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Anthony Gibson: A View from the Commentary Box
The view from the commentary box in 2024, certainly at Taunton, was a considerable improvement on the last couple of seasons!
There were two reasons for that: first, that we were back in the media centre after the trials and tribulations of portacabins and rustic bus shelters, and so able not only to see what was going on out in the middle, but also to enjoy the view; a view which, as I fear I may have said one or twice before, is the finest offered by any commentary box in the land. And second that there were so many home wins to commentate on – no fewer than 15 in all competitions, including, in the Championship, two that will for ever occupy a proud place in Somerset’s cricketing history.
So what particularly caught the eye of this commentator, whether at Taunton or elsewhere? Tom Banton, obviously. He is a cricketer re-born. It took only a few innings to appreciate that all of the hard work he had put in over the previous winter had left him with a more balanced and confident approach to his batting, based on a sound defence but always looking to put the pressure back on the bowlers with his extraordinary repertoire of attacking shots. I’m convinced, as well, that his performances in the Championship fed through to the Blast, in which, for game after game, he led the way when Somerset were batting.
He also provided what was, for me, the season’s golden moment when, after Jack Leach had taken the final wicket to bowl Somerset to a famous victory over Surrey, Tom Banton came bounding out to the middle on his crutches like a giant kangaroo to join his team-mates in their celebrations, his own heroic 46 on one leg – as painful to behold as it must have been to play – having played such a crucial role in setting up the win.
Tom Lammonby was another for whom hard work in the off-season paid off. Batting at number three may have helped (even if he did find himself at the crease inside the first half a dozen overs rather too often!), but it was the greater confidence that he seemed to have in his stroke-play that was the biggest improvement. He is a joy to watch when he is going well, as elegant a left-hander as there is in the game, and his century in the Oval sunshine, with Matt Renshaw almost equally fluent at the other end, was one of the highlights of the season.
The third of our four Toms, Abell, missed the first six Championship games with a hamstring, and looked out of sorts when he did come into the side, up at Chester-le-Street. But by the time the Championship resumed, at Trent Bridge at the end of June, he was back to the Tom Abell we know and love, with the classiest of centuries. Even better was to come, when, in the next game at Taunton, Warwickshire declared to leave Somerset 410 to win in 96 overs. Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Andy Umeed provided a fast start, but it was Abell who took control; steadily and sensibly at first, and then going through the gears, to see Somerset over the line in a blaze of glorious shots. It was the innings of the season.
How good it was to be able to see Jack Leach back to his best. Having to bowl 46 wicketless overs in Notts’ second innings on a dead dog of a pitch at Trent Bridge clearly did him no harm because he took important wickets in the win over Warwickshire, was a key factor in the success of the One Day Cup qualifying campaign and in the wins against Durham and Surrey that put Somerset in with a chance of the Championship, he took 21 wickets at 15 apiece, on pitches that were by no means raging turners. Our Jack had bounced back from adversity yet again, and didn’t the Taunton faithful love it!
Somerset’s other international spinner didn’t get much of a chance to show what he could do, Shoaib Bashir playing only four games, three of them on unhelpful pitches in April. He’s a fine prospect, and a lovely bloke, who may in time become as good as Jack Leach.
Another fine prospect is Archie Vaughan, who made up for being run out without facing a ball on his debut in the One Day Cup by taking 15 First Class wickets at 20 apiece and, probably more significantly, showing he’s got everything it takes to be a successful opening bat in red ball cricket.
I’m conscious that it has taken me much too long to mention the man who was as important to Somerset’s success in 2024 as anyone – the skipper, Lewis Gregory. He has an air of cool, calm authority: a man very clearly, but also undemonstratively, in control. He can lead by example as well, not least in those closing games of the season when he defied a creaking body to bowl over after painful over. Somerset would probably not have made it to the final of the Blast without his three for 35 with a ball like a bar of soap in the Northampton drizzle and the three for 15 which ripped the heart out of the Surrey batting in the semi-final.
And no account of a Somerset season would be complete without tribute being paid to our lion-hearted all-rounder, Craig Overton. With the ball, with the bat and in the field, he gave it his all, as he always has done. He led the attack superbly, in both the Championship and the Blast. The way he and Riley Meredith destroyed Middlesex in the Blast at Lord’s will live long in the memory. He had a better year with the bat, averaging over 32 and – no surprise here – saving his best for Surrey, with a match-saving 52* at the Oval and a crucial 49* at Taunton, as well as taking any number of stunning catches, either in the slips in the Championship or the deep in the Blast. And don’t forget that he proved himself a more than capable captain in Gregory’s absence. What a cricketer he is!
If those are some of the individuals who have stood out, then the team performances which gave me most pleasure were in the One Day Cup. Sean Dickson led the side shrewdly, James Rew, Andy Umeed and Lewis Goldsworthy provided runs in abundance, Jack Leach added both valuable experience and control, and the youngsters all contributed and will be better cricketers for the experience. What a shame that the Trent Bridge final was spoiled by the weather, but then to stage it at the end of September is asking for trouble.
Which brings us, of course, to those final two, so deeply disappointing weeks of the season. How was it that, from being strong contenders for all three competitions, Somerset finished empty-handed? Three factors, I think. First and most obviously, the injury to Tom Banton. What a difference he might have made, in both the Championship and on Finals Day. Then there were the dropped catches, at Old Trafford especially, compounded by one of the worst umpiring decisions I have ever seen. But in the end, a group of players that had arguably over-performed throughout a long and wearing season, just ran out of steam. It made for a sad end to what, in every other respect, had been a very good season.
But let us count our blessings. Somerset CCC is a happy, well-run, wonderfully supported organisation, the team spirit among players and coaches second to none, their helpfulness when it comes to post-match interviews, win or lose, exemplary and hugely valued. And one of the best things about being in the commentary box is the people I get to work alongside, be they the livestream commentary team, led by Vic Marks and Peter Trego, the ever-dwindling band of print journalists, those two unfailingly positive and optimistic stalwarts, the two Richards, Latham and Walsh, foremost among them, and the brilliant Ben Warren and his team. Special thanks go to my co-commentators, the effervescent Annie Chave and analytical Mark Davis, and of course to colleagues from the other counties, whom it is always a pleasure to welcome to our splendid Cooper Associates County Ground.
For me, and I’m sure for the vast majority of the Somerset cricketing family, the happy memories of the 2024 season will always far outweigh the sad ones.
