Read Vic Marks's report from Lord's
Play abandoned for the day Somerset 119-4 (Davies 13, Byrom 51)
That’s it, but we’ll be back tomorrow bright and early. Essex’s day but never underestimate the Somerset tail. All hail Eddie Byrom, strokeplay and steadiness in his first fifty of the season, and Sam Cook who was whippy, clever and largely pin-point. Thanks for all the emails and commments, good evening!
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The covers return. Somerset 119-4 (Davies 13, Byrom 51)
The Essex fielders loiter on the grass, but to no avail. The ground staff secure the hover cover over the pitch and that looks as if it could be that for the day
Fifty for Eddie Byrom!
And with his ninth four, beautifully timed down the ground, almost screaming, off Cook, Byrom reaches his fifty.
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43 overs: Somerset 114-4 (Davies 13, Byrom 46) Byrom plugging towards his fifty; while Davies edges through the slips for a handy four.
They’re back on, which had passed me by as I’d tuned into sports xtra which has gone into its manic repetitive mode.
Hmmm. Michael Gove might have liked to check with Canterbury and Hove before installing an internal border around Kent.
This going to be a real problem for county cricket at Tunbridge Wells' Nevill Ground, given that the Kent-Sussex border runs across the outfield. Zak Crawley running to prevent a boundary will have to stop for a permit check before diving towards the rope. https://t.co/Qel2wQTzaE
— Stewart Wood (@StewartWood) September 23, 2020
Restart time 5.05pm
If there is no more rain...
Ravi Bopara earning his money on Radio 5Live Sports Xtra...poor guy probably only signed up for a little bit of expert summarising.
Reports are that it is unrelentingly spitting. Time for a cup of tea. Still, and selfishly, at least this means there will still be a game on by the time I get to Lord’s tomorrow lunchtime.
This, continues, Gary Naylor, is what a sports tournament needs
“Competition
Narrative
History
Exposure
Stars
Venues
Stakes
Clarity
Cohesion
Unpredictability
Fairness
Spectacle.
The (divisional) County Championship ticks all those boxes (to a lesser or greater extent); The Bob On Stilts doesn’t.”
I’m not sure the chasm between the two is so vast. The only things the Super Bob would lack is history and clarity. And fairness to be fair (if you take Rod’s view that the Championship “leader” shouldn’t have to play off again for the crown)
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This is all getting a bit surreal.
Hi @tjaldred. I'm watching via the ECB's website on the assumption that they can't ignore those numbers.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) September 23, 2020
Not that it matters much. Nobody consigns The Laughing Cavalier to the cellar because it's a bit tricky to get to Manchester Square (and the best tearoom in London) just now
For the first time in CCLive! history, the love overfloweth for Rod Bransgrove, both BTL and in my inbox
Alan Tuffery writes from Dublin. “I agree with Rod Bransgrove’s argument. I think it is absurd to have a league competition demanding one set of skills and then have a final which is a cup match demanding a different set of skills.”
I suffer from brain fade when it comes to conference systems - the BWT trophy is nice and clear but as soon as you get to the so-called super September proposed and the rejigging of the conferences, the complications required are something of a turn off. The beauty of two divisions is in its simplicity but, having said that, there is something pleasing about each county starting the year with a chance of the Championship, at least in theory. And I like the idea of players not feeling the need to move to the big clubs for first-division cricket (ahem, Notts.)
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Tea will be taken at 3.40
40.5 overs: Somerset 107-4 ( Davies 7, Byrom 45)
A counter-intuitive email from Rod Bransgrove to other county chairs has emerged, seen by cricinfo’s George Dobell. It turns out the big boots money-man is a huge fan of the two division Championship.
“The County Championship is a truly great competition and we are constantly being told that it is the competition that players most want to win,” Bransgrove wrote. “And why not? It is an endurance marathon comprising 14 matches and covering up to 56 days each of six hours or so.
“The competition is designed to iron out the huge anomalies that exist in this amazing game; the toss, overhead conditions, bad light, pitch conditions, weather interruptions, form, fitness, injury, official’s decisions, England call-ups, Lions call-ups. Any single one, or any combination, of these issues can conspire to impact hugely on the outcome of a one-off match but, over a symmetrical programme of 7 home and 7 away matches, these issues tend to balance out and the Champion is always the best team in the Competition.
“Why on Earth would anyone want to then force such a Champion to play a one-off, ‘winner takes all’ fixture against the top losing team with all the vagaries mentioned above? There is a reason that Test Matches are played in series!”
Rod Bransgrove warns against 'knee-jerk' reforms to County Championship structure https://t.co/C2t9Slyeis
— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) September 22, 2020
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Rain stops play
Alas, the hover cover is tugged into place, the two spotlights tall like guardsmen, bright-eyed either side of the pavilion, the sky full sludge pigeon.
40th over: Somerset 104-4 ( Davies 6, Byrom 43) Both batsmen enjoy surprise September bounty with juicy outside edges for four off Porter.
“Porters should be vigorous and hard-working, shouldn’t they?” types Nat Godden. “Nominative determinism and all that. Though it’s the other Cook who’s seriously into shearing, isn’t it?”
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38th over: Somerset 94-4 ( Davies 6, Byrom 43) Pressure begat scorelessness. Scorelessness begat wickets. Great post-lunch resumption by Essex and just four runs since the break.
A thoughtful read here on viewing figures - would like to see some numbers for the county streams this year, I’m told they are good.
About 6,000-10,000 watching Bob Willis Trophy Final on YouTube... pretty decent audience... poor figures for the men’s Championship match between Surrey and Essex in 2018 may have played a part in decision not to screen, plus building work at Nursery end https://t.co/y4kscnAVUc
— Huw Turbervill (@huwzat) September 23, 2020
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WICKET! Bartlett c Cook b Porter 12
Snaffled by Alastair Cook at first slip as Bartlett edgily drives at a good length ball from Porter.
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36th over: Somerset 94-3 ( Bartlett 12, Byrom 39) Everything about Porter is vigorous and hard working. His hair is shorn, his arms pump outwards, as if constantly elbowing his way through a crowd. Think an Essex Salvatore Schillaci. And from the other end Cook continues his excellence. Two more consecutive maidens. The pressure is on.
34th over: Somerset 94-3 ( Bartlett 12, Byrom 39) Essex regain the control lost during that rogue over from Beard just before lunch. A maiden from Porter is followed by one from Cook as Byrom watchfully prods him back up the pitch. All around the boundary edge groundstaff are perched on the edge of the covers, as if they might again be called into action at any moment.
32nd over: Somerset 94-3 ( Bartlett 12, Byrom 39) An all-seam post-lunch attack. Jamie Porter, tossing the ball from hand to hand, red soles to his shoes, starts up from the pavilion end. Bartlett squeezes him, edgily, through the slips for three. From the nursery end, it is Sam Cook, who has a vigorous appeal against Bartlett turned down.
Something to put this innings in context: all of Somerset’s bowler have a bowling average of under 20 this season, apart from Jack Leach - who, stuck in the England bubble, has only bowled eight overs.
It is grey, the lights are on, but play is about to resume...
New timings (weather permitting)
Restart 2.35pm Tea 4.10pm. Final session 4.30-6pm
Thirteen overs have been lost from the day.
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An interesting discussion on 5Live at the moment between Kevin Howells and Vic Marks on whether a conference structure would make it less likely that top players would look for more glamorous clubs in order to move on. The county coaches who Kevin spoke to thought it would mean players would be more likely to stay put; Kevin thinks it would make no difference - it is all about the money.
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Whoever wins on Sunday (or before) will be presented with a trophy designed by Bob Willis’ wife Lauren, who will be at the presentation alongside Ian Watmore the new ECB Chair. Both teams are also aiming to raise money for prostate cancer. For details of how to give, see below.
"I want Bob to have a legacy.” 💙
— Prostate Cancer UK (@ProstateUK) September 23, 2020
🏏 After the death of Bob Willis from prostate cancer in December 2019, Bob’s wife, Lauren Clark, is leading a fundraising charge, calling for better diagnostic tools for the disease
Read more here 👉 https://t.co/Cut1ONpQSd pic.twitter.com/AJUdEHD077
On the pitch, we go head-to-head with @SomersetCCC this week in the #BWTFinal. But off it we're uniting in support of @ProstateUK in the fight against the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK 🤝
— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) September 22, 2020
Find Out More ⤵️⤵️⤵️
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There will be a further inspection at 2.15.
An inspection is taking place and, on the radio, they’re hopeful of a resumption within the half hour.
Reports say that there is currently no rain, but more rain is expected. How very 2020. In the meantime, Tim de Lisle handed out some classy international awards in his latest Spin. Time for a domestic version. A starter for ten:
Evergreen of the year: Darren Stevens. Transfer of the year: Jake Libby. Wow- look-at-that-innings of the year: Tom Lammonby/Jordan Cox
While we wait, how about those Byrom boundaries in full?
𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓎 batting by @SomersetCCC's Eddie Byrom!
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 23, 2020
These three boundaries in an over take Somerset to 90-3 at 🥪… whose morning was it? #BWTFinal pic.twitter.com/EsH2MV3sfk
It wouldn’t be a County Blog without a cheerful note from Finbar Anslow. Here he is, lyrical as ever, on Somerset and much more:
“Hi Tanya, So here we are, finally in with a chance to win the Championship, at least in some form. I find myself reliving a painful moment.......................... memoirs of a Somerset fan...............when I was a boy I loved football but I loved it with a passion that hurt, which meant when my team won I was the happiest lad in the world but when it lost I was horribly depressed.
“Eventually I felt I had to make a decision and that was to abandon the team I loved because I couldn’t continue to live in that way. For some reason my other sport, cricket, didn’t have the same effect on me, maybe because my team tended to win less often and I had developed a kind of philosophical resignation to their results. Also the stress of a longer game somehow seems less intense; I’m not someone one who lives well with tension neither then nor now, recently having to watch four episodes in a row of Merlin because I was anxious for Guinevere.
“Living in Italy I’ve long been starved of live matches and then last week for the first time in nearly 30 years I was able to watch a cricket match on a live streaming from beginning to end. It was my beloved Somerset playing for a place in the quarterfinals of the vitality blast........ I had forgotten the anguish of the live match not even filtered by the obo commentary. Then suddenly back to ‘in the face ball, by ball, over by over’ ........ I watch the match swing first one way then another, it was excruciating, and then the unbelievable moment when the last ball was hit for 4 and we lost. I felt again that 12 year old boy’s anguish and the utter disbelief that we could have lost the game.
“The feeling was brutally bad and it didn’t go away for hours , even though a part of me me was saying why on earth do you care so much it’s not that important it’s just a game....... but another part of me was suffering. And then the miracle; unexpectedly came the thought that my team may have lost but that it had been a great game, cricket was the real winner and then I realised why I love the sport so much. Go for it Somerset. Win, lose or draw we will always love you.”
Rain has stopped play
The covers are still on but the rain has stopped, for now.
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Lunch
30th over: Somerset 90-3 ( Bartlett 8, Byrom 39) An over too far from Beard as Byrom knocks him for three lip-smackers, an off drive, a clip off his hip and a glide through extra-cover. Then a misfield gives him yet another boundary as Harmer drifts to0 far onto his toes. And that’s lunch! A more-than-tentative recovery there from Somerset in the last half hour. Time for me to stretch my legs, back in 40 minutes.
28th over: Somerset 71-3 ( Bartlett 6, Byrom 22) A hand san break moments before lunch. Hmmm. A deep breath by Somerset, Bartlett and Byrom have steadied what could easily have turned into a shipwreck. A glorious four by Byrom off Beard, then they even dredge three runs off Harmer, who has now leaked 6 from his five overs this morning.
26th over: Somerset 63-3 ( Bartlett 5, Byrom 15) Bartlett and Byrom cook up a brace of fours of Cook, neither of them entirely convincing. And Harmer rolls through another maiden.
A message through cyberspace from Nat Godden “Re 20th over – 4th slip! Is that a first for this summer? (this season, I should say).” My guess is that, with their attacks, Somerset and Essex are big fans of fourth slips
“BTW,” he continue, “hope you’ve now got bike puncture-repair under control. If only so you can teach the teenager. Life skills!”
We failed to mend the puncture but we did manage to take the rear wheel off and put a new inner tube in thanks to a suitcase of shiny tools from our neighbour. School missing a trick here - cricket nets and bicycle repairs for this term, a covid-secure delight.
24th over: Somerset 54-3 ( Bartlett 0, Byrom 11) Harmer, tall, stocky, in his dark glasses, darts through a maiden as Bartlett lives dangerously through an over from Cook.
22nd over: Somerset 53-3 ( Bartlett 0, Byrom 8) Just reward there for Cook who has bowled ten overs of his vigorous, testing, seamers. From here 200 seems like a suitable plain to aim for.
“With the camera from one end being at an angle to the wicket rather than behind,” types Andy Stuart, “it’s like watching old footage from years ago but in colour.”
Housekeeping: Harry Podmore has signed a three-year contract extension at Kent.
WICKET! Green b Cook 24
Squeaked through the gate as a gutted Green trudges off. Just reward for the excellent Sam Cook after switching to the pavilion end.
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20th over: Somerset 51-2 ( Green 24, Byrom 8). A drop! Dan Lawrence at fourth slip as Green flays uneasily and the ball falls low, through his hands and to the boundary. Cook deserved that wicket. And here comes Simon Harmer. A nervous outside edge to the first ball before Green plays out the rest of the over.
And a reminder from the commentators that this was Dom Bess’ last chance of a Somerset match before he joins Yorkshire. A real shame to see him go but completely understandable, how do you learn if you’re constantly on the sidelines? Wishing him all success.
Simon Harmer has the ball
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18th over: Somerset 46-2 ( Green 20, Byrom 7). I’m worried about Somerset - usually their tail rescues them from ignominy, but batting first in September, at Lord’s, against Essex? If Toby Rowland-Jones was a pitch, this would be it. More tight intensity from Cook and Beard.
That Wheater catch in all its glory.
The Run, Dive, Catch from Wheats! 🙌
— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) September 23, 2020
📺 https://t.co/2r6h1fW9XZ#BWTFinal https://t.co/icbixS5Ta5 pic.twitter.com/4YhpocYxXT
16th over: Somerset 40-2 ( Green 15, Byrom 0) Abell goes the ball after a dreamy cover drive off Beard. A real blow for Somerset as, though just a bairn himself, he is Somerset’s senior batsman in the absence of Hildreth.Out walks Eddie Byrom, averaging only 17 this summer, who started the season opening but has gradually dropped down the order. He gets off the mark to a friendly ball off the pads that he send to the rope.
A smashing piece by Nick Friend on the 30 players who have made first-class debuts this season, from Tom Lammonby to Thilan Walallawita.
A nudge for this piece as the Bob Willis Trophy final kicks off.
— Nick Friend (@NickFriend1) September 23, 2020
30 players have made first-class debuts this year, each with their own stories of rejection, resilience & fears of a lost summer.
Spoke to several of them about fulfilling lifelong dreams.https://t.co/0mgp2abaFC
WICKET! Abell c Wheater b Beard 19
A super catch! Abell gloves a ball from Beard high and to the legside where Wheater dives and grabs with one stretched out glove.
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14th over: Somerset 30-1 (Green 15, Abell 15) Proper creeket this, 30 runs int’ first hour at an overcast but empty Lord’s.
More raised eyebrows over a potential conference system, this time from Gary Naylor.
Rob Key waited 5 minutes before telling us that we need less four day cricket. Ten matches he wants, no doubt in April, May and September, saying it'll favour quality over quantity.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) September 23, 2020
There'll be so little quantity, some may barely play at all @tjaldred. Where's the quality then?
Excuse the self-promotion, but this sums up the current thinking about next year. What do you think?
12th over: Somerset 29-1 (Green 15, Abell 14) Not a page of newspaper between the two sides right now. Porter sends down another testing over before Aaron Beard replaces Sam Cook at the Nursery end, he’s got a Mark Owen bob and an alice band. Green - a fellow England U-19 - clips him off his hip for a boundary.
A thoughtful email from John Perry about the proposals to organise next year’s County Championship into three conferences. “As a member of Essex, I’m against this idea. What exactly is this current obsession with having to end the season with a final? (That of course is what the Gillette Cup used to provide). Either it’s a league or its not – a league / cup hybrid is unsatisfactory as there’s no guarantee that the best team actually wins (look at rugby union / league). And what happens if the final is ruined by bad weather (which of course is effectively what happened with last year’s finale between Somerset & Essex)? The Bob Willis trophy was a good idea as a one-off, to ensure that some meaningful first class cricket could be played in a truncated season, but it shouldn’t be used as a blueprint for a wholesale restructuring of the County Championship. No doubt it will though be approved for the same reason we were due to have ten teams in Division 1 this season – no team wants to be without a chance of winning the Championship.
“ I have a truly radical alternative – divide the 18 counties into two divisions of nine teams each and play each other on a home and away basis, with two up two down. Bearing in mind how early the season starts these days, and how late it finishes, I cannot believe that two additional first class games can’t be accommodated. Oh, and get rid of the ghastly sounding ‘100’ - an ersatz version of cricket devised for people who don’t like the game and have no interest in it anyway.
“There – rant over.”
10th over: Somerset 22-1 (Green 8, Abell 14) Some succour for Ben Green. A bundle of fours off Porter, a midwicket chit then an off drive that lifts off to skim across the outfield for four. Abell then plays through a maiden from Cook.
8th over: Somerset 12-1 (Green 3, Abell 9) Supreme though Cook and Porter are, you can’t help wondering when Harmer will make his first appearance. There - a big shout for lbw from Cook against Abell, he prances down the pitch in excitement, but the umpire is uninterested and Abell unbothered.
Cook at first slip has had a fresh trim, the back of his neck visibly shorn as he demonstrates a shot to the wicketkeeper Wheater.
Morning, Tanya writes Jota Jony:
“With this being the first [terrestrial] televised (well, kind of) red ball cricket of this year, does that mean this is the first day of summer?. Doesn’t feel like it up here ..”
I like to think there is some summer in its soul.
6th over: Somerset 11-1 (Green 2, Abell 9) I’m feeling good about Abell, he’s confident and crisp in his strokeplay. Don’t hate me. Not a big fan of maroon but it has its place on a cricket field. Somerset and West Indies - not a bad duo.
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4th over: Somerset 8-1 (Green 0, Abell 8) Let’s try every-other-over by overing. Two boundaries from Tom Abell to boost spirits- an outside edge then a glorious cut off Cook.
An email arrives from Paul Frame. “What’s this strange ground they are playing at today? As an Essex fan I can’t remember going to watch any championship cricket being played there in division one in 2018 or 2019?”
I can’t quite work out if this is tongue in cheek or not.... just in case not, Middlesex won the Championship for the first time since 1993 in 2016 but haven’t been in Division One since a terrible fall from grace in 2017.
2nd over: Somerset 0-1 (Abell 0, Green 0) I’m not really meaning to OBO this but rather a lot is happening. A disappointing five minutes for Lammonby who carried his bat against Worcestershire at New Road in the crucial last match of the group stages. Small consolation but my daughter, self isolating due to a Covid-case in her physics bubble, sees a resemblance to Leonardo DiCaprio.
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WICKET! Lammonby lbw Cook 0
Cook bustles down the slope and it hits Lammonby plonk on the pad. He hops away but it doesn’t fool the umpire. Much Essex delight, lots of elbow bumping and fist nudging.
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1st over: Somerset 0-0 (Lammonby 0, Green 0) A maiden from Porter to start proceedings. I didn’t have much luck with BBC coverage but the Sky youtube channel is working perfectly.
The players take the knee, for the first time at Lord’s this year. Jamie Porter has the ball and will bowl the first over from the pavilion end.
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As the bell rings in the Lord’s pavilion, Cath Hanley shares the feeling of many.
Gearing myself up for raised expectations followed by crushing disappointment, as ever. It's tough being a Somerset fan!
— Catherine Hanley (@CathHanley) September 23, 2020
Some statty proof of the supremacy of the two teams, if we couldn’t all feel it in our bones.
Today sees @EssexCricket take on @SomersetCCC in the #BWTFinal. It may be a new tournament, with a new format, but there's no question that these are the best two FC sides in England and Wales - no other teams have a better win percentage in the last four years. pic.twitter.com/KPKylgV9CT
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) September 23, 2020
Essex have won the toss and will field
The teams:
Somerset Ben Green, Tom Lammonby, Tom Abell (c), George Bartlett, Eddie Byrom, Steven Davies (wk), Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Josh Davey, Jack Leach, Jack Brooks
Essex: Browne, Cook, Westley (c), Lawrence, Walter, Ten Doeschate, Wheater (wk), Harmer, Beard, Cook, Porter.
A breathless Vic Marks has just sent me the latest update:
“No covers on the pitch...empty seats everywhere including in the skeleton of the new Compton and Edrich stands..It’s grey but everyone is out there doing their routines..looks as if we’re using one of the Test pitches..optimistic of prompt start but some rain forecast later. Unlike last year there’s a good chance of a result...Expect England’s off-spinner to be one of the twelfth men ..will know shortly.. goodness just seen a shadow...”
Yesterday we passed the autumn equinox, the days are shorter than the nights from here on in. Play will start at 10.30BST in order to catch the fading light. I’m just going to put the kettle on and grab a jumper, but do comment below the line(BTL) or send me an email at tanya.aldred.freelance@theguardian.com or tweet @tjaldred. Here is Vic’s match preview to set the scene:
Of course you can give work your full attention whilst keeping half an eye on the match. Tune into the stream via the BBC Sport website, BBC iplayer and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel. See links below:
More live cricket on the BBC!
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 23, 2020
We're bringing you full coverage of the Bob Willis Trophy final between Somerset and Essex
Watch: @BBCiPlayer or online
Listen: @bbctms on @5livesport Extra & local radio
More details: https://t.co/htjW6wqCVi#bbccricket pic.twitter.com/k5EEQ5V1tE
💥 Live YouTube action! 💥
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 22, 2020
Visit our channel from 10am on Wednesday for @SomersetCCC vs @EssexCricket in the #bwtfinal! 📱💻
Here @BenKosky1 picks out his six players to watch 👇#somvess
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Preamble
Good morning! Here we are - the Bob Willis Trophy Final - an event that didn’t exist three months ago but today promises the trombone root-a-toot to the season, a bugle of confetti in increasingly dark skies.
Essex and Somerset are at Lord’s for the first British “Championship” Final, a new experience on this isle but something that has been played since 1982 in Australia’s Sheffield Shield.
The two teams made their way here by finishing top of their respective regional groups and elbowing North Group winners Yorkshire out of the way by virtue of having notched up more points. It felt right - they are the best two red ball teams in the country. Essex drew with Somerset to win the Championship in the last game of last summer, as well as snatching it in 2017; Somerset, famously never the lace-clad bride, have been runners up six times this century, and for the last two years in a row.
Vic Marks is up and eating breakfast near Lord’s, and reports that it is “grey, damp but no windscreen wipers - guessing some play but not a full day.”
A neutral venue adds an element of jeopardy, in the words of Essex captain Tom Westley: “It’s been challenging for batsmen at both teams’ home grounds: they have produced a lot of results wickets at Taunton and we’ve had a lot of results wickets at Chelmsford. By all accounts the wicket at Lord’s is going to be one of the Test-match wickets so it should be a better wicket for batsmen.”
Somerset stormed through the group stages with four wins from five matches - the fifth win ruled out only by the rain. They are without Tom Banton (IPL), James Hildreth (hamstring) and Barbar Azam (back in Pakistan) but have a pocketful of promising young batsmen - Tom Lammonby’s innings against Worcestershire drew particularly warm praise. But Essex have the better record in recent years, since 2016 they have won three of six meetings in Division One, losing just once. And then there is Simon Harmer.
In the event of a drawn final there will be one tie-breaker option: the county which leads on first innings will be the winner, as long as there were two fully-completed first innings. In any other circumstance a drawn or tied final will see the trophy shared by the finalists.
Put the coffee on my friends, one last, glorious, hurrah.
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