Somerset (18 points) beat Yorkshire (5 points) by 4 wickets

My Man of the Match: Jonathan Bairstow

[Scorecard]

Ey up.

I can’t tell you how glad I am that the first lot of domestic Twenty/20 games are out of the way. I don’t say that because I dislike the format. Heck, who can complain about a match so short the Western Terrace bars aren’t open long enough for people to lose bladder control? No, my problem with Twenty/20 is the fact it gives you the afternoon of the game off free. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? Slump in front of ‘Diagnosis Murder’ whilst passively listening to complaints about varicose veins and the cost of prescription charges? I could stay at home with Mrs Len and get that, I don’t have to put up with it in a dressing room full of bored cricketers.

Thank Goodness then for the sanctuary of my cubby hole under the pavilion, now fully operational again after the One-Day International flooding back in May. At the time they where installing the new irrigation drainage system this winter, nobody mentioned that not only wouldn’t it be fully operational come the start of the season, but to shave a few bob of the cost they’d re-directed the overflow pipe straight into the laundry room. It was embarrassing enough to have the West Indies game called off when there was bright sunshine at the ground, without the sight of Nasser Hussein trying to do a pitch report whilst in the background I chased after Gerard Brophy’s skimpies as they flouted away on the tide.

Fortunately the weather kept away long enough for us to get four full days of play during this game, with no need for me to don my snorkel and rubber ring. Although that also meant supporters got a crystal-clear, unfettered view of our batting cocking up again – twice being bowled out by a Somerset attack that’d struggle to get through a combined Huddersfield leagues under-12 line-up. Perhaps we should get them to bat for us next time out?

I do wonder if part of our problem is batsmen still being in ‘one-day mode’. It was something we had difficulty with last year when the bat-shit crazy domestic schedule gave us two days to travel back from an away championship game and prepare for our first twenty/20 match in almost a year. This season we only had one day to make the transition, although we’ve eased the changeover between formats by spending most of the summer showing poor shot selection, trying to hit the ball so hard you’d think it had Piers Morgan’s face painted on the side and playing so loosely once past twenty or so, you wonder if the batsmen have been told their final total will be used as the minimum age limit on a singles introduction service application form. All of which might explain why every innings seems to see wickets steadily dripping away like a member of the Russian Royal family with a nosebleed.

Losing 20 of them against this Somerset attack has been the icing on the cake, with special embarrassment reserved for the three set batsmen – Bairstow, Bresnan and Gale – who got out to Michael Munday. Michael Munday, a leg spinner with a vast array of variations – long-hop, full-toss, half-tracker, leg side wide and the surprise delivery that actually pitches on the cut portion of the strip. I think I’ve spent my whole adult life dreaming of meeting a woman as filthy as his bowling.

Basically I think I’m saying that in comparison Adil bowls like a nun. Well, perhaps not a nun in his case…

Excluded from too much criticism is young Bairstow jnr, on his first-class debut. He might have succumbed to the sucker punch in the first innings, missing a bail high full toss from Munday whilst trying to hit it into the middle of next season, but his 82 not out held our second innings together. Like Rafiq the game before, he showed great maturity as well as the technique and patience to get himself set, before building his innings further. If he hadn’t run out of partners he’d have had a well deserved maiden first class ton.

With Brophy injuring his hands again – a re-occurring problem which must be a worry for his long term future in the game – Bairstow will be in the side for the next match too. If he continues to play like this he’s going to be hard to dislodge from the first team.

This lad looks a real find. He might not have the super-sized personality and frame to fill out his dads old boots yet, but he could have the talent to pad out the remaining space. If he does, he’ll be a hell of a player.

Another youngster I’d like to see play in the next game is Ajmal Sahzad. He’s been in and out of the side this year has Ajmal, and I think it’s time he got a proper run.

Over the last two or three seasons we’ve seen quite a few new players establish themselves in the first team. Batsmen like Sayers and Gale have been capped, Lyth played most of last year and is very unlucky not to be in the team again this season. Rashid has gone from academy to the full England side, and Wainwright and Pyrah shown their worth as quality one-day players. But the one area that’s not seen a breakthrough, and perhaps the one that most needs it, is in seam bowling.

I’ve been writing on here for a couple of years now about our need for a young quick to come through and replace the aging legs we have in the side. But so far it’s not happened, with the temptation always there for coach and captain to fall back on veteran bowlers in what has generally been a struggling side. But eventually those players retire and you need experienced youngsters to take over.

Ajmal might not have run through county sides yet, but he hasn’t looked out of his depth either. His strike rate is second only to Hoggard among our seamers this year, his legs have 8-10 years on some of our attack, and whilst he doesn’t bowl consistently like a Lee or Akhtar, his effort ball is quicker than most in county cricket.

His main problem in the past has been the injuries that have arrested his development; but from now on, if he’s fit, he has to play. If that means some of the older bowlers get their noses put out of joint when they are rotated out of the side for the occasional game, then so be it. In five years time they won’t be leading our attack, Ajmal just might.

Not that Ajmal or any of the other bowlers had the runs on the board to bowl Somerset out twice – although sixteen wickets against them in 161 overs is better than many sides will manage this season. Hoggard’s five wicket burst on the first day meant they were dismissed relatively cheaply in the first innings, but their line-up is too experienced, too strong, too in-form (four batsmen averaging over 50 this year) to succumb a second time.

That leaves the blame for this defeat squarely at the feet of our batsmen. Somerset might have the strongest batting in the division, but their bowling is close to being the weakest. Out twice for less than 280, just isn’t good enough.

The next game is against Worcestershire, a side who’ve lost every championship game this year bar the rain affected draw against you-know-who. If the batting lets us down in that game as well, it’ll be time to re-introduce Adam Lyth, a player who proved himself with a number of valuable rearguard actions last season.

Si’thee later,

Len

(Match photos: By kind permission of Dave Morton)