A draw to highlight the County Championship conundrum

SAM DALLING: After an early tea, there was a suggestion of a 5.05pm start. The captains saw sense and shook hands. A mercy killing

Taunton (fourth day of four): Somerset 360 & 409-7, Hampshire 311 & 88-2 - match drawn

Scorecard

In 1938, with war imminent, construction of the Cabinet War Rooms beneath the Treasury in Whitehall began. They became fully operational the day before the Germans' invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 and, following Winston Churchill’s installation as Prime Minister in May 1940, played host to 115 Cabinet meetings up until the end of the Second World War.

What has that got to do with Somerset and Hampshire on a weekend in early June 2021? Well, with a vivid enough imagination, one can imagine Somerset’s Tom Abell and Jason Kerr gathering under the cloak of darkness with Hampshire skipper James Vince and Adrian Birrell in the basement of the nearby Ring of Bells pub last night. On the table might have been a day four plan.

Okay, so that is a stretch, and this perhaps stems from what was ostensibly a pretty dull day's cricket. For the record there were no such discussions. But today might just have been an aperitif to the sorts of chess-board tactics that could be seen in July. At first glance nothing to see here: a day meandering slowly towards shared spoils almost from the get-go. But sometimes you must look a little closer. The devil is, as they say, in the detail.

Because now the LV= Insurance County Championship’s initial group stages are close to concluding, its new nuances are starting to wag tongues. By way of reminder, after the final group games in July, the three current sixes will play musical chairs and return as three new divisions. Not randomly: the top two from Groups One to Three will form Division One, teams three and four, Division Two etc.

In that second phase, each side will play the four that they have not previously faced once. As for the other team qualifying from there group, half the points picked up are carried over (ie because they played each other twice). And therein lies the problem: surely once a new gaggle is formed points should reset and everybody should play everybody? Otherwise inevitably this abnormality will come into the thought process.

^{Tom Abell made 98 for Somerset in their second innings}

Having closed in a position of dominance, their lead a commanding 372 overnight, most supporters expected Somerset to push on for quick runs. That did not happen. Instead, George Bartlett and Tom Banton began watchfully, taking 10 overs to add just 19. More should have been read into Josh Davey being sent out as nightwatchman on Saturday.

"It's not a win but I think it's a really positive result in the context of the season," said Tom Abell afterwards.

"We wanted to bat them out of the game so there was only one team with a chance of winning. We did that and there are so many positives to come from the game. We were in a dominant position and didn't want to let them back in or give them a sniff. The reality is that this was a good wicket and when the ball gets older it is difficult to defend. They've got some top players and our intent was to bat that am out of the game. Given where we were on day one, we were very happy with the outcome."

Now Somerset have received multiple bites in recent years, and so are perhaps a little shy. This was though a game they could have pushed to win. That is, after all, what cricket is all about. The question then that is raised is whether, rightly or wrong, the draw favours both sides?

Now bear with please because it is abacus time. Somerset lost heavily at home to Gloucestershire, taking just six points to their opposition’s 22. The return game was ruined by rain, Somerset grabbing 13 points to Gloucestershire’s 10. All that means that if the west country rivals finished in the top two slots, Somerset would carry across 9.5 points, whereas Gloucestershire would start on 16.

^{Somerset and Hampshire drew at Taunton on Sunday}

But if Hampshire and Somerset were to qualify, the picture would be very different. A 10-wicket triumph at the Ageas Bowl, gave Somerset 22 points to Hampshire’s three. Here at Taunton, a draw gives Somerset 15 points to Hampshire’s 14. Complete the above calculation, and Somerset would start the next phase on 18.5 points, Hampshire just 8.5. A significant turnaround.

Now it may all be academic; Gloucestershire and Surrey are far from out of the picture. Plus, first and foremost teams must secure their own qualification. Whether the thinking was quite that nuanced we will never know, and any criticism is firmly at the feet of those who designed the carry-over system. And it should also be flagged that a draw this summer - as it was in the BWT - is worth eight points, whereas in old money it was worth but three. The risk-reward economies have shifted.

Even taking all that into account, the timing of Somerset’s declaration was odd. After a start that was more slow cooked stew than flash-fried steak, Banton and Bartlett belatedly provided some entertainment, adding 67 in the next eight.

It allowed Bartlett to reach a fifth first-class hundred, and a first in front of a Taunton crowd. He rode his luck at times, dropped thrice yesterday, but batted nicely today. Back-to-back boundaries off Brad Wheal took him into the 90s and, having drawn a gasp with a waft on 99, reached three figures off 160 balls. He then holed out to James Vince from the opening delivery of the next over and off they trotted, five balls lost into the ether.

It was pleasing too to see Tom Banton in the runs. Such has been his lack of form, nine previous innings ahead of this game have yielded just 116 runs. Two knocks in the last four days have added 96, including a first half century in red-ball cricket since August 2019. That was 18 innings back. It’s easy to forget given his meteoric rise in white-ball cricket, that this is a 22-year-old still learning his game. He has endured a difficult year jumping from bubble to bubble, and himself contracted Covid which still lingers. It was heartening to see him return to his club roots at Barnt Green a fortnight ago, and the cheer of the crowd when he reached a quickfire fifty was full of warmth.

^{Keith Barker took seven wickets in the match}

Nominally in pursuit of 459 from 75 overs, Cameron Steel and Ian Holland both fell early before Tom Also and Sam Northeast steadied things. Alsop faced a stern test from Marchant de Lange, riding the short stuff just about and playing several attractive strokes, amongst them a pair of back foot punches that were equal parts authoritative and attractive.

At 3.20pm the forecast hailstones came, the sound thudding against the press portacabin akin to a full house applauding wildly. “Get on with it,” came a cry from a member. The stoic few housed in the shelter of the Lord Ian Botham stand waited more out of hope from expectation. Still with no play, at least they were not stymied by the seats facing away from the pitch.

After an early tea, there was a suggestion of a five past five start. The captains saw sense and shook hands. A mercy killing.

Despite their eight-point deduction, Somerset have recovered to top the group. Qualification is far from secure but they have shown that even in Craig Overton and Jack Leach’s absence, they are a formidable outfit.

For Hampshire the result will feel odd. They had Somerset on the ropes in the game’s opening session, Keith Barker slicing through the top five like a scythe through candyfloss to reduce them to 43 for 5. But thereafter they were second-best, the joviality on the temporary away balcony on the final afternoon suggesting they were pleased. They have vital games against both Surrey and Gloucestershire to come.