thing threatened is a players batting average, the only thing that’s risky is running on a misfield, and the only one in danger is the poor soul forced to field at silly point.
T20 games are, however, a little different. Here, where the applause thunders, rather than ripples, around the ground, security is, of course, of paramount importance. And not only because of the, let’s call them scallywags, who sometimes enjoy, a little too enthusiastically the apple based intoxicant so beloved by many in this orchard rich part of the country.
Because then the far greater concern is the risk posed by the likes of my octogenarian mother who once had a small fruit knife confiscated from her as she made her way into the ground. Her protestations that her teeth, still her own but no longer as lethal as they were in former years, necessitated the use of the bladed utensil to help her devour the apple she had brought for her tea, fell on deaf ears. Which was probably just as well as I can personally vouch for the violence she was capable of inflicting with a pair of scissors on any of her sons that she deemed to be in need of a haircut.
But, be all that as it may, today was a day to enjoy the less hazardous surroundings of the CACG, the setting for the second day of Somerset’s game against Essex in the LV County Championship.
Less hazardous that is for all save the Essex batsmen who were all out for 138, the last four wickets falling with only a single run being added to the scoreboard. Some particularly fine bowling from Josh Davey and consistenty excellent wicket keeping from James Rew, resulting in Somerset being set just (?!) 167 runs to win.
To be honest, despite Winviz being 93% confident of a Somerset victory, I was a little anxious as the Somerset innings began, so much so that my blood pressure may have risen a tad, though not, ironically, as much as that which would have resulted from the somewhat irritating scoreboard announcement seeking to educate me about the dangers of undiagnosed hypertension.
But I needn’t have worried as Matt Renshaw and Sean Dixon put on 28 in the first seven overs, twice that of the game’s previous best opening partnership. And by tea the score stood at 45 without loss, the pair having shared the highest partnership of the match thus far.
Soon after tea, Sean Dickson, a player I so want to see do well, brought up the 50 partnership with a four through mid off and then, from the very next ball, hit an imperious six over mid on. Two more boundaries from the bat of Sean Dickson followed and, before you knew it, with the opening pair still at the crease, the runs required for a Somerset victory were less than a hundred.
Renshaw eventually fell, lbw for 35, but with the score now 75 and the in form Tom Lammonby walking to the crease, I remained sufficiently confident of a win such that, even when Dickson fell for a fine 42 from 40 deliveries, I still saw no need to seek out anti-hypertensive medication.
Progress slowed for a while with Lammonby, uncharacteristically out for a 24 ball duck, with the total now on 99, Andy Umeed having scored 16 at roughly a run a ball at the other end. Umeed, looking as comfortable as he had in the first innings, then took the Somerset total past 100 with a finely struck boundary and I was left wondering about the mathematical prowess of the Essex player who shouted ‘half way there lads’ when Somerset had, in fact, knocked of 65% of the required runs whilst losing only 30% of their wickets!
Umeed, comfortably the top scorer in the game, was eventually out for 34 but by now less than 50 runs were required. Miguel Pretorius joined Tom Banton in the middle, the latter, causing hearts to flutter with a mistimed attempt at a reverse sweep before reverting everyone to sinus rhythm once more with two rather more orthodox, and vastly more successful, shots for four.
Pretorius scored just two, and James Rew just six, but when Louis Gregory came out to join Banton, just 15 more runs were needed. If any nerves remained, they were soon calmed when the captain hit two deliveries back past the bowler for four leaving just four more needed when the days allocated overs were completed.
With a result in sight, additional overs were permitted, the first seeing Banton caught in the slips having contributed a crucial 29 runs. That left Craig Overton to join Gregory and hit the winning runs in a game which leaves Somerset, temporarily at least, second in the table.
And so a classic game of championship cricket was over – the Somerset win the icing on the cake of a day which, even without the victory, would still have been a thoroughly enjoyable one.
Such are days, the like of which, we all need more of, not less – which is, I hope, something that won’t go unnoticed by those with influence in the cricketing world.
Other cricket related blogs:
To read ‘Is Cricket Amusing Itself to Death’, click here
To read ‘First of the Summer Wine’, click here
To read ‘When rain stops play’, click here
To read ‘Only a game’, click here
To read ‘The Somerset Cricket Emporium – 2023’, click here
To read ‘for the third time of asking, CRICKET’S COMING HOME…surely’, click here
To read ‘Twas the week of the final’, click here
To read ‘Sharing the important things: on introducing your grandchild to cricket’, click here
To read ‘Somerset v Nottinghamshire T20 Quarter Final 2023’, click here
To read ‘Breaking News’, click here
To read ‘Lewis Calpaldi – Retired Hurt?’, click here
To read ‘Cricket: It’s All About Good Timing’, click here
To read ‘Bazball, Bazchess, Bazlife’, click here
To read ‘Online criticism: it’s just not cricket’, click here
To read ‘Cigarettes, Singles, and Sipping Tea with Ian Botham: Signs of a Well Spent Youth!’, click here
To read ‘A Historic Day’, click here
To read ‘Cricket – through thick and thin’, click here
To read ‘My love is NOT a red, red rose’, click here
To read ‘Scooby Doo and the Mystery of the Deseted Cricket Ground’, click here
To read ‘Brian and Stumpy visit The Repair Shop’, click here
To read ‘A Tale of Two Tons’, click here
To read ‘A Somerset Cricket Players Emporium’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Taunt’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Brian’, click here
To read ‘At Season’s End’, click here
To read ‘A Day at the Cricket’, click here
To read ‘The Great Cricket Sell Off’, click here
To read ‘On passing a village cricket club at dusk one late November afternoon’ 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 ‘A Cricket Tea Kind of a Day’, click here
To read ‘Life in the slow lane’, click here
To read ‘A Cricketing Christmas Carol’, click here
To read ‘Twenty things we have learnt this summer’, click here
To read ‘Frodo and the Format of Power’, click here
To read ‘If Only’, click here
To read ‘I’ve got a little CRICKET list’, click here
To read ‘Eve of the RLODC limericks’ 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 to finish – a couple 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 