County cricket day three: Essex v Surrey, Somerset’s Banton out for 371 – live
Key events
Wicket at Taunton! Overton finds a peach that swings in and bounces, catching Roderick on the back pad. The way he looks around, he knows he’s toast, and sure enough up goes the finger. Warwicks are now 16-1.
Zak Crawley, by the way, managed 1 and 31 in that match; I know we’re told he’s not in the England squad to be consistent, and maybe there’s a touch of the Michael Vaughans about him – he’s built for Tests, discount everything else – but still.
Kent beat Northants by 145 runs
It’s all over at Wantage Road, where Kent have won; George Bartlett was left high and dry on 60 not out, with Keith Dudgeon taking a monumental 7-36.
Back at Taunton, Somerset are trying to put the squeeze on Worcestershire, who are 11-0 responding to that 670-7d. Craig Overton and Josh Davey are kicking up heat, but Gareth Roderick, 5 not out, and Jake Libby, 3 not out, are hanging in there.
At Taunton, chat in commentary is that when someone scores a triple-ton, the most likely result is a draw, which I guess raises a question: should you, sometimes, put the individual landmark ahead of the team? Mike Atherton once declared with Hick on 98 not out…
It cut no ice with the too-tough Yorkshireman. He publicly humiliated Hick on more than one occasion. It got to him, no question. As did the moment at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the awful 1994-95 tour when Atherton called him in on 98.
It was the most miserable of times for England. One banner said it all: ‘If the Poms bat first, tell the taxi to wait.’ Morale was low, getting lower – and Atherton’s declaration, although not without merit in cricketing terms, did not help.
To this day, it rankles with Hick and remains an embarrassment for Atherton.
Keith Fletcher, the then England coach, recalls in his autobiography: ‘Hick should have been given more specific instructions and not scratched around as he did, but he was too sensitive over the whole issue. Atherton didn’t consult me over his declaration, which I was somewhat peeved about, but Hick hardly spoke to me for a month. He thought I was party to this decision and I never disabused him because I felt I had to stand by the captain’s declaration.’
The former Somerset player Peter Roebuck wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘England’s declaration seemed about right. Slow in the morning, they hurried impressively after lunch. That Hick fell short of his third Test century is neither here nor there. It is a team game, and England had batted long enough. Hick had his chance, and failed to score from his last three balls.’
Hick, who had batted for nearly four-and-half hours, sees it this way: ‘To say I was disappointed would be putting it very politely. It created a bad atmosphere in the dressing room. It went very quiet. And even when we took the field, it was very flat. Athers has said since maybe it wasn’t the right decision. We spoke about it that evening. I wasn’t happy. I’ve got a lot of respect for Athers, though, and it’s no big deal now. We’ve talked about it since.
‘However, if I was in his position, I’d let the chap get his hundred. We didn’t have a lot to cheer about at the time and I think a player scoring a hundred would have given us something to feel good about, a bit of a lift. We had dominated the Test and could have won it.’
At Chelmsford, Rory Burns is 73 not out and Jamie Smith has 17, as Surrey fight back against Essex; Ollie Pope was out earlier today for 45
It really is impossible to bat in England at this time of the year, etc etc, your dibbly-dobbling Ian Austins and Mark Ealhams of this world are just lethal.
OK, we’ve been focused at Taunton for a while, so let’s have a look around the grounds:
Surrey, 136-2, trail Essex, 583-6d, by 466 runs.
Warwickshire, 243-4, trail Sussex, 528, by 281 runs.
Nottinghamshire, 318-5, trail Durham, 378, by 60 runs.
Yorkshire, 121 and 216-6, lead Hampshire, 249, by 87 runs.
Gloucestershire, 222 and 140-4, trail Derbyshire, 391, by 29 runs.
Middlesex, 260 and 6-1, trail Lancashire la la la, 359, by 93 runs.
Glamorgan, 229 and 10-0, trail Leicestershire, 427, by 188 runs.
Ahahahaha I love this game! Worcestershire come out to bat and Banton has all the gear to go and field at short-leg.
Banton’s 371 is the 21st-highest individual score ever – he slots in just below Mahela Jayawardene’s 374 for Sri Lanka v South Africa in 2006 and just above Don Bradman’s 369 for South Australia v Tasmania in 1936. The list, without him yet entered, is here,
I’m not going to say I’m disappointed, but I’ve definitely scored more than that in both garden and corridor. My sense is Banton was given the hurry-up by Gregory because he played at pretty much everything this morning, but it’s been a decent enough start to the season. And how nice to see the fielders congratulate him as he departed, before raising his bat one last time snd surveying a scene he’ll remember forever. Three hundred and seventy-one; you’d take it.
Tom Banton is out for 371!
He has one swipe too many, edges, and is caught behind. That’s the end of a mind-boggling and potentially career-revitalising knock; well batted, young man, well batted. Somerset declare on 670-7.
So what should Lewis Gregory, Somerset captain and 35 not out, do here? Er, nothing, because….
And of course, this was also a decent little knock.
Oh dear. It’s not going well for Worcestershire, I’m afraid. First, Gregory slogs to long-off and is dropped – they run one – then Banton reverses four to deep backward point. He’s not just taking liberties, he’s taking absolute liberties, 362 not out, and, as I type, he smites six down the ground. I’m old enough, I’m afraid, to remember Harvey Fairbrother’s 366 for Lancashire v Surrey in 1990, also to remember Graeme Hick’s 405 not out – in this fixture but for Worcs – in 1988 – but the way Banton’s going, he wants a shy at Brian Lara’s 501 not out for Warwickshire v Durham in 1994. We’re up to 371 now.
Banton takes a single to mid off, raising his 350, and then looks for bigger shots, caning off the toes to square-leg and almost destroying the fielder’s shin in the process, then miscueing as he comes down the track; they run two more, then an uppish cover-swipe adds one more, taking him to 357.
Oh man, Vic Marks’ voice. It’s summer, mates!
Hello there, Jim’s had to take a short breather at fine leg, so this is Daniel Harris stepping in in the meantime. Come on Tom!
Scores On The Doors
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 582-6 v Surrey 109-1
Southampton: Hampshire 249 v Yorkshire 121 and 189-6
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 297-5 v Durham 378
Taunton: Somerset 637-6 v Worcestershire 154
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 223-3 v Sussex 528
DIVISION TWO
The County Ground: Derbyshire 391 v Gloucestershire 222 and 128-3
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 229 v Leicestershire 426-8
Lord’s: Middlesex 260 v Lancashire 353-9
Wantage Road: Northamptonshire 143 and 107-7 v Kent 231 and 171
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to day three of the first round of the County Championship. Tanya is indisposed today so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me BUT do not slam your laptops shut and fling your phone into the nearest tributary just yet – we’ll have some fun and follow proceedings together, above the line, below the line, play straight down the line and maybe even flick away off the pads with aplomb.
The sun is shining and the runs are flowing around the shires, particularly in Taunton where Tom Banton continues his career renaissance. Here’s the aforementioned Aldred’s round up of a remarkable day yesterday:
Banton makes history with 344
Be gone Harold Gimblett, Viv Richards, Justin Langer – there is a new man in town. Tom Banton’s astonishing 344 not out against Worcestershire eclipsed them all, the highest score by a Somerset player – and marks the revival of a blazing young gun, whose star had dimmed but is now aflame.
It was also an innings that will have gladdened the hearts of the England selectors, with Banton said to be in their thoughts for Tests this year as they look to build a small pool who play across all formats. It wasn’t all cider and sausages, at 39 for three on Friday afternoon, concentration had been crucial. But by the penultimate ball yesterday, Langer’s 342 in sight, Banton threw caution to the wind and flat-packed a boundary to rapturous applause and handshakes all round.
“It’s a weird feeling,” he said, “and I was a bit emotional up there in the dressing room. This is the best day I’ve had in cricket and will probably be the best day I’ll ever have.
“These days don’t come along very often and you have to make the most of them. I won’t lie, I was pretty tired out there and I kept saying to myself: ‘Just keep batting, keep going’. There were a few moments when I felt I wanted to be back in the dressing room, but I wanted to go for it [the record] tonight, so I tried to play my shots when possible.”
If he was dropped in the 300s by a tiring Worcestershire, it was an aberration – this was a innings of power but also finesse. He didn’t hit a six until he had passed 200 – quite a display of discipline for a man who has graced the Big Bash, the Indian Premier League and the Pakistan Super League. He is also now the joint owner of the earliest triple in Championship history, sharing the record notched up by Sam Northeast on 5 April last year.
Banton’s partner in a record fifth-wicket stand of 371 was James Rew – whose second season last year was a more crunchy experience than the first. But his 152 was gloriously heady – and his and Banton’s efforts left Somerset fans walking away from the ground in disbelief, the scoreboard reading 637 for six.
There were runs galore at Chelmsford, where Essex’s centurions Matt Critchley and Michael Pepper tucked into Surrey – Dan Lawrence whisking down 35.2 overs against a club where he barely bowled. After the excitement of Sam Cook pinning Dom Sibley leg before in his second over, and having Ollie Pope dropped on 10, Surrey then dropped anchor, with Pope and Rory Burns adding 101 on a gentle pitch. Simon Harmer toiled away, but in sunglasses, not his customary April snood.
Edgbaston also proved rich pickings, John Simpson’s 181 helping Sussex to 528. Rob Yates’s unbeaten 113 led Warwickshire’s reply. A misbehaving sprinkler system delayed play at Trent Bridge, where Australian Fergus O’Neill duly collected his fifth wicket, on debut. Durham then picked away at Nottinghamshire’s lineup.
Jonny Bairstow made an exuberant 56 against Hampshire, the new Yorkshire captain dropped three times before he passed 20, and eventually dismissed by Sonny Baker for the second time in the match. The lead is 61, but with just four second-innings wickets left.
In Division Two, Marcus Harris made a hundred on debut for Lancashire against Middlesex at Lord’s, proving an excellent prop for the flaky middle order. Twenty wickets fell at Wantage Road, where the writing is on the wall for Northamptonshire against Kent; Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen collected his 40th first-class century, against Gloucestershire, and Leicestershire captain’s old and new, Lewis Hill and Peter Handscomb, made hay against Glamorgan.
