I love a pre-season friendly, a warm up game all the more necessary on a sunny, but nonetheless chilly March morning, as the Somerset players emerge from hibernation in what is still only early spring. Suitably attired with a scarf and woolly hat, the latter similarly adorning the Gloucestershire slip cordon, I pull out my binoculars and see what I can see from my vantage point high up in the Marcus Trescothick hide.
Glimpsed first is a young Vaughan. Having flown the nest last year, he’s enjoying time at the crease away from his parent’s watchful eye though, if they are looking proudly on, they’ll be pleased by how he strikes the ball effortlessly to the boundary three times in a single over.
A more seasoned Dickson is also foraging for runs. though less hurriedly than his companion in the middle, playing perhaps a more nurturing role for the youngster who is still in a formative stage of his development.
But what’s this I spy, lurking undercover in the shadows of the Andrew Caddick stand? It’s a couple of Toms, indigenous to this part of Somerset – a lesser spotted Banton and a great crested Abel, neither seemingly keen to venture out just yet, wary no doubt of the threat still posed by the predatory new ball that may yet pose a problem were it to come too close to the outside edge of an unwary fledgling.
Suddenly the danger is proven to be real as there’s a commotion out in the grassy field that forms the principal habitat of these largely diurnal creatures. And then a startled look appears on the face of the Vaughan who turns and briskly heads for shelter, dragging his now lifeless bat behind him.
Next a Lammonby appears, gambolling playfully in the bright morning sunshine having spent the winter surviving on a selection of cakes, pastries and other reasonably priced comestibles he’d stored up for himself over the proceeding months at 9/15.
Yet to develop the bright plumage that becomes more apparent later in the season, both he and the Dickson put on a colourful display of cover drives, a courtship ritual no doubt designed to draw the attention of those responsible for team selection over the coming weeks and months.
A little later, I hear the characteristic call of an umpire. indicating that it’s time for me to stop for a bite to eat. And as the batsmen return instinctively to their burrows, the scoreboard is indicating that, at 133-1, their prospects of survival are looking good this year
Last seasons’s cricketing blogs:
To read ‘Reasons to be cheerful’, click here
To read ‘First of the Summer Wine’, click here
To read ‘Safe and Sound at the County Ground, Taunton’, click here
To read ‘Is Cricket Amusing Itself to Death’, click here
To read ‘A Purr-fect day at the cricket’, click here
To read ‘Worth Every Penny’, click here
To read ‘The Somerset Cricket Emporium – 2024’, click here
To read ‘One Fine Day’, click here
To read ‘WWFD – what would Freddie do?’, click here
To read ‘A Shady News Story’, click here
To read ‘The Abolition of County Cricket’, click here
Cricketing blogs from 2023:
To read ‘20 Things we have learnt this summer’, click here
To read ‘When rain stops play’, click here
To read ‘Only a game’, click here
To read ‘The Hundred: is cricket amusing itself to death?’, 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 ‘Stumpy: A Legend Reborn’, click here
To read ‘my love is NOT a red, red rose’, click here
Cricketing blogs from previous years:
To read ‘A Cricketing Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story’, 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 Song for Brian’, click here
To read ‘A Somerset Cricket Players Emporium 2022’ 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 ‘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 