Anthony Gibson: A View from the Commentary Box
The view from our commentary box at the Cooper Associates County Ground is, without question, the finest in the land. And in writing that, I am thinking not just of the magnificent Quantock backdrop, but of much of the cricket that we have been able to enjoy in a season that was more than worthy of Somerset County Cricket Club’s sesquicentennial year.
My mind goes first to that gloriously sunny April day when Tom Banton pulled a full toss from Kashif Ali viciously through mid-wicket for the boundary that took him to 343, and so past Justin Langer’s record for the highest individual score in Somerset’s history. It was an innings of fluent, wristy elegance which confirmed beyond all possible doubt Tom Banton’s re-emergence as an all-format batter of the highest class. Yes, it was hugely frustrating that a combination of a benign pitch and – credit where it’s due – doughty Worcestershire batting denied Somerset the win, but the memories of Banton’s innings will long outlast those of the outcome of the game.
Now, let us cast our minds forward some five months, to the evening of September 6th, with the usually raucous Vitality Blast crowd stunned into near silence, as Somerset fall further and further behind the rate required to chase down the Bears’ 190. Gregory and Green go in the 18th over. At 158 for six with just 12 balls left and 33 still needed, all seems lost. But that is to reckon without a certain Sean Dickson. Fired – as we later discovered – by his indignation at not being offered a new contract, he took the game – and the Bears – by the scruff of the neck. The shot that he picked up off his boots for a six into the Andy Caddick Pavilion was a staggering blow. His next one, into the Family Stand, was sheer, brutal power. A scorching four down the ground and a scrambled single and the job was done – to a huge roar. Quite brilliant. It may ‘only’ have been in a 20 over game, but that was an innings that will also long be remembered.
I think as well of what proved to be the turning point in Somerset’s County Championship season, when James Rew took control of what had seemed a doomed run-chase against Essex – 78 for five and another 247 still needed – and led the side home, with strong and intelligent support from Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton. That too was an innings of the highest class, played when it mattered most. “It’s VE day in Taunton”, I declared at the end. “Victory over Essex day!”.
But the Somerset cricketer who probably occupied more commentary time than any other over the course of the season was, of course, Taunton’s joint-favourite son (with Tom Abell), the seemingly inexhaustible Jack Leach. In seven home Championship games, he bowled no fewer than 323.5 overs – 46 overs per game – including 107 maidens, for 41 wickets at 14.68 runs apiece, and, with the exception of the Durham game, on pitches that got flatter as the matches went on. No other spin bowler comes close to his record for the season and, in the opinion of this and many other commentators, no other English spinner comes close to him, full stop.
One new feature – for me at least – was the chance to commentate on some women’s cricket, and very enjoyable it was too. In the absence of both Heather Knight and Dani Gibson for most of the season, Somerset Women found it tough going in their first season as a professional outfit. But we saw enough from the likes of Amanda Jade Wellington, Bex Odgers, Alex Griffiths and Fran Wilson, plus emerging talents including Mollie Robbins and Erin Vukusic, to be sure that Somerset Women will be a force to be reckoned with when they’re back to full strength. And there was at least one victory for me to celebrate on commentary: in the Blast, over Essex!
Since 2013, the ECB has been subsidising the BBC to provide county cricket commentaries online and on Sports Extra, but it wasn’t until the end of March, just days before the season, that a new four year contract was confirmed. Three cheers for that, except that the qualifying stages of the One-Day Cup were not included in the deal. So, although I did get to watch a couple of Somerset’s earlier games, I didn’t get to commentate until the quarter-final against Gloucestershire. But I saw more than enough to be hugely impressed by the way in which precocious youth and seasoned experience combined to great effect. Tom Lammonby was outstanding with ball as well as bat and Archie Vaughan made what will surely be the first of many centuries in senior cricket in the win over a strong Northants outfit.
But if the campaign is remembered for one thing it will be the first flowering of the fraternal partnership which will surely be at the heart of Somerset cricket for years to come, as the Rew brothers combined to superb effect, the audacity of Thomas complementing perfectly the solidity of James, whose captaincy, I should add, was pretty much flawless.
I am conscious that I have so far mentioned Lewis Gregory only in passing. But although you might not think so from looking at his figures, he has been at the very heart of Somerset’s success: shrewd, pragmatic, hugely respected by his players and with the coolest of heads under pressure, he has become one of the county’s great captains. The way in which he finished the job in the final of the Blast may have been his most spectacular moment, but the bowling he produced on the last morning of the season at Chelmsford, as he strained every one of his doubtless aching sinews in a brilliant, cruelly unlucky last-ditch spell, showed that here is a cricketer for the hard yards as well as for flashes of brilliance. Long may his body allow him to continue.
So what sort of a season did Somerset have, in the final analysis? It is a question I have been asked many times since the end of September, and my answer has always been the same: one of their very best. To finish third in the County Championship, equal third in the One-Day Cup and to win the Blast for the second time in three years was a superb performance, especially given that injury meant Matt Henry missed the first two months of the season. In 2025, Somerset were arguably the most successful all-round team in the country.
My thanks, as ever, go to Somerset County Cricket Club’s players, coaches and staff for their help and co-operation from first to last. It has been a real pleasure, as well as a great privilege, to have been able to talk our BBC listeners through what has been an outstanding season.
