A bittersharp evening
August 23. Vitality Blast T20. Gloucestershire v Somerset
Gloucestershire 189/4. Somerset 164 all out in 19.3 overs. Gloucestershire win by 25 runs
A fresh pitch at Bristol - a rare sight indeed!
To Bristol, in the sunshine, with the roof down, through the very heart of Somerset. My journey is as delightfully arcadian as it is uninterrupted, as I listen to the traffic reports of chaos and congestion on the M5. Having allowed two hours for the journey, I arrive, feeling smug, by twenty past four. The Cider Derby always produces that extra frisson of excitement, the bittersweet of Somerset taking on the bittersharp of Gloucestershire, styles of cider seeming somehow to match the characters of the two counties.
Having spotted that Dom Bess has been recalled from Yorkshire and features in the Somerset squad, I assume that we're in for the usual slow, sticky, used Bristol pitch and that Somerset will play three spinners. But no. Jason Kerr informs me when I speak to him an hour before the start that this is a fresh pitch, the one that should have been used, but wasn't because of the rain, for the World Cup game between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. At least partly in consequence, Somerset will be fielding an unchanged side from the one that thrashed Kent, and spirits in the camp are sky-high after that against the odds win at Edgbaston.
Tom Abell wins the toss. After winning the last three games batting first, that will surely be the way to go. But no, Somerset are fielding. The onus will be on the bowlers to stick to whatever cunning plans Jason Kerr and Andy Hurry have been devising for the Gloucestershire batsmen.
Up in the commentary box, Bob Hunt is holding court, in a scruffy pair of shorts, revealing knobbly knees and lily-white calves. He is not a pretty sight, and nor is the oniony chilli which we are always served at Bristol, and which I can't abide. It is Michael Klinger's last home game for Bob's beloved Shire and he (Klinger, not Bob), is given a guard of honour as he marches out with Miles Hammond to open the batting.
Max Waller bowls the first over and, as usual, goes for only four. Jerome Taylor bowls the second and, as usual, goes for loads - 14 in this case, including a wide and three consecutive boundaries. I am moved to wonder how much Somerset are paying their star international fast bowler, whose 'economy rate', if you call it that, is 9.6 runs per over.
Klinger and Hammond make serene progress on a slow, but true surface, against bowling which - the excellent Max Waller apart - seems to lack any clear underlying strategy. Even so, runs don't exactly come in a flood. Hammond seems to be warming to his work as he hits van der Merwe for a six over long on, but then gets out trying to repeat the shot, a few balls later. The hugely promising James Bracey (linked by unsubstantiated rumour to a possible move to Somerset) hits two big sixes and Klinger reaches a final home 50, but when Lammonby has Bracey caught on the boundary by Babar with the last ball of the 17th over, Gloucestershire have only reached 152/2. A manageable total is surely in sight.
It still looks that way after the next over, Groenewald going for only seven, so that's 159/2 with just two overs left. "What happens over the course of the next two overs will probably decide the fate of this game", I state, unoriginally, on commentary. Sure enough, Taylor goes for 19 off a simply dreadful 19th, and Groenewald concedes 11 from the last, despite taking two wickets. Ian Cockbain hits the final ball emphatically for six, to leave Somerset needing 190. Had the death bowling been anything like, it should have been more like 175.
Still, with Babar and Banton, anything is possible. The two are the leading scorers in the Blast so far, with more runs between them than Gloucestershire's entire top five have mustered up to the start of this game. I warn Bob, who has the Shire as firm favourites, to expect to be impressed, and impressed he is, as Babar square cuts Tye with the speed of light, and Banton deposits a ball from David Payne in the crowd at deep square leg. But then a set-back. Trying to hit Payne's next ball for six over long-on, Banton doesn't get hold of it and Tye takes a good catch, running back.
So far from slowing Somerset's progress, this presages their best period in the whole of the game. Babar looks in prime form, and Hildreth seems to be putting his woes behind him. By the end of the powerplay, they've reached 59/1, three runs ahead of Glos at the same stage. Another 16 come off the next, including five wides, and although the advent of Tom Smith's left-arm spin and Ryan Higgins' dibbly-dobblers restores some order, Somerset are well on course.
But that, I am afraid, is the high water mark of Somerset fortunes. Eddie Byrom comes and goes in the space of 11 balls, Hildreth is stumped down the leg side giving Smith the charge, Craig Overton holes out in the same over, Tom Abell is caught trying to reverse sweep and the Somerset innings lies in ruins, and with it their hopes of a first T20 win at Bristol since 2015. To his great credit, Tom Lammonby produces some defiant blows and when 35 are needed from the last three overs, it is just possible to conceive of a remarkable fightback. A combination of Higgins and the big Australian white ball specialist, Andrew Tye, snuff out any lingering hopes and when Max Waller is caught on the boundary in the final over, Somerset are down and out.
Opinion among the press corps as we make our way downstairs to get the verdict of Jason Kerr, is pretty much unanimous: Somerset picked the wrong team, made the wrong decision at the toss, gave away too many runs, and lack firepower once the openers get out. Jason Kerr doesn't quite agree, but concedes that the death bowling was poor, some of the batting brainless and that Somerset were outplayed by the better side on the night - again!
When I get back to Langport, I discuss possible team changes on Twitter. I would leave out Taylor, who is clearly well past his best, play Bess instead of van der Merwe, whose batting seems to have deserted him, give Josh Davey a chance in place of Groenewald and bring back Peter Trego at the expense of either Hildreth or, more likely Eddie Byrom, whose 54 off 19 balls against Surrey is looking increasingly like a one-hit wonder. Will any of that come to pass? Almost certainly not. My money is on an unchanged side for the game against Glamorgan on the morrow.
Gloucestershire 189/4. Somerset 164 all out in 19.3 overs. Gloucestershire win by 25 runs
To Bristol, in the sunshine, with the roof down, through the very heart of Somerset. My journey is as delightfully arcadian as it is uninterrupted, as I listen to the traffic reports of chaos and congestion on the M5. Having allowed two hours for the journey, I arrive, feeling smug, by twenty past four. The Cider Derby always produces that extra frisson of excitement, the bittersweet of Somerset taking on the bittersharp of Gloucestershire, styles of cider seeming somehow to match the characters of the two counties.
Having spotted that Dom Bess has been recalled from Yorkshire and features in the Somerset squad, I assume that we're in for the usual slow, sticky, used Bristol pitch and that Somerset will play three spinners. But no. Jason Kerr informs me when I speak to him an hour before the start that this is a fresh pitch, the one that should have been used, but wasn't because of the rain, for the World Cup game between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. At least partly in consequence, Somerset will be fielding an unchanged side from the one that thrashed Kent, and spirits in the camp are sky-high after that against the odds win at Edgbaston.
Tom Abell wins the toss. After winning the last three games batting first, that will surely be the way to go. But no, Somerset are fielding. The onus will be on the bowlers to stick to whatever cunning plans Jason Kerr and Andy Hurry have been devising for the Gloucestershire batsmen.
Up in the commentary box, Bob Hunt is holding court, in a scruffy pair of shorts, revealing knobbly knees and lily-white calves. He is not a pretty sight, and nor is the oniony chilli which we are always served at Bristol, and which I can't abide. It is Michael Klinger's last home game for Bob's beloved Shire and he (Klinger, not Bob), is given a guard of honour as he marches out with Miles Hammond to open the batting.
Max Waller bowls the first over and, as usual, goes for only four. Jerome Taylor bowls the second and, as usual, goes for loads - 14 in this case, including a wide and three consecutive boundaries. I am moved to wonder how much Somerset are paying their star international fast bowler, whose 'economy rate', if you call it that, is 9.6 runs per over.
Klinger and Hammond make serene progress on a slow, but true surface, against bowling which - the excellent Max Waller apart - seems to lack any clear underlying strategy. Even so, runs don't exactly come in a flood. Hammond seems to be warming to his work as he hits van der Merwe for a six over long on, but then gets out trying to repeat the shot, a few balls later. The hugely promising James Bracey (linked by unsubstantiated rumour to a possible move to Somerset) hits two big sixes and Klinger reaches a final home 50, but when Lammonby has Bracey caught on the boundary by Babar with the last ball of the 17th over, Gloucestershire have only reached 152/2. A manageable total is surely in sight.
It still looks that way after the next over, Groenewald going for only seven, so that's 159/2 with just two overs left. "What happens over the course of the next two overs will probably decide the fate of this game", I state, unoriginally, on commentary. Sure enough, Taylor goes for 19 off a simply dreadful 19th, and Groenewald concedes 11 from the last, despite taking two wickets. Ian Cockbain hits the final ball emphatically for six, to leave Somerset needing 190. Had the death bowling been anything like, it should have been more like 175.
Still, with Babar and Banton, anything is possible. The two are the leading scorers in the Blast so far, with more runs between them than Gloucestershire's entire top five have mustered up to the start of this game. I warn Bob, who has the Shire as firm favourites, to expect to be impressed, and impressed he is, as Babar square cuts Tye with the speed of light, and Banton deposits a ball from David Payne in the crowd at deep square leg. But then a set-back. Trying to hit Payne's next ball for six over long-on, Banton doesn't get hold of it and Tye takes a good catch, running back.
So far from slowing Somerset's progress, this presages their best period in the whole of the game. Babar looks in prime form, and Hildreth seems to be putting his woes behind him. By the end of the powerplay, they've reached 59/1, three runs ahead of Glos at the same stage. Another 16 come off the next, including five wides, and although the advent of Tom Smith's left-arm spin and Ryan Higgins' dibbly-dobblers restores some order, Somerset are well on course.
But that, I am afraid, is the high water mark of Somerset fortunes. Eddie Byrom comes and goes in the space of 11 balls, Hildreth is stumped down the leg side giving Smith the charge, Craig Overton holes out in the same over, Tom Abell is caught trying to reverse sweep and the Somerset innings lies in ruins, and with it their hopes of a first T20 win at Bristol since 2015. To his great credit, Tom Lammonby produces some defiant blows and when 35 are needed from the last three overs, it is just possible to conceive of a remarkable fightback. A combination of Higgins and the big Australian white ball specialist, Andrew Tye, snuff out any lingering hopes and when Max Waller is caught on the boundary in the final over, Somerset are down and out.
Opinion among the press corps as we make our way downstairs to get the verdict of Jason Kerr, is pretty much unanimous: Somerset picked the wrong team, made the wrong decision at the toss, gave away too many runs, and lack firepower once the openers get out. Jason Kerr doesn't quite agree, but concedes that the death bowling was poor, some of the batting brainless and that Somerset were outplayed by the better side on the night - again!
When I get back to Langport, I discuss possible team changes on Twitter. I would leave out Taylor, who is clearly well past his best, play Bess instead of van der Merwe, whose batting seems to have deserted him, give Josh Davey a chance in place of Groenewald and bring back Peter Trego at the expense of either Hildreth or, more likely Eddie Byrom, whose 54 off 19 balls against Surrey is looking increasingly like a one-hit wonder. Will any of that come to pass? Almost certainly not. My money is on an unchanged side for the game against Glamorgan on the morrow.
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