Somerset captain Marcus Trescothick was in a resigned mood after the match against Worcestershire was abandoned as a draw without a ball bowled on the final day.
He said: “Gaining points on people who are close to you in the competition is always important, but we are disappointed not to get the volume of cricket that we wanted. Once you get 500 on the board you are always in a decent position then build pressure to try to create something. The situation dictated that they came out positively yesterday but they would have had to have played differently if they had played the full two days. However, we batted well in our first innings and bowled really nicely with the new ball so we are pretty pleased all in all.”
Talking about his innings of 85 in the Somerset innings he added: “When you have been out of the team for quite a while you come in and feel desperate to get back into form and make difference in the game. We all appreciated how big a game this was for us in the context of the competition and losing the toss and being put into bat you didn’t know what was going to happen. Five people have really put their hand up and got the volume of runs that have been lacking throughout the course of the season so far. We go to Headingley next, which we all know is going to be a tough game, so hopefully we can carry on with this form.”
Updated
As feared, it’s all over here. The umpires had a look after lunch and appeared in danger of sinking into the bog that was once the County Ground, Taunton.
Yesterday, the umpires handled a difficult situation very well, and eventually got back on for a few overs in the evening sunshine. But there seems no point in hanging around today. The ground is sodden and it is still raining hard. Somerset will be the happier of the two teams, as they take 11 points from the game to Worcestershire’s six and remain ahead of the other three relegation threatened counties with a match in hand
Updated
The outlook is increasingly bleak at Taunton. There are puddles – small lakes, even – forming on the outfield that we never saw yesterday. My bet is that there will be no play here today. And the umpires may even make a decision shortly after lunch. It’s the last day, so there is no extra time available. And this ground is going to take 2-3 hours to clear up when it eventually stops raining.
Umpires Bainton and Hartley have decided enough is enough and this match is done. Everyone happy with the points they have and everyone wants to go home. Thanks for all your company this match.
Update: hosing down.
Number of Seagull on the covers = 16
A very good morning to from Hove where we haven’t got any cricket. The sun broke out temporarily although there were no attempts to take the covers off because a further bank of rain has just arrived. The Yorkshire team are still in the hotel. The Sussex team are munching breakfast. I’m eating a Wagon Wheel and drinking tea. Further biscuit news as we get it
A watery welcome to the county blog. Elizabeth Ammon is at Hove and I am Taunton and we’re both keeping damp fingers crossed that we’re going to see some play today.
When I arrived at the County Ground at 10.30 this morning I saw half a dozen Worcestershire players leaving, which is never a good sign. But I can still see Sid and Doris Bonkers sitting in the Sir Ian Botham Stand. I’m going to walk round there with my umbrella to make sure that they’re real people.
The news here is that it’s been raining most of the morning, and it’s still coming down. The forecast is that it might be clearing up a little in mid-afternoon. On Sunday play got under way at 3.30 and with a bit of luck it might be the same scenario today. But there won’t be much before then.
The good news is that we’re still in the first innings of the match, so both sides are anxious to play to win some bonus points. Worcestershire are 172 for four in replay to Somerset’s 565 for five declared. But we’ve had only 41 bowled, so we have plenty of room for more point scoring.
The bonus points have finished at Hove, of course, where Sussex are 493 for seven in replay to Yorkshire’s 494.
Elsewhere in the first division Durham, with five wickets left, need another 174 to beat Middlesex. And at Trent Bridge Warwickshire, who have all their second innings wickets intact, require another 298 to avoid an innings defeat by Notts.
Morning all,
Today we have Lizzy Ammon at Sussex v Yorkshire and Paul Weaver at Somerset v Worcestershire. Paul will be along soon with a preamble but, in the meantime, here are their reports from yesterday:
