CC1 Returns - Yorkshire at Taunton

A bit of a smattering of players in this CC1.  3 guys who are going elsewhere and a bowling attack without Craig Ovderton or Jake Ball makes it a pretty slowish attack.  We'll see how it goes.  The weather will probably win anyway according to forecasts.  Don't book a day at the cricket on Wednesday people!!

County Championship - v Yorkshire @ Taunton Monday 8 September 2025

The side that walks out is a composite to say the least and asks a number of questions about the side that will start the 2026 campaign and the strength of the squad behind that one.

The side today is:

TKC (probably not avialable in April), Vaughan, Lammonby, Rew J, Abell, Gregory, Green (Leics), Goldsworthy, Aldridge (Durham), Davey (Leics), Leach

No Overton or Ball and the hero of Saturday's Blast Quarter is not in the side as he is leaving to join Glamorgan at the end of the season so his swansong will probably be at Edgbaston.  Craig was pretty heavily strapped on Saturday so he is probably in cotton wool until Saturday.  Jake? no idea.  Riley is not in this squad and it seems he will NOT be in the Blast Finals day either so his stint at Taunton has ended for 2025.

Somerset lost the toss and Yorkshire have put us in.  So Archie and TKC go out to face Hill and White in lovely sunshine and a pretty decent crowd for a Monday.  Jonny Bairstow took a photo of the wicket a la Botham, before it had been mowed or rolled so the moaning isd already in.  This is probably the slowest attack we have out on the field for quite a while so a good first ininngs base would be good as confidence is not exactly high for this one.

After 5 we have reached 20 with 10 to each bat.  Unfortunately our first wicket goes in the next over as Archie is caught behind off Hill for that 10 and in comes Tom Lammonby who will be in the allrounder position again for this game as we will probably need his left arm as well as his bat.

It is all very slow this morning and by the 10th over we have only added another 10 before Hill produces a good ball and bowls Tom L for 1 run from 8 balls.  In comes James Rew and he is soon facing Dom Bess who is introduced in the 12th  over with the score on 32 for 2.  He goes for 7 while Hill, the 'Somerset Destroyer' at the moment changes ends to the MT

TKC does his usual of a six off the spinner and then a four to bring up the 50.  He takes Dom for quite a lot  - 16 off his 2nd.   It is slow going this morning as the TKC 50 arrives from 55 balls at 75 for 2 . it is 76 for 2 by the end of the 20th as Thompson replaces the successful Hill at the Pavilion.   The 50 partnership arrives at 80 for 2 with TKC on 53 from 61 and Rew moving much slower at 11 from 40.

The pace does not improve as we pass midday.  James is not looking to push on and his partner is scoring the odd boundary (a flash past first slip for example) but also looks happy to blunt the attack which presently only seems to amount to Hill's first spell and little else.  Thompson is tight but not presently dangerous and Bess is wheeling in fromthe other end but is going at about 5 an over.  Yorkshire need more from this game than we do as a win would pretty much take them out of the relegation battle but it isn't looking like they will cut through us like butter presently though we are in Taunton and anything is possible.

A Rew boundary moves us to 99 in the 27th over and a single in the same over moves us to 3 figures.  TKC has moved on to 65 from 83 while the keeper has yet to break into the 20s as Matthew Revis takes over from the River to start his bowling work in this game.

At lunch it is 114 for 2 with TKC on 66 from 89 Rew has 31 from 67 (a bit of an acceleration in the last 10 minutes).  30 overs gone and 66 in the day to go.

When we return after the break White and Thompson open up the afternoon attack and Somerset look to move on.  Rew reaches a solid 50 from 91 balls and the 100 partnership arrives at 133 before that.  However it doesn't all go our way when just after the keeper's 50 TKC flashes at onefrom Thompson and is very well caught in the slips by Hill when reaction was all he could rely on.  He goes for 76 and Tom Abell is the next man to the middle as the 150 arrives.

At 5 past 2 the umpires take the sides off for a 'Lightning' threat at 155 for 3 with Abell  3 from 20 and Rew on 54 from 99.  It seems it's a pre-emptive removal to make sure we can cover the pitch because if there is a thunderstorm they can't cover the pitch.

So we will be off for a while. 

After an 'early' Tea at 2:20 the thuinder storms stop at 3:10 so the umpires coe out to have a look the manadatory 30 minutes after the last bit of lightning.  There is a pretty considerable amount of surface water around the covers and still some dark clouds behind the MT Pavilion so it may be the end of today really.  The staff are taking the pegs out so there will be some activity to reove the covrs and we'll await an announcement. 

The umpires will inspect the clear-up at 4:30 and then make a decision.   Howeverr, it seems the decision is made early as about 4:15 the groundstaff start replacing the covers they have taken off and weightinig them down - obviously for the night time.  The announcement comes that no more play willtake place today in semi brilliant sunshine and I suppose based on the predicition that there is more rain imminent.  Another confusing decision for the cricket fan.

Day 2

The rain stays off for the start of Tuesday and we seem tobe planning to start on time. Itis good to see Migael Pretorius bowling before the start of the game - he has a break around his ankle but he may be a possibility for the Finals day and either 4 or 8 overs perhaps.  There is a set of medium height cloud around the place but it is not black so there is a chance of a decent morning at least though the forecast for the rest of the game is not all that hopeful.

At 10:30 the umpires come out to continue from 42 overs into the innings with Tom Abell on 3 from 20 and James Rew with 54 from 99.  Jack White will bowl the first ball of the day to Rew from the Pavilion as pale sun bathes the ground.  James is caught behind off the 3rd ball of the day without changing the score from 155.  In comes Lewis Goldsworthy for his first four day innings of the season.  He faces 10 balls before he gets his innings going.

7 overs in the first bowling change comes as Thompson comes on at the River end.  Somerset have only added 5 at this point.  Hill takes over fromthe River for the 53rd over and the only real excitement of the morning so far is who will bowl!!  Abell has finally moved into double figures with 13 from his 46 while Golders has moved to 5 from his 42.

Moriarty brings the spin in the 86th as we 'zoom' to 187 for 4.  Nothing then happens until Lewis takes us to 200 with an expansive four to the NT stand in the 63rd over.  201 for 4 - Abell 42 (71) Goldsworthy 23 (73) as we pass midday and move towards lunch at 12:40.  Before that the pair extend to a equally shared 50 partnership at 205.

We have dual spin from Moriarty and Bess just before the lunch break as both Somerset men move into the 30s.  They also have a spell from Lyth with 5 minutes to go as Tom moves towards his 2nd 50 in 4 days.  At Lunch te score has moved to 235 for 4 with Tom on 47 (113) with Lewis on 34 (109)

After the break Bess and Moriarty are back on to twirl a bit as the first rain arrives.  Tom glances a 3 to the Botham boundary to take himself over the 50 mark  - 51 in 118 balls at 241for 4 and we now eye the first batting bonus point we are 9 runs away from.  Moriarty is making Jack take notice as he is getting significant spin from the pavilion end - though Leachy doesn't like bowling from that end.

Yorkshire take the new ball in the 82nd and Hill returns to use it from the River end 3 runs from 250.  The home side move past that score in that over.  As we are presently appealling against a possible 20 point deduction from the ECB for the pitch in the Durham game, every point we get in this game will become important.

White also returns from the Pavilion to use the fresh ball.  Abell cuts him and is dropped or at least stopped from getting a boundary by Agarwal who dives away and gets a decent amount of hand on it.  The fielder's reaction suggested he thought he should have caught it.  So Abell is 'dropped' on 52 and then gets away with a close LBW the next ball according to the umpire and very few others.

The 100 partnership arrives at 256 (246 balls) as Lewis also looks hopefully at the personal half century at 43.  He gets there off 146 balls with 6 fours at 266 and moves on to 53.  A good solid 50 from a good solid cricketer.

On comes the floodlights as we move into the mid afternoon.  Rain is forecast for this period of the day and we are seeing the first umbrellas opening around the stands and in the 89th the umpires take them off for rain at 2:05 with the score on 266 for 4 with Abell on 55 from 145 and Lewis on 53 from 151

Tea is taken at 3 pm and if there is no more rain the game will start again at 3:20 though it looks like there's more rain about so it might not be the last interuption today.  We've lost 14 over frm the day and after completing the 89th we'll have 43 left.  White finishes the 89th. The chances of us bowling 43 in this light is very very slim.  The spin of Moriarty returns at the River.

Thew question now is, given the weather around and over the next two days isn't it time for Somerset to look to push the score on if gthey have any hopes of doing anything but drawing this with a large number of bonus points.  If they want to push this they will have to go some.  

As we move towards the 100th over we also move towards 300.  But before that Moriarty gets some luck when he has Goldsworthy in front trying to sweep and he goes for 65 from 185 at 289 for 5.  The spinner deserved that as he has been moving the ball about really well at both ends for the last hour or so.  Kasey replaces him - before the skipper, Ben Green and Craig which is a bit of a surprise (well in maybe 2 of those 3 cases). 

A single from Tom brings up the 300 in the 100th over and moves him on to 71.  Kasey has yet to move from 0 after blocking out his first over.  He finally gets off the mark after 15 balls with 9 overs left to get any more batting points.  The 'gloveman' comes out and seems to suggest that they ought to get on with it but it isn't easy with Morairty at one end and by the end of the 103rd they have only moved on to 309 so getting past 350 looks unlikely.

Thompson is re-introduced for the 107th with us needing 22 for another batting point and Yorkshire needing a wicket for another bowling point.  We are struggling to get anything from the other end as the spinner is being very 'frugal'.  However he has frustrated Tom to the point where he looks to take him on in the 108th going for a couple of boundaries to move himself on to 98.  With 2 overs to go we have 342 and Tom needs 2 for his century.

After bringing on Thompson, they change to Dom Bess for some reason.  He reverse sweeps Bess for his 102 from 202 balls including 11 fours - his 19th first class 100.  347 for 5 becomes 351 with a boundary bringing up the 50 partnership and another batting point. for There's an over to go for Yorkshire to try and get one of these two out for their last bowling point.  They block Morarty out and Yorkshire bring Thompson back on for the 111th

Dom changes ends to give his spinning partner a break. We have 18 overs to bowl at 5pm but the clouds around the ground have darkened considerably though they aren't moving anywhere at any kind of pace.

Tom is caught in the deep at 390 for 6 off the bowling of Bess and via the hands of Revis for a very good 130 from 227 ball with 16 fours.  He worked hard for that and showed some real class on the way.  

In comes Ben Green with 14 overs to go tonight but at 391 for 6 halfway through the 119th over, the umpires decide the light has given them all it is going to tonight and they take the players off not to return tonight.  We go to Day 3 with Kasey on 29 from 66 and Ben yet to get off the mark.  Wednesday looks to be the most weather affected of the four days so we may see some kind of action from the home side to get the visitors in the middle and the game's eventual outcome may be decided by tomorrows events.

Day 3

Is pretty much a washout as there is a bit of play at the start, we go past 400 before the rain starts and notch up a 50 partnership between Kasey and Ben and then just after 11 the rain comes at 441 for 6 so we pushed it on a bit.  We lost just over an hour and the uprise were looking to start that resulted in the Somerset declaration (I assume) so Yorkshire came out to bat at the resumption but that did not come until it stopped raining another 2 times at nearly 4pm.  Lyth and Bean came out, faced 2 overs, scored 17 and the weather beat them again, this time for the day as play was abandoned at 4:12.

Day 4

The day starts on time with Yorkshire on 17 from the day before . They have move to to 31 when Bean plays at one that Gregory gets to go away from him and Rew catches the edge to dismiss him for 10 and bring in the debutant Agarwal (signs for the last 3 days) who gets a first duck caught by Abell at 3rd slip without bothering anyone really).  Wharton is in as the hatrick ball.  We put in 5 slips but the ball is knocked out to Gully and Wharton survives at 32 for 2.

He does not survive Josh Davey in the next one as he is bowled by the second of the 7th for 1 and it is Jonny Bairstow and 33 for 3 - another bonus point to take off the Durham reduction!!  We have a sluight delay for an injury to the Yorkshire bat before we carry on and after 8 overs with 90 left in the day (yeah right) Yorkshire have moved on to 39 for 3 as we have the first significant rain in the middle of Day 4.  They ar playing through it though so there is still something for the couple of a hundered die-hards to watch.

In the 9th Josh gets his second as Jonny snicks one to TKC at first slip to return to the dressing room for 2 and it is 41 for 4 with the arrival of Matthew Revis to the middle. 

Kasey comes on for the first time in this game at the River for the 13th over.  Yorkshire look for an opportunity to go past 50 but a tight Aldridge over only goes for 2 and they move to 48 for 4 needing 291 to avoid the follow on.  The 2 they need comes off the second change bowler Ben Green's first ball of the 14th from the MT.

A horrible swish across the line from Revis sees him become the next victim and Ben's first as he is caughtr behind and leaves at 52 for 5.  In comes Hill with it all looking a little worrying for the visitors - a long way frm 291 and without rain making an appearance yet.

Then the rain arrives in brilliant sunshine but with enough of a power shower to send the players to dressing room at 11:40 with the score on 56 for 5 with Lyth semi[-becalmed on 16 and Hill the newest bat at the other end on 4.  This should not be a long break in play as they have only put te matting and 1 sheet down and we are sitting waiting for the resumption in lovely sunshine under a pretty cloudless sky over the ground at the moment.

They'll be back on at 11:55.  They then return and on we go with Jack Leach who sends Hill on his way LBW in his first over and it is 57 for 6 and out comes Bess. There's a half hearted appeal for a catch behind off Lyth in Jack's next over but it was a bump ball from Gimblett's where I was saying hello to "LoL" and "Des Platt" (mentions in dispatches to "Wickham" who was here for the first 2 days and "Tractor" who is hardly ever away from the place) visiting for the only time this season.  I also believe that "Grizzers" was here for some of tyhe game - though I think it's a local visit now I believe. 

Then the rain returns with significantly more purpose and the teams leave to take an early lunch in heavy showers at 12:15.  On the Quantocks side of the ground the weather is clear and fine but there is a lot of black stuff coming in from the centre over Vivary and if we get that this is done.  However what is over the ground is clearing quickly so...

At 12:45 we are watcing the groundstaff in warm sunshine standing around the covers doing Sweet Faith A while waiting for... well who knows.  It seems the black stuff behind the MT is slowly moving over the ground and so they are expecting a lot more perhaps so there seems to be no hurry to get this game back on the pitch.  In fact they are bringing on more covers as the showers start again.  With normal Taunton logic, the only direction where the rain is coming frm is the only area moving across the ground.  Every other direction in which yo look has clear and quite promising skies!!

With nothing happening at about 1:30 the umpires come out and have a look.  They then decide they'll have some new for us after thay have another look at 5 to 2....and so we wait on in a pretty pointless game where the only thing wot work for now is there chance of taking another 3 wickets and getting maximum bowling bonus points.  What a waste of an afternoon for the few fans who made the effort today.

Out come the umpires at the designated time but after 5 minutes of chatting they wander over to look at the cover that has been cleared with the 'sopper' and especially the 'run off' area from yesterday's heavy rainfall.  They then wander over another part of the ground before having a finalr chat with the groundsman.   The announcement is then delayed as it is raining again an d they are puttng the matting back on the middle.  This game is done. 

But the last rites have to be done and after the umpires call for Tea before 3pm, the sides finally get back on the surface at 3 and almost immediately Dom Bess is caught behind as Ben Green finishes the over he had going when the rain came.  Yorkshire stagger to 60 for 7 as Thompson comes out to put up godd aggressive defence against the Somerset bowlers.  He produces a very commendable 57 (48 balls, 47 minutes, 9 fours and 2 sixes) before he is also plumb but this time to Josh Davey at 128 for 8.  We move towards the only target that means anything in this game as we look to get the 9th wicket and the final bonus point.  There is no worry about running out of overs now as we have had only 34 and we only have another 31 in the day.

Moriarty is the next man to the crease as Lyth continues to carry his bat but not for a lot (26 from 90).  Jack Leach is bowling from the River with four around the bat as Lyth decides to go big, he gets to the first for a boundary but the second is not as good as he pops it to point where Abell takes the catch to get the last bowling point and the Yorkshire stalwart leaves the field with30 from 92 with 4 fours.   

The last partnership is in at 132 for 9 with no chance of getting to the batting bonus point total and no chance of reaching the follow on total either.  White and Moriarty have about an hour to bat out if they can oir Somerset will ask them to bat again until the draw is agreed.

Aldridge bowls the 36th after only bowling 2 overs before this on the day and the rain welcomes him to the crease so it might be his last.  The Umpires then take them off with rain and sunshine at 4:05. They did get back on within about 10 minutes and bowled a couple more overs but at 4:20 with the score on 134 for 9 with White on 1 and Moriarty yet to score the captains shoolk hands and the draw was called.  Somerset take 12 points from this one and look towards Saturday and the Blast Finals.  They have Hampshire next week at home and then a final game against Essex away to close the 2025 Championship  season but they also await a decision on whether they will be docked points for the Durham game so there is still uncertainty where the county will end the season.

But this one is done with, defeated by the rain to a great extent.