Somerset lead after day one at Essex
Somerset claimed a lead of 30 runs on the opening day of this Rothesay County Championship Division One match against Essex at Chelmsford.
The visitors, still without the injured Lewis Gregory, won the toss and elected to bowl first. It definitely appeared to be the right decision as Essex collapsed from a comparatively healthy 77 for two nine balls before lunch to 149 all out by mid-afternoon, Josh Shaw wrapping up the innings with figures of three for 30 on his debut after moving from Gloucestershire.
Similarly, Somerset slipped to 16 for three but recovered to 179 for five at the close, largely due to James Rew, who accumulated a patient 48, and the some big-hitting by stand-in captain Craig Overton, who was unbeaten on 50 from 36 balls.
At the start of an eventful day in front of a crowd of 3,128, it had taken just eight overs for Overton’s decision to bowl first on a green-tinged wicket to bear fruit – and a further 43 overs to complete Essex’s downfall.
Jake Ball had looked lively from the start and made inroads with two wickets in three balls. Paul Walter had not looked particularly comfortable before falling lbw trying to whip a ball to leg that straightened. Wiaan Mulder’s first knock on home debut was over before it had begun as he received one that jumped up and took the edge to provide a catch high to Kohler-Cadmore’s right at first slip but it was a catch that ended the fielder’s participation due to a thumb joint injury.
Dean Elgar and Charlie Allison brought a sense of relative calm to the Essex batting for 22 overs, while putting on 68 for the third wicket. But, as before, and again later, one wicket begat another.
Elgar fell into a carefully baited legside trap and chipped up tamely a Tom Lammonby delivery to Ball on the deep fine-leg boundary. Three balls later, Matt Critchley, the star turn last week in Essex’s innings victory at Hampshire with 173, tickled behind to depart without scoring.
Allison looked the most assured of the Essex batsmen, hitting six boundaries in his 49, until diverting a ball from Migael Pretorius low to first slip, a position now occupied by Tom Abell.
Michael Pepper hammered Shaw for two cover-drives to the boundary but was bowled through the gate by Overton. The Somerset skipper struck again two balls later when Simon Harmer was lbw to a ball of full length.
It got worse for Essex with a third wicket in 10 balls as Luc Benkenstein dragged on a wide ball from Shaw, who then accounted for Shane Snater and Jamie Porter.
Somerset sent in Jack Leach to open with Kohler-Cadmore now unavailable but he was bowled by Porter. Lammonby went in short order, edging Essex captain Sam Cook low to first slip. And they were quickly three down when Josh Thomas nicked Cook.
Abell and Rew steadied things either side of tea, adding 57, before Abell nibbled at one from Snater. Rew was sensible in his resolve before Harmer turned one that took the left-hander’s outside edge. The first of two straight sixes by Overton off Harmer took Somerset into the lead.
Will Smeed, fresh from making 209 for the Somerset Second XI at Abergavenny today, was called up as a substitute for the injured Kohler Cadmore and made his way across the country to be in line to bat on day two.
By the close of play the visitors had reached 179 for five.
At the end of an eventful day, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “We’re in a really good position. A lot has happened on day one. Bally was outstanding with the new-ball. We knew there was something in the surface and I think both teams would have bowled if they won the toss. It was a good toss to win but we needed to exploit that. We weren’t at our best but we weren’t far off it.
“Tom [Kohler-Cadmore] has got a very big thumb at the minute. It’s not broken, that’s the good thing, but he can’t move it and certainly can’t hold a bat. I guess with the new injury replacement we had an opportunity to look at options available to us. Smeedy has come off playing really well, scoring runs in the second-team game. You’re not going to find anyone more confident in the country.
“He arrived at six o’clock. It had taken him a few hours to come across. Again, it could have been very different. They could have had us in position where we had only 10 batters instead of 11, but fortunately the partnerships near the end have helped us in that respect. It means Smeedy will get his opportunity tomorrow.”
