All was tranquillity at the County Ground. No ECB presence was discernible to spy on the visiting Kiwi players (the main ones are still at the IPL). And there is no one down here who is likely to be on the shortlist to help shunt England towards a brave new world.
No one was sacked. But there has been some diverting cricket, which will have been a source of satisfaction for the tourists. Their one regret may be that Somerset’s batting has been so fragile that it has not allowed their bowlers enough of a workout.
Set 344 for victory, Somerset slumped to 142 for six at the close on Sunday. So they are on the brink of their fourth consecutive defeat of the summer.
But for James Hildreth, the one in-form batsman playing this match (Marcus Trescothick is the other one at the club but he is taking a break), the game would already be over. Batting has seldom been easy in this match but it has not been as difficult as some of the home batsmen have suggested.
Apart from the brevity of Somerset’s batting the only misgiving for the tourists may be that the main contributors to their imminent victory are not members of their official touring party.
On Saturday Ben Wheeler, a 23-year-old left-armer from Blenheim in the South Island, seized the initiative. Swinging the ball devilishly late he captured four wickets in his opening burst.
Even Trent Boult, the latest Kiwi spearhead, would have been impressed by that spell. On Sunday a willowy left-handed batsman, Mitchell Santner (there have never been so many gifted Mitchells in the game) hit an impressive 94.
The youngsters have outstripped the bigger names in the tour party. This hints at an impressive depth to cricket in New Zealand.
Thanks to Santner, another busy innings from BJ Watling and a beefy contribution from Doug Bracewell, the tourists added 161 with their remaining seven wickets. The Somerset bowlers swung the ball and bowled with more control than has been the case recently with Tim Groenewald finishing with five for 65.
Then Somerset’s current batting fragility was exposed again. Only Tom Abell and Hildreth hinted at permanence.
Johann Myburgh suffered an identical dismissal to the first innings, lbw to a swinger from Wheeler. Both Tom Cooper and Jim Allenby are struggling to acclimatise to Taunton and both failed again, the latter falling for four to leave the score on 108 for four.
Unusually there was no magic from the stand-in captain, Peter Trego, but Hildreth stood firm until the close with Josh D avey in support.
