Ian Shepherd: There will be a blessing. Six needed. And that is could be the winning hit. It is. It's six for Lewis Gregory and Somerset have one by six wickets. Tremendous win for Somerset. Chasing down 194 to win with Will Smeed leading the way. Hello there. This is Always Looking Bright Side of Life, the Somerset Cricket Podcast. My name's Ian Shepherd. Joining me this evening to rejoice as we have done the championship double over Essex for the first time, well, in quite a long time. Unfortunately, Dan can't make it this evening to ⁓ furnish us with the statistics. ⁓ but president of the club, Peter Wadless, is with us. Peter, dare to dream. Dare to dream. Yeah, what a what a wonderful game that was. ⁓ hugely, hugely enjoyable and ⁓ lots of great individual performances and a kind of collective result for us to ⁓ reflect on. Absolutely. And also with us tonight is the voice of cricket on BBC Radio Somerset, Anthony Gibson. ⁓ Anthony, well that was all very disappointing really. It was hard to see any outcome other than a draw. Well you asked Peter and ask him what he thought the outcome was going to be on on Saturday evening. And honestly, you know, the pitch was doing absolutely nothing on Saturday and Allison and Critchley batted really, really well. And Jack Leach tried his heart out. He tried everything he knows to get to get the wickets and Pretorius bowled a brilliant spell after T as well. And the wickets just wouldn't come and and the longer it went on, the more resigned I became to this, you know, this is gonna be it's gonna be like the not quite like the Yorkshire game or the Glamorgan game where we couldn't bowl them out and we lost. But This was going to be a game where we couldn't bowl them out and it would be a draw. But ⁓ you know, the old firm made the breakthrough. Leach and Abel. Caught Abel, bowled Leach. Brilliant. I like to think, Gibot, you were sort of ⁓ playing a little bit of reverse psychology with the cricketing gods. If you'd if you if you'd have tweeted, looking forward to turning up tomorrow to see an inevitable Somerset victory, then it would have been Worcestershire all over again. So many thanks for taking one for the team, Gibot. on that one. Michael Vaughan thought it was very amusing as well. Did he see he he ⁓ tweeted to you and ⁓ put some sort of funny slapstick face emojis on there or whatever. But yeah, I mean Gibbo Gibbo is is right. I also we we chatted to one another before the play on the on the Sunday and I I was in exactly I hadn't heard quite how trenchant he'd been about his views the night before but But Sunday morning I was ⁓ I definitely felt the same way. I was convinced it was gonna be a draw and we'd been talking ourselves late on Saturday afternoon into a kind of Worcestershire situation that we're gonna bowl two hundred overs again, we're gonna exhaust ourselves and then we're gonna have to go down to Sussex just like we did last year and the same thing was gonna happen and we were kind of consoling ourselves by the fact that, well, at least Craig Overson will be fit to come back and Lewis isn't bowling very much, and so perhaps it's a different bowling attack and it it won't be quite the same. But but but Toppers was wandering around not not having that view and and saying e exactly what ⁓ I heard ⁓ Jason Kerr say as well that effectively this team is three for three and ⁓ and if you can get yourself out into that position and hope and bowl and and and that little bit of the wicket at one end started taking ⁓ spin, didn't it? Into in it and so that had to be exploited and and I I can't remember any wickets being taken at the at the river end. ⁓ but but ⁓ there was just something in the wicket at that end which was enough with Jack bowling with great patience to ⁓ to exploit and and Archie too and yeah it was ⁓ it was a wonderful result. It seemed as soon as Critchley was out on that fourth morning, the pitch just seemed to wake up. And it was spinning about six inches more. Every fielder looked, you know, six inches taller. There was more of an air an air of ⁓ confidence about the team. They just you just felt that just needed to make that breakthrough on the Sunday morning, get a foot in the door, put them under a bit more pressure, and then all of a sudden things can change. And it and it did change very quickly. I think I mean we're sort of putting the cart before the horses. Shall we rewind back to Well, was it Wednesday? When no, the day before. Great yeah, the great news that Craig Oberton and his wife Ashra had given birth to ⁓ a body bouncing baby girl. So congratulations to ⁓ to all the Oberton family. Grand proud grandparents, Mark and Helen and and Uncle Jamie, I'm sure there's ⁓ much rejoicing. But of course it did mean that Craig Oberton missed that game on paternity leave. And what was the stat? We haven't won a cave of champo cricket without Craig and since September twenty nineteen. So seven long years. ⁓ without that particular duck being broken. And then Tom Wesley winning the toss, inserting Somerset, and wow. I wasn't there, but watching it on the stream it seemed that Messrs Cook and Porter ⁓ Peter's had enough. ⁓ Cook and Porter Gibbow were very uncook and unporter like. Rusty. They look awful. Distinctly rusty. ⁓ I don't know if they've been playing in the one day cup. ⁓ but ⁓ They just they it th the two things combined, Wesley winning the toss and putting in on a on a perfectly respectable pitch, and then Essex bowling badly in the first session, got us off to a flying start. And I must say Josh Thomas, ⁓ I I was really impressed with the way he played. You know, he's always looking to score, he's an aggressive o opening batsman, and Lamanby just looked in the form of his life. ⁓ I've never seen him bat better, I don't think. It ⁓ maybe back in twenty twenty, but you know, he was much younger then. But but in recent years he I've never seen him bat better. And he was so unlucky to get that ball to just flick the back of his pad and it was going down the leg side and flicked around onto his leg stump when he was when he was batting like a god. but, you know, Nichols looked solid. ⁓ he's not the most exciting battery I've ever watched. You know, he was getting criticized for scoring too slowly, but I thought well Well no, he dug in. He's a bit like Dean Elgar, you know. Yeah. You bat once and you bat big and that's what we did. It's substance over style. And you know, I th I think he will I think he will bring some real batted well in the second innings as well. He'll bring some real solidity into that ⁓ top order and allow the stroke makers to play around him. And ⁓ I thought he he batted really well, but but ⁓ Josh Thomas ⁓ and again in the second innings Josh Thomas but batted really, really well assertively, you know, he didn't let harm settle. And ⁓ I think you know, in Lamanby and Thomas, we may at last have found an opening pair that you know, that that will stay the course. I w I'm not I'm not betting the house on it, but the way they the way they started against Essex, admittedly against some some pretty ragged folding, but The the mindset looked good, the strokes looked good, the foot movement looked good, you know, the whole thing. It just it sort of inspired confidence and set the innings off on exactly the right foot. I think if we'd have sat here, you know, this time last year and and were talking about a Josh Thomas hundred at the top of the order leading our our charge towards potentially a Berthaver County Championship, we would have maybe thought we were ⁓ a a little bit pie in the sky. But as Gibbo was saying, I know if you called it Peter, where you sort of dropped in and out, but Josh Thomas, very positive, very uncomplicated player. I'm not sure if Peter's frozen or not. ⁓ he's back. ⁓ very I love saying. Sorry. I'm just saying that that that Josh Thomas looks very positive. He's a very uncomplicated player. If the ball's there, he'll go and hit it. He doesn't seem to have a lot of second guessing himself. I know this is a sort of a bit chicken and the egg, whereas if when you're in good form your foot works a lot better and you are a lot more positive and you know, when you're not it's very difficult to sort of get that striding, you're a bit tensive, a bit nervous. But the same with Lamborghini as well, they're both in really good form. ⁓ yeah, Lamborby six years on from that ⁓ excellent breakthrough season he had in in the Bob Willis back in in twenty twenty. I mean there there's a lot to like. Yes. And because I've missed a little bit. I don't know what you've said and what you've not said, while I've while I've been away, but Henry Nichols ⁓ must be a wonderful person to bat with. And as ⁓ Josh kind of accumulated the runs and got into those sort of nervous nineties to have Nichols at the other end just chatting to him from ⁓ from ⁓ from time to time, ⁓ I think was really valuable too, so so it it it really feels it strengthens the order to have someone like him for the others to be able to bat around. Yeah, coming in at four, which Do you think that's the right place for him or do you have him up at three? Well no, they they've they put Goldsworthy in at three in order to break up the left handers, which seemed to me to make a lot of sense. ⁓ particularly with Harmer in in you know in the Es Essex side. And ⁓ I I'm quite happy with with Nichols coming in at coming in at four. If you've got two left handed openers and then Goldsworthy at three, Nichols at Nichols at four, Rue at five, Abel at six. It's a you know, it's a very, very strong batting lineup. And I think, you know, ⁓ Archie Vaughan at seven, either Overton or Gregory at eight, nine, you know, it's it's a they're bat deep and they bat bat well. It's a it's a well balanced batting lineup as well. As as strong I think as Somerset have had for a long time. Especially with Miguel Pretorius back in form as well. Well, he was an absolute revelation. You know, I was saying on comedy, ⁓ my God, here comes Pretorius. You know, don't expect him to last for long. But he actually, ⁓ you know, after one or two early aberrations, he batted really sensibly. You know, he he he he s got the field set back by playing a couple of attacking shots and then he just knocked it around. And ⁓ if that seventy-two last wicket partnership was arguably arguably the difference between the two sides. Absolutely. Because if we'd been chasing 170 in the fourth innings instead of a hundred and two, which is what it what it would would have been, it could have been a very different outcome. So, you know, all credit to ⁓ Miguel, I've been, you know, a little bit rude about his batting so far the season, averaging five and half. But you know, he showed his true colours and good you know, good luck to him. It was a very, very important partnership. And James Roo Well, you know, class as yeah. Well done for saving ⁓ up, Miggy. You're absolutely right. ⁓ I mean one one minor criticism is we didn't quite manage to snag that fourth batting bonus point. Which looked pretty much nailed on at what are we, three hundred and fifty for five overnight with what seemed like plenty of overs to get them. If we'd got off to a good start, we'd have maybe had a tilt at getting four fifty in the hundred and ten overs. Yeah. We got a bit stuck at the start of the second day. Again. We d it's ha it happened to us at Hampshire. It happened to us in the home game against Yorkshire. There's a there's there's something about yeah, just getting it going again on on on the second day. We we really slowed up 'cause I agree with you. We ought we ought to have ⁓ scored ⁓ four hundred, but in the end it was more of an achievement to prevent Essex from getting that third bowling point than it was us getting the extra The extra batting point. I w I wondered about Pretorius. Dan would probably know if he'd ever batted at number eleven in his life, but perhaps that's what he needed. He needed to be ⁓ reminded that ⁓ on his current form, this was his his place in the order, and ⁓ with a bit of luck he's done enough to show that's not where he should be. Well, I had him at number eleven in my team last week just to say give him a bit of extra cut the backside. So what did I Yeah. It was good to see that discretion was the better part of valor and they they didn't throw it away trying to get the four hundred the other day. Question why did they say Jet send Jake Ball as night watch? Yeah? I mean Has has Jack Leach refused to do it or something, isn't it? I don't know. It was 'cause he he never got going in the morning, did he? Well he was never going to. He's completely I know he wasted he sort of wasted a dozen balls, which is sort of fast forward Whereas for a night watchman you really need someone who's not only gonna see through the final overs on the night before, but it's gonna be a nuisance to the fielding side the following morning. You know, it's gonna go on. ⁓ As Jack has done on on many occasions in the past. It just seemed a very strange choice. I can understand why they didn't send Pretorius in as a night watchman given his form and and his style of play. But Jake Ball, dude, you know good bloke though he is, he's he really is he I wouldn't say he can't that. That would be that would be unf unfair, but He's not exactly in the form of his life with the and you you took the words out of my mouth with those two those two parts of the role of being a night watchman. You've got to be able to do something the following morning, not just get your team in a bit of a hole just by, you know, blocking and blocking and blocking, not rotating the strike, starving a free scoring guy like James Rue of the strike, and then just getting him, you know, bogged down as well. So yeah, I think Jack Leach is the ideal Night watchman, solid defensive technique and can rotate when needed. And it it's not like it was, you know, Brett Lee steaming in at the wacker and then you were worried about him him wrapping one on the fingers. It was, you know, not exactly life threatening bowling that he was he was going to be facing. So it was not didn't really even need to worry about that. It had been a relief to see Jack in the team at all, hadn't it, given there were all these rumours flying round that at the charity match the day before. Trigo had g whacked ⁓ Jack on the hand and he was he was gonna be injured and he wasn't gonna be at a bowl and this was a terrible thing and blah blah blah. ⁓ I mean I'm sure you know Jack could have been whacked on the hand in the nets or in all all sorts of other ⁓ places, but it it he didn't seem to be suffering. Conspiracy theorists might suggest that perhaps he wasn't opt able to hold the bat optimally ⁓ relative to Jake Paul. I think that's pushing the point a bit really. Are you saying that Triggs is a sort of a sleeper agent for not still, or he's not quite he was sent in to maybe injure Jack? ⁓ Well, ⁓ I I know from personal experience that Trigo is a wild bowler when faced with a less than capable batter because when I did my ⁓ charity ⁓ batting for the NSPCC hit me he hit me on the helmet first ball he bowled at me. nice of him. ⁓ You didn't have concussion tests in those days either. I was just told to get up and get on with it. ⁓ bless him. Yeah, maybe Trigo was hypnotized by Voles a few years ago when he was still up at Trent Bridge. But yeah, I I did notice that Jack walked past one from sort of the very next over, Jack walked past one from Lewis Gregory and and I don't think he was stumped. He just retired himself very quickly, I think, to get that. that seemed to by the physio. So It was it was his right hand that he was hit. His right hand, yeah, I think. Yeah. But ⁓ yeah, I I wasn't able to get to that that game, but it looked ⁓ looked like a really good event and ⁓ lots of money was raised for a very good cause. ⁓ and and and and a great ⁓ I mean over two and a half thousand people there and a very different demographic of ⁓ of crowd coming in and it would have been nice to see some more of those ⁓ families in for the County Championship cricket ⁓ a as well. But I think there you know some in there clearly is a there's a market which we can stretch for cricket related activities ⁓ in and around Taunton which was really encouraging to see. So I'm I I I'm glad it was a success. I'm glad they raised lots of money for ⁓ for a good cause and yeah I think we've we've learnt quite a lot in terms of what we might do. ⁓ In and around future summers. Excellent stuff. I am, of course, always available to to play for any any charity teams as necessary. Yeah, your wicket keeping is ⁓ appreciably better than my batting. Well, I need to ⁓ I need to do a bit more yoga. I can't quite bend down at the minute. I'm still a bit a bit stiff. I've never I haven't really got into this season. I've sort of been a bit on and off, so ⁓ let's try and get ⁓ Another of the clips the club showed from that charity game was that extr as an extraordinary ⁓ ball from James Roo Roo which ragged almost sideways ⁓ to Jack Leach. And ⁓ as when we were getting extremely desperate to take a wicket on the third day, I I w was kind of hoping that Ro James Roo wasn't gonna take his pads off and have a bowl, despite that great spin, because we'd seen Ben Fokes be injured and out for six weeks as a result of bowling for Surrey in a in a similar situation but but there was a point on ⁓ the th I get my days mixed up. There was a point on the third day when ⁓ it felt like we required some really lateral thinking to take any sort of wicket at all. Yeah, three in the morning session and then and then nothing all day. ⁓ So four twelve all out then. And then an inspiring first over an inspired first over from Lewis Gregory, double wicket maiden. Essex in all sorts, three wickets down with only two runs on the board. Bit of a partnership from Critchley and Pepper. ⁓ Paul Walter scoring a few runs as well, but hundred and fifty eight all out. Only three batters getting into double pick. Yeah. Down at ⁓ Long Leg. It was a it was a bad, you know, very unlike Lewis Goldsworthy. He was a very good fielder. And ⁓ but you know fortunately we we came I mean the the Essex late order batting was pretty chaotic. I mean they played some some very poor shots. And ⁓ I was lit I heard I overheard Don Toppley interviewing one of their coaches. ⁓ close play and he was very, very critical of the way they batted. Because the pitch wasn't doing anything very much. ⁓ but but you know it was just one poor shot after another. I saw ⁓ I saw Craig Overton on the start of the the third day. He'd been warming up on the ⁓ on the outfield, which ⁓ provoked a whole load of other rumours that was he about to appear and take over from Lewis Gregory, though it was a bit A bit too late for that, but actually he was just kind of going through the motions and then ⁓ heading off back to his his fatherly duty. So ⁓ I congratulated him on ⁓ becoming a father and we had a little chat about the state of the game and and he said that he we'd done extremely well to get them out for so few runs and that ⁓ he encouraged me to encourage everyone else to be patient because he thought it was gonna take a long time ⁓ to take the to take the wickets, but you know, the lads were up for it and they were going to to do it. So that so I I went back prepared to wait some time for the for the wickets. I also went back to the people I was sitting with and said, ⁓ I've just had a chat with Craig Overton and all they wanted to know was ⁓ what's the name of his daughter? And of course I'd I'd not yeah I'd I'd not asked that. I said I said I said well when I said I had a chat, we had a chat about cricket. We didn't have a chat about other ⁓ typical man, typical man. Anyway, Ottilie, double O. She'll she'll be double O seven, won't she, ⁓ for Somerset at some point in the future, we hope. And Asher, always ⁓ hopefully fingers crossed that that will be a county champion in a few weeks' time. ⁓ yeah, I I saw the wicket alerts, I wasn't able keep up to date with that. But ⁓ I think when you look at that, I wasn't aware that it was such a a a deluge of of poor shots ⁓ to sort of bring to a climax that Essex Innings. It's always a tricky decision to whether or not to enforce the follow-on, especially as you're never quite sure what the pitches are going to do at Taunton latterly in the game. Are they going to get better or are they going to spin? This one kind of did both. It sort of best for batten the third day, which is Normally what you'd expect, and then a bit of d deterioration on that fourth morning. But we have seen him gibbo go absolutely flat as a pancake. So it can't have been an easy decision for the powers that be to ⁓ decide whether to But especially with Lewis Gregory ⁓ having you know, being injured and you know, landing on the ball and getting a nasty bruise on his left hip. So he was he was out of action. But I was I was all for enforcing the follow on. You know, if someone said we're gonna win the county championship, we've got to win games of cricket. That means being aggressive. And the aggressive option was to enforce the the follow on. The danger if we hadn't enforced the follow on was that we'd bat too long on a pitch getting flatter and flatter and flatter. And and and we'd make the game safe and effectively ⁓ make the game safer Essex in in the pr in the process. So I'm My co commentators, Mark Davis and Don Toppley, were all for batting again. But you know, the bowlers ⁓ they were they were rolled over Essex in, I don't know, forty or fifty overs, something like that. Firty five overs. Yeah, forty two point four. So it wasn't as if the bowlers had had huge amounts of overs in their legs or or or anything like that. ⁓ and and it was gonna be spin. It was gonna be Leach and Vaughn, who on whom we would be relying to take take the ⁓ ten wickets in the in the second innings. So I I didn't I I thought it was a no brainer to to ⁓ enforce enforce the follow on. And it's very much in the recent Somerset tradition as well. I think Tom Abel every time he had when he was captain, every time he had the opportunity to enforce the follow on, he did so. And I think that's that's the right sort of aggressive approach. You want to play winning cricket. ⁓ That's the way that's the approach that we need to have. If you ⁓ if you do bat on, you leave yourself with a lot of decisions to make. Exactly. How many do you need? How long do you need to bowl them out? Exactly. What tempo do you go at? Is the pitch getting better? Is the pitch getting worse? Whereas if you if you do enforce the follow on, you You're almost putting yourself in a position where You know, you you know know exactly what you've got to do to win the game then. If you're batting on, you've you've got all sorts of different variables. You bowl again, you just know you've got to bowl ⁓ out as quickly as possible. End of story. ⁓ It it's really difficult to judge how long you need to bowl a side out in the final innings at Taunton. ⁓ I think you you've got to have enough runs to be so far ahead that you can set attacking fields and not have to worry about that ⁓ dimension. And because you need a lot of time, you've got to have a a lot of runs. It is a yeah, I agree with you. I mean ⁓ to be honest, I I thought we would I thought we would bat again, but but on reflection, ⁓ I'm sure it was the right sure it was the right decision. We just got to look back to that Worcester game and and judging how long you need to bat on. Yeah. You know, we thought I I'm sure we all here thought two hundred overs would be more than enough to ⁓ to take those ten Worcester wickets, it wouldn't was not the case, unfortunately. So I always think there's just that kind of sat in in the back of the captain's mind that you know, if you do judging a declaration at Taunton is is very difficult because you you know, I mean look at the Warwickshire game. where ⁓ a couple of years ago where Tom Abel made that magnificent hundred in the second innings. Mm picture up flat as a pancake, chased down what four hundred on the last day. Four hundred, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm I'm all for just taking that decision out of your hands and and just trying to play your best cricket to win the game from the position that you're in. Right. ⁓ yes, Lewis Gregory, he was off the field for quite a while. I think he came back on on the evening of the third day. ⁓ opened the bowling on Sunday morning. well he came back on the shall we say. I mean, if before you get to that point, yes, he came back on, but he was hobbling, he could barely walk from one end of the wicket to the other. He dropped at least one, maybe two catches when perhaps the pain in his in the in his side was distracting him from the job in hand. I don't know. I mean it's good to have him on the pitch because he's such an inspirational captain and and all the rest of it. But it it did feel like, you know, what what what are we doing ⁓ here? So it it was really encouraging, yeah, then to see him come out and bowl something. But as you say, it was ⁓ yeah, it was ging it was a gingerly performance and he managed ⁓ Two overs. Actually, he he he only he managed two overs. ⁓ Sam Cook only managed two overs in the final ⁓ innings and they had similar figures. So maybe ⁓ he's just you know Yeah. They were two pretty ragged over. I think it was more to t I don't know what I mean you could test. ⁓ of of the whole thing because you know we were all pinning our hopes on early wickets and dear old Lewis com comes on and and sort of runs up at and bowls at half base and gets hit all over the place. Essex get off to a fast start. Maybe. Maybe it was just mind games, you know. Well I just wonder whether whether he was just trying it out just to see if he could if he could bowl. Yeah. You know, with with Hove in mind ⁓ coming up. But and it you know, and he and he could bowl, you know, he he was he was still limping a bit, but nothing like I mean, as Peter was saying, ⁓ he was he was actually hopping from one end of the pit to the other on the ⁓ on the Saturday evening because he was he was obviously in a huge you know a hell of a lot of pain. It's a very n you know, very nasty injury. So all credit to him. But the Australian school of thought was that ow. Why is he on why is he on for the last session? It should have been on for all three sessions. If he can walk as captain, he should be out there. Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ yeah, poor old Lewis, he's been in the wars a bit in the last few weeks. I mean he the old hamstring injury that he suffered up at up at Trent Bridge and then he's sort of been bowling through that. ⁓ and then suffered this sort of freak injury in ⁓ on ⁓ in the last game. So hopefully fingers crossed he's he's ready, fit and raring to go for Well I think he will be because the logic of not asking for an injury replacement was that ⁓ if they did that and and got one then Gregory wouldn't be able to play against Sussex. So if they're applying that sort of logic it implies that he will indeed be fit to play against Sussex and just as well 'cause we need him. From hobbling on the third evening to bowling, albeit gingerly on on Sunday morning. There was a clear line of progress there. So Nutchwood. he'll ⁓ captain will be fit to take the field on what we Thursday morning. Right. I was gonna I was gonna I I had family down so I I I could have snuck up to Taunton on Sunday but I thought if I go it's gonna be Worcester all over again and I'll get home and they'll be like, Why did you go to Taunton Ian? It was a complete waste of time, it was a bloody draw, you should have stayed at home with your family. So I was keeping an eye on it via stream and text update and I thought, well, as soon as we got rid of Allison, as soon as we got R really crichly, I thought, yeah. And he saw the way that the pitch was behaving. 'Cause I think, you know, once we got once we got the foot in the door, you get a bit more confident. They always pitch just seems to start spinning a bit more, body language is a bit better, the confidence is a bit better, more pressure on the opposition. four twelve all out. Hundred and two to win. Job done. Made a little bit of ground knots. As I said earlier a bit of the pitch was spinning at one end. It wasn't like all of a sudden the whole pitch became a dramatic minefield or whatever. ⁓ so ⁓ I I felt that we would be able to ⁓ chase a a reasonable total if we had to. but ⁓ yeah, it i it it didn't it didn't feel entirely straightforward, but I do agree with you, once the wickets started falling, they kept they kept falling and and ⁓ Between Leach and Vaughan they did a the great job and then obviously ⁓ the left handers came out and Harmer couldn't land it in in the place usefully in the place where the action was occurring on the on the wicket and I think that that suited us so we kind of whacked as many ⁓ from that end as we could where he couldn't have a great effect and it was job done. Yeah, don't forget the role that Tom at Tom Abel played there. And the catch that he took to get rid of Allison was a br we you know, was a brilliant go going down to it down to low to his left. A fantastic catch. And you know, caught Abel Bold Leach, the three three key wickets, Christie Allison and and and Pepper. You know, it's the good old good old firm. You know, both taunt and boys as well. Absolutely. And and remember that's to not mention Tom Abel's contribution in the first innings as well. Yeah, he batted he batted beautifully. Until it until, as Peter was saying, they became he he and James Rue became s strangely be calmed. And they f they what they failed to do really was rotate the strike, which is very unlike the pair of them. But but Essex did bowl well. You know, I mean Porter and and Cook, but not to be underestimated. And Snater bowled very well as well against there were different cattle of fish on that second morning. The the ball that that Snater produced a knock over Tomatoes or Stump was an absolute snort and it would have it would have done for a lot of players as well, Grigott. I'll tell you that. So ⁓ yeah, but after not having had any meaningful time in the middle since can't even remember when, just to Well you had one game yeah, one game in the hundred, didn't he? Or but but ⁓ Yeah, so yeah, he looked good. Yeah. Yeah. Pressure game, catching championship on the line. Produces again. Yeah. Well done Abes. ⁓ fantastic to see you back fit and firing. and yeah, we mentioned Thomas and Lamberby's positive approach in the first innings. They did it again in the second innings. You know, I think we talked about when you're chasing if they w if we were chasing hundred and seventy, it would have been a potentially a different kettle of fish. I think you'd be chas you'd chasing sort of ninety, a hundred, a hundred and ten. If you can get to fifty or sixty without loss. That's it. You pretty much got the game then. The opposition sort of waved the white flag ninety nine times out of a hundred. ⁓ and and you know, it's it's playing sailing from there. I just thought the the whole mindset was really, really encouraging. I know, you know, it's the sort of Australian dictum if if you if you've got to chase down a s a small target, then chase it hard. ⁓ and that that seemed to be the mindset and they went out there and they they never allowed ⁓ Harmer to settle. And that was that was the you know the key thing, 'cause if if there was going to be a threat, it was Simon Harmer. ⁓ admittedly, there wasn't so much action outside the left handers off stunt was outside the right-handers, but even so it was it was doing a bit and he's a he's a world-class spin bowler. And I think the way that that that Lamborghini and and Thomas didn't didn't sort of go mad or anything like that, but they they sort of asserted their authority. You know, they they they went they went after him. They weren't going to allow him just to bowl at them. You know, they were going to risk respond, you know, meet fire with fire. And and that as as a sort of mindset for the whole team, I think, is really, really encouraging. That, you know, we are going to play aggressively. We are going to play assertively. If we get the chance to enforce the follow on, we'll do that. You know, we have confidence in our own abilities. We see the opportunity to win the county championship at last and we're gonna blooming well grasp it if we can. And I think I I you know, that I I thought the whole of the the whole of the last day spoke really well and and in a in a sense the third day as well, because you know, although nothing was happening, Leach and Pretorius never gave up. They you know, they they were they kept trying to take take wickets. So I think, you know, the whole mindset of of the team is in the right place. ⁓ at the moment. And, you know, whether and other results permitting this this I I hate hesitate to say it could be R year, but it obviously it could be R yeah. And and I think, you know, it's it's the the team have got the right approach at the moment, all things being equal, to make it R yeah. Let's put it like that. On a light hearted On a light hearted on a light hearted note, ⁓ they paste the ⁓ the final innings just in time to allow the cake to be served in the long room to the members who had sacrificed their Sundays ⁓ to come along for tea. And I think there might have been a revolution if they batted so fast that ⁓ everything was packed up and people didn't get their slice of cake. So it was absolutely on the button. Presidential problems, those are, aren't they? I I I was just gonna say there's I think there's enough of a spine in that dressing room. Obviously Sergeant Jace at at at the very top, Lewis, Craig, Jack, Abes, who were there in twenty nineteen were the last time we had a real golden opportunity of winning the championship and let it slip through our fingers. And I think they they will be very keen to, you know, tell the guys this is what went wrong. We've Just gotta keep playing the positive cricket. We cannot afford any second guessing. We are a brilliant side. Yep, absolutely. Let's just go out and play as well as we can. No second guessing, no nerves. Back yourself. An almost basball type message of just have complete confidence in what you're doing. Don't stumble before you make that final hurdle. Right, right. Fingers crossed. I just want to touch on Archie Vaughan as well. He had a pretty ⁓ Well very brief ⁓ innings is with the bat. ⁓ what did he get? Third ball duck, was it? Yeah. Yeah, third ball duck, cancelled by Jamie Porter. Toiled away for what seemed like an eternity ⁓ without reward, but to pick up those three crucial wickets at the ⁓ at the end of the Essex innings or Essex second innings, ⁓ mop up that tail and and ⁓ do the business there with three absolute jappers as well. I think that would have given him done him the world of good as well. ⁓ it's a little boost for him before making the trip down to ⁓ to hove in a few days because he'd had a pretty rotten game apart from that so good to see him ⁓ hopefully that'll give him a bit more bit more confidence. would you keep him down at seven? I think I would Yeah. I think it gives the side a great a great deal of balance. I mean I saw sort of people on Twitter saying ⁓ leave Lowin be down to three, drop goalsworthy and have Vaughan open I'm like mm no no no no no no no no not a good idea at all. We have to squeeze Craig Overton back in somewhere though. Yeah, I think I think we do. Well somebody on Twitter said that Jake Ball was was carrying the niggle. I must have missed that, but He did go off just at the end. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I mean that pretty much solves it then, doesn't it? It's it's overton in for ball unless it's a real a real green seamer down at home, but I see that being unlikely with with the weather that we've had, I think. I know. I mean they've got They got Sean Hunt in the side after six and he he bowled it you know, he bowled them to victory against us whenever it was. Nine wickets up at Edgebeston in the week. Yeah. He's a good he's a good very good bowler. Hmm. Like bowl against us, doesn't he? Only came into the side Ollie Robinson was unavailable in that game, was it last year and ⁓ blew us away. We didn't really know ⁓ know too much about him. Hopefully not as much ⁓ of an unknown quantity ⁓ this year. So just ⁓ just have a little look round ⁓ the other games in the division one. They were all results, which means that ⁓ the top three of Notts Somerset and Warwickshire have pulled away at the top. Well Knotts hundred and thirty five, Somerset gaining two points, ⁓ on Knotts hundred and thirty three, Warwickshire hundred and thirty, then a gap to Glamorgan hundred and ten, Sussex and Yorkshire both on hundred and eight, Essex on a hundred and seven, Surrey on ninety four, Leicester on ninety one, and Hampshire on seventy five. Forget who it was on Twitter said that our final game this season could seal the county championship for Somerset whilst also relegating Surrey. Yeah. Getting ahead of yourself a bit there, I think. Yeah, I think that's let's just keep that, you know let's just let's just take one game at a time, shall we? Absolutely. What is it they said? Well they've I mean, if I'd have said to you twenty fourth of August, Surrey will have only won one championship game. All season. Burns and Sibley haven't been doing the business. And they they have relied very mu and ⁓ you know, Oli Pope got a hundred in last last game, but the others didn't get any runs at all. No, that was ⁓ Yeah, well low scoring game as well, which helped us. Not a lot of batting points being picked up ⁓ elsewhere. ⁓ Yeah, I mean not so sorry, I mean what when some knots that first morning. See this is where I've I did have all the scorecards up and I can't find the bloody things. Do excuse me while I ⁓ I shetty. So yeah, what were knots? They were about forty for five, weren't they, on that first morning? Yeah. And Patterson White scored seventy odd. Yeah. Yeah, in the context of their season. They're gonna take a lot of beating, I think. Especially if you look at their run in, which isn't too tough. Yeah, so I mean the the best thing we can hope for going forward then they play Warwickshire at Edgebeston. low scoring draw, plenty of rain. Plenty of rain as well. Well you'd hope so. I mean Warwickshire after after some of the rows they produced last season, they ⁓ have a look at what their grounds headgrounds and Gary Barwell said on Twitter this week. They've been going for sort of a more they've they've taken that on board and they tried to produce more results ⁓ more result pitches, which kind of is borne out by the fact that they are now third in the championship and in with a real shot at winning it. So you know it just goes to show that you can't win the championship on flat pitches. So it's unlikely that could be a draw. What's the forecast looking like for this week? Any any goods? Not goods. Well we aren't sure the same. So Could be the c well, I mean, the ideal result is obviously a draw there and we beat Sussex. Worst case scenario, we lose at Sussex and one of those two wins. Because that then will be a gap. If it's a draw, I think with you know, with with us only losing eight and eight points. I'd be surprised I'd honestly be very surprised if we lost at Sussex, given the given the weather forecast and the strength of our batting. And the fact they have they won't have Ollie Robinson. I mean Sean Hunt is a is a threat, but and and ⁓ you know very very useful side sussex. But ⁓ I'd be I'd be very surprised if we lost at at it may be difficult to win because of the weather. Yeah, without the weather we'd have won that our game at Taunton, wouldn't we? Yeah. Absolutely. So we've scored by no measure once. Yeah, yeah. I mean just ⁓ just rubber stamp it, are we just keeping the same team and ⁓ dropping Jake ball for Craig Oberton? Yeah. I think so. Yep. I think so. Looks it looks a balanced side. I mean If there's a question about Lewis's fitness, do you you I don't think I I think I don't think there is a question. I mean it was a bad bruise, but it's it's it's not it's not muscular and it's not tendons. So there's no reason why he shouldn't be fit. And the fact, you know, he bowled those two over shows that he's he's not quite you know, he's not quite there. But I think by by Thursday he'll be He'll be as fit as he's ever likely to be. We'll go through there. Right, yeah, absolutely definitely. Yeah, looking forward to it. I shall be in Euro Disney or Disneyland Paris or whatever it's called, so I'll be trying to keep up as best I can while on ⁓ Tower of Terror and all the other nonsense that's going on there. So ⁓ We've gotta say something about the Somerset women. We have, yes. we've got to say something. There is a finals day. This competition, the worst promoted competition in the world, the ⁓ ECB Women's T twenty County Cup. ⁓ I was looking for the ⁓ scorecard on Crick Info, not there. but basically we batted first against Hampshire at the nursery ground at Utility Bowl. ⁓ Sophie Love got plenty again. ⁓ we made about was it two hundred and two and they were about hundred and seventy, were they? I'm gonna try and find this scorecard now. Yeah. It'll be on MV play. Let me quickly note that up. They made we made two hundred and seven for seven. Yeah. ⁓ with Sophie Love getting eighty, Heather Knight forty four in thirty thir thirty deliveries, Charlie Dean twenty one. And then we restricted Hampshire to a hundred and seventy two, all out. With ⁓ Lola Harris was the pick of the bowlers I believe. Lola Harris, three for eighteen four, I believe. Leave Holland three for thirty three. Yeah. Yeah, v very good, strong all round performance. So that finals day is at Old Trafford on Saturday. I believe tickets are only a tenner. If there is I think there's a page on the club website about possible coach travel if ⁓ if there's enough of a ⁓ Enough of an interest, so pop along there if you can. But yeah, if you can get up to Old Trafford on Saturday and support the girls, I'm sure that'd be much appreciated. And it could be Somerset's first silverware of the season. We're in the second semi final against Surrey. And who knows, we might even end up playing Essex in the final. My God, there's an omen if there ever ever was one. And we're not out of contention in the ⁓ women's Metro Bank either. No, did we record When but we need to be in the we need to be in the top three. Bla the Blaze and Hampshire are are well ahead, forty six and forty one respectively, but Warwickshire of twenty seven, Durham twenty four, both from twelve games, those two. Somerset women twenty three from eleven. So we could easily sneak up into into third place. I don't think we recorded since we ⁓ went a chance for an absolute spanked Essex to get a bonus point, did we? No, because it was the day before and ⁓ Yeah, I mean that that was a hell of an effort. We were talking about no heather knight in the batting line up. ⁓ we'll see Danny Gibson and Charlie Dean missing that one due to international commitments. I was keeping an eye on it. two sixty six for eight, Essex made ⁓ in their fifty overs. And then well Bex Dodgers and Sophie Lough, ⁓ opening partnership with two hundred and twenty three, thirty three overs. ⁓ Bodge finishing unbeaten on a hundred. thirty three. Luffy ⁓ was up made a hundred and three. ⁓ Emma Corney made eleven. Good see her back on the park. Me folland six not out. ⁓ winning by eight wickets with ten overs and three balls remaining, securing that all important bonus point for winning inside forty over. So pretty much a fantastic week for Somerset and not great one for Essex. Boo hoo, what a pity. Never mind. Yeah. Yeah. But it was nice to it it was nice to see Toppers. It was. I ⁓ to send him back, defeated on all fronts. ⁓ I mean we we do give Toppers a bit of stick, but he takes it he he credit where credit is due. He you know, he gave Somerset their ⁓ the praise they deserved for a for a ⁓ a pretty good win and no sort of ⁓ sense of sour grapes or whatever. I did catch your conversation Gibbow about ⁓ the badgers that have been invading Pasadel Topley. Yeah, well the ⁓ just ten yards away from me is a a trough that's been vandalised by a blooming badger, dug up all the petunias in it and Toppas has the same problem. So that's one thing that well actually lives in Suffolk, not Essex, but Suffolk and Somerset having have in common badger problems. I did enjoy your suggestion of ⁓ having having a piss around ⁓ the the flower. You you're not you're probably not gonna find a shortage of volunteers to go and piss in on Toppy's garden, so I only joke it, Toppas. We'd love to do I can't put that cannot put that out in public in the public domain, Mr President. Theory me. But ⁓ yeah, I'm disappointed 'cause I would've liked to have ⁓ just caught up with Toppas. He is a He is a he's a lover of cricket and he's ⁓ you know, I sense he's got a bit of a I do think he's got a little bit of a soft spot for us down in Somerset despite what ⁓ a lot Menu. And he's he's looking forward to ⁓ to Reese, his son coming down to ⁓ playing for Surrey in the last game of the season. ⁓ he's he's unretired from Red Bull cricket, is he? Well he Topper seemed to think that he might he might be in the Surrey team, so you know. We'll see. Hey, maybe Tom Curran will be in it as well. I know. Well, do you want to risk that? Do you want to potentially risk an unbeaten Tom Curran hundred Well the trouble is they they could actually they could have their England all the their England players back, couldn't they? Yeah. We've got Atkinson, Lauren Jamie Smith. ⁓ Jamie Smith as well. Yeah that's I I alre I already know I can't make it to most of that game, so we need to wrap it up before then actually. We need to we need to finish it off at headingly. What could possibly be more important than that? ⁓ my words. Dear me. I haven't missed a day of the county championship ⁓ at at Taunton this this season, which is unprecedented in in my entire life. And the one time I'm not gonna be able to be there is that there's that final game except for The afternoon of the fourth day. So we're and and I don't think any of us want it to be that tense. But again, we're getting ahead of ourselves. I was gonna say if there was ever dereliction of presidential duty, that would be that would be it. ⁓ what else do we need to talk about then? ⁓ Email would have gone out to members this week. ⁓ there is going to be an EGM on the fourteenth of September to, I believe, Peter, formally ratify the appointment of the new chair. So if you haven't, if you are a member and you haven't seen that in your inbox, ⁓ we know who the new chair is. It comes from Civica Election Services. ⁓ I got mine on the twenty first of August. ⁓ so have a look, have a look for that one if you haven't. Had your ⁓ his name is Matt Berryman. ⁓ there was a little ⁓ video from him that was shown at the members' forum at Close of Play on the on the second night. ⁓ I mean the key thing to know if you're a ⁓ member is that I mean this is really, really important. Look, the president It's a ceremonial role. ⁓ I ⁓ I can interfere in er ⁓ things and influence stuff here and there, but I'm accountable for nothing at all. The chair is the person who absolutely holds the authority in the club. And were there ever to be a vote, for example, to reduce the amount of county championship cricket or ⁓ whatever, then the chair is the person in the room who casts the vote for the club. So it's vital that we have someone who we know. trust and respect. And this chap Matt Bering is is being put forward by the board as their preferred candidate. ⁓ I think it's right and proper that the members appoint this person. We talk about the importance of being a member's club and there's nothing more important than who your chair is. So do take an interest in the email, I would say, if you are a member and ⁓ do think about it's more important that you vote than you turn up at the EGM on the fourteenth of September because by the time the EGM actually takes place, the votes have been cast and counted. So I think you'll have the chance to meet ⁓ the new chair, assuming that he is ⁓ elected stroke ratified by the members ⁓ on that evening, which will be interesting. But quite a lot of us will be up in Leeds anyway on the fourteenth, because the following day is our the beginning of our game against Yorkshire. So ⁓ yeah, do look out for the email. It is important and do vote if you can. ⁓ very good. I didn't see the video but I'm just looking at the the bio that came with the ⁓ out with ema. He he's ⁓ he's Australian, is he? Yeah, so look I've not I've not met him. ⁓ They're taking over. Yeah, so I can tell you I can tell you a bit about him. I wasn't I have been on the nominations committee in in the past and I was involved in the recruitment and the appointment of Jamie as the CEO, but I've had nothing to do with this particular ⁓ appointment. But yes, he is a he is a he was a very talented cricketer, I think, up to and including Australia under nineteen. He had a very bad injury, a sort of recurring injury. He retired from the game aged of think about twenty-three. And ⁓ he's made a lot of money creating, growing and selling ⁓ digital businesses ⁓ out of Australia, but increasingly globally. ⁓ he's just about to sell off, I think, his his his final big company and he's now based in London. ⁓ so he has some time to think about and participate in cricket related things. And so to have someone who can grow businesses, create businesses and grow businesses, that sounds really relevant. Not quite so sure about the selling. but there we are. looks like looks like an interesting ⁓ C V. So anyway, have a look, see what people think. ⁓ he although he's Australian, Jamie is at pains to point out that he's not like a mate of Jamie's. They're not they they they know one another reasonably well now because they've been talking to one another since he's become the preferred candidate for for chair. But it's i this isn't like a cozy take over by a little cabal of Australians. I was gonna say you're the Somerset County Cricket Club has a ver a long and and very happy relationship with Australia dating right back to the great Sammy Woods. Absolutely. ⁓ and there is also another email that's gone out. I know a few people have said they haven't got it, which is to do with the members' survey. So when would I have got that? I think that came on the nineteenth, I think. But have a look in your inbox for that. ⁓ as well as a nice little server there for you just to have your say. ⁓ With what's going on at the club. I'll just see if I can find mine. I've got so many emails. Yes, helps help shape the future of SCCC Member Survey 2026 is the ⁓ link for that one. Right, so and again if you haven't got that one, contact the club and I'll show they'll be able to send you a new one. Any listeners' questions then before we wrap this up for the week? Let's have a quick. Well Harry Hayden says if Lewis Gregory and Jake Ball are both unfit to play versus Sussex, Craig will hopefully be available. But who else comes in? Josh Shaw or JT Langridge. It's a gamble, but I'd go for the latter. JT did I think he picked up five wickets against Knott's in the second eleven game. ⁓ took place last week. There was ⁓ Cliff Ball he bowled as well, pitched about six inches outside leg stump and took Mateys off bail. So he looks like he's bowling with a Picked up a bit of rhythm since the one day cup. Why's my Alexa just started playing? Alexa off. Not quite sure how it Alexa off. Let's hope that the ⁓ There we go. Let's hope that the scenario doesn't materialize. I would hope so too. It is yeah, I mean we are fingers crossed, it does it does raise the question that we are a l we are almost sort of at the bare bones. of our scene bowling department. No Alfie Ogborn as well. ⁓ it's a big ass to ask like Sir James Theedham, JT Langwidge or Keen Roberts to come in at this late stage of the season with the pressure of a championship run in to contend with. ⁓ I mean fingers crossed we just got to keep keep those guys fit. I was just thinking about Craig missing this game actually. There's no way that you would have rested him for this game. He said he doesn't want to be rested, he needs to play every game. I just wonder if the missing of this game will mean now that there is no doubt that he is going to play those next five back to back. I've no idea. I I I would think that he's But the fact that he was de he was at Taunton on ⁓ Saturday morning suggests that you know he's he's keeping himself ready to ⁓ resume Once he can. I don't think, you know, unless he's his body's falling apart, I don't think there's any way now that that Craig is gonna miss any more of these any any of these five games to come. Not a chance. Potentially potentially they may have rested him, I don't know, for maybe let's say Lester Leicester away in a couple of weeks. Just to break it up. But now, no, Craig is playing the rest of ⁓ What did you guys think of the pitch at Leicester as well? Did you see that? Yeah, I did, yeah. Stripey. Hmm. Screen in the middle of a bear at both ends. I think they'll be in trouble with the ⁓ The Morgan are not happy. No, I'm I mean, apparently you're you are allowed to do it. I think it doesn't pa it doesn't pass a sniff test for me. I think it it's got to be an even covering of grass through the whole the whole surface. How's I mean, how s how stripy can you make it then? Do you you know if it's a real you know, if you're bottom of the table, playing top of the table and you you can't produce a minefield but you can shave it so it's so stripy that you know you've got ten mils of grass, no mils of grass, ten mils of grass, so some are gonna keep low or whatever, some are gonna you know, seam all over the place and you make It's just so obvious that was the thing. I mean, counties have always prepared pitches to suit their bowling attacks and very often one end is different from the other. But but it's usually done fairly subtly. We're not creating, you know, big green slab in the middle and and bare eggs. It was bizarre. Yeah, I I'm I'm not a fan of it. I think it it should be even all the way through. ⁓ Mike Hunman has asked, Well, was an honest view of where you guys thought we were on Saturday evening? Not the coach speak that we rolled in the right areas without any luck. Well, I think we've think we've already covered that. I was yeah. I was confident that we'd, you know, just either one or two and then we'd we'd pry that door open and victory would soon follow, which it did. Right here then. any more for any more then before I gotta go and start packing again. No. I think so. I should be up at Hove on ⁓ Wednesday evening, looking forward to it. Yep, who's your co commentator at Hove again? ⁓ Adrian Harms. Adrian Harms guy. Very, very nice guy. I don't know who our third voice will be, but ⁓ Well, maybe Toppers might moonlight again enjoys in some of the step with some nuts. We've had one or two dodgy ones at hove in the past, so he or she will be ⁓ Fair enough. Well I'm sure I'm I'm sure after it's did it on the live stream the president will be able to help out if required. Yep. Good old, good out. Right, yeah. So ⁓ probably won't be one next week. I don't think I'll be allowed to ⁓ record from ⁓ Disney. I think my ⁓ my family might ⁓ have a thing or two to say about that. So ⁓ it'll be a couple of weeks ⁓ before we're with you again. But ⁓ thanks for listening and we'll catch up with you next time.