An odd first session of Surrey v Somerset – or currently top vs bottom sides in Division One. Somerset reach 62/1 at lunch having been 15/1 at the end of hour one. The pitch is very green from afar and each side spent the session working each other out. For the first 30 minutes it was relatively quiet but then got a bit spicy as the bowlers changed. It then got better for batting. Quite strange. In essence, each side trying to assess the other.
And another nice touch from Surrey – free scorecards and a sheet of records/stats. If only other counties made everyone feel as welcome as Surrey do…
Topley’s 6 over spell was the best I’ve ever seen from him (not that he plays the longer game that often) but he now needs to build on that as the day progresses.
By tea Somerset reach 163/3 (or 101/2 in the session). Renshaw falls for 48, Banton comes and goes while Abell grafts to 59no. The wickets have all fallen to balls which were slightly faster and seemed to catch each bat by surprise. From close and from afar, there’s a noticeable colour change by tea time, but if you work hard you’ll score runs, if you bowl that little bit faster you’ll take wickets.
It will be interesting to see the Somerset attack on this pitch.
The evening session was strange – silence in the field from Surrey including Burns as captain, no chirping, body language suggested ‘we know we’re in for a long slog’, just let’s get to the new ball. Somerset scoring freely.
But then…Hildreth (the unluckiest guy not to have played for England) goes for a half century (and 20,000 career runs) with the last ball with the old ball and Davies almost as soon as the new ball is taken. Meanwhile Abell accumulates 121no, wickets continue to fall and at the end of the day Somerset reach 283/6. Both sides probably content with their days work…each could have done better and worse!
Each side is still assessing the other, trying to get a feel for where this match is going. Tomorrow will be interesting!
Cricket51days 