Middlesex v Somerset (18 May - 21 May 2023)

[Jonathan Winsky]

I imagine that both teams will enter this match thinking that a win would enable them to pull clear of some of the teams towards the bottom of the table, and that a defeat would do no favours to their fears of relegation.

This will be a clash of styles, as Middlesex appear to barely do draws or batting points, whereas Somerset have drawn four of their five matches and their tally of 10 batting points can only be bettered in division one by Warwickshire’s 11.

Although the weather forecast is uncertain for Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, it is looking good for the rest of the match, so that will increase the chances of result.

Our squad for this match (https://www.middlesexccc.com/news/2023/05/middlesex-v-somerset-squad-match-preview) consists of everyone who played v Surrey at The Oval plus Martin Andersson, Tom Helm and Robbie White. The only injury concern I had for this match was Pieter Malan, but he is named in our squad, whereas it is uncertain whether Ryan Higgins - while also in our squad - will play. Although Malan’s 66 at The Oval meant that he made one of our few decent batting contributions in that match, I wasn’t actually too worried about the thought that he may not play in this match, especially as it would be likely to hand an opportunity to White, whereas I would certainly be worried if we cannot call upon Higgo.

Somerset have named a 13-man squad for this match (https://somersetcountycc.co.uk/news/first-xi/county-championship-preview-middlesex-v-somerset/) consisting of Tom Abell, Kasey Aldridge, George Bartlett, Steve Davies, Lewis Goldsworthy, Lewis Gregory, Matt Henry, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Lammonby, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, James Rew and Peter Siddle.

With this being our final Championship match until 25th June (although Somerset have a match in the round beginning 11th June), that should reduce the likelihood of either team resting players, especially those players who are expected to play little or no role in the T20 Blast or England’s international summer.

Now that the season has ended for Watford FC’s men’s side and now that my mum has returned home, I should be able to attend both days at the weekend if the match is still going on.

[Jonathan Winsky]

Today appears not to have been the greatest of days for Middlesex, with the biggest positive from my point of view being that the lack of wickets today suggest that this match will run into much of the weekend. Hopefully Somerset’s penchant for gaining batting points both before and during this match will prove to be contagious, as more batting difficulties on our part would compromise my hopes of having lots of cricket to attend at the weekend.

Our first aim for tomorrow will be to take three wickets in the first 14 overs of the day to maintain our record of having achieved maximum bowling points in each match this season.

[adelaide]

Today appears not to have been the greatest of days for Middlesex, with the biggest positive from my point of view being that the lack of wickets today suggest that this match will run into much of the weekend. Hopefully Somerset’s penchant for gaining batting points both before and during this match will prove to be contagious, as more batting difficulties on our part would compromise my hopes of having lots of cricket to attend at the weekend.

Our first aim for tomorrow will be to take three wickets in the first 14 overs of the day to maintain our record of having achieved maximum bowling points in each match this season.

Too depressing to post except about how depressing it is.

[John Assirati]

Too depressing to post except about how depressing it is.

Only Northants seem weaker. It looks like a fight between Middlesex and Kent to avoid the other relegation spot. I hope I'm wrong.

[Paul W]

I reckon Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby know more about how to build a successful partnership than our batters....

Actually, we are doing better second tome around.

As Kevin Hand would say- 'If Middlesex can just get a lead of 150-180, who knows what might happen'.

[Jonathan Winsky]

I would like to write that I was surprised that Middlesex found the requirement to reach 255 to avoid the follow-on (not to mention earn a rare batting point) too much, but on current form, it wasn’t really a surprise that we fell short.

What did surprise me was that Somerset chose to enforce the follow-on, as there were still just under seven sessions remaining at the point when our first innings ended, with no rain forecast in the remaining time. I assumed that John Simpson and Toby Roland-Jones eighth-wicket partnership which yielded 54 runs in 16 overs would have given Somerset second thoughts about enforcing the follow-on, especially as it ended Somerset’s hopes of bowling us out inside 40 overs. I would like to think that I am not simply clutching at straws in believing that Simmo and TRJ’s partnership will have made some difference in how much energy Somerset’s bowlers have during the remainder of the match.

What Somerset can claim to have achieved is that they have disrupted the plan we had when we won the toss and decided to bowl, as we presumably envisioned ourselves batting in the fourth innings, which we obviously can no longer do.

To return to what I wrote about the energy levels of Somerset’s bowlers, hopefully the longer we can keep them in the field, the better our chances of fighting back in this match. They have now spent the last 76 overs of this match in the field, and currently neither the new ball (56 overs away) or the end of our innings (nine wickets away) are in sight, although admittedly some early wickets tomorrow would make the end of our innings seem more imminent than it presently seems.

We beat Northamptonshire at Wantage Road after following-on in 2018 (https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-div-two-2018-1127614/northamptonshire-vs-middlesex-1127713/full-scorecard) with a line-up containing six players from this match, so that will give us hope.

Seeing Northants struggle this season (sometimes scoring around 150, and sometimes not even passing 100) is bittersweet. Obviously, it is good news for our hopes of there being at least two teams who will finish below us in the table. However, it makes it all the more disappointing that our visit to Wantage Road in 2023 did not go the way of our 2018 visit, with that disappointment coming from both the point of view of psychologically (to lose to a struggling side is not good for confidence) and the point of view of the swing of points. Depending on how the match goes, it may or not be a good thing that we will face Northants again at Merchant Taylors’ School in July. We will have to see how the coming months go, but potentially a defeat in that match could mean that two defeats to Northants play as big a role in us being relegated as our two wins v Glamorgan in 2022 played in us going up and Glamorgan not. On a more positive note, a win would make us roughly level with Northants on points gained across the two meetings depending on bonus points gained.

[Paul W]

JW-

I agree with you that asking a side to follow on can sometimes let them back in to the game.

Somerset could have batted and got their lead up to an impossible to chase (for us) of 450, with a over a day and a half to bowl us out.

We still need around another 300 to get a lead of 150, which still won't be enough, but at least we are batting against a team that has already bowled for 76 overs (first and second innings combined).

Fingers crossed for when it is Robbie White's turn to bat. All the rain means he has had just one innings in the second XI (dismissed for single figures) and a couple of innings for Ealing. I'm not sure if 59 not out for Ealing against Finchley last weekend is really adequate preparation for facing Overton and Siddle sensing blood, but it's all he's had.

I must admit I'm also in hoping Northants and Kent lose each match mode- even to the extent of praying for a Surrey win against Kent.

[Paul W]

Guess what?

It looks like we have a one point deduction- presumably for a slow over rate.

So, after 6 matches we have 50 points.

Only good news is Kent and Northants were also thrashed, so after 6 games Kent have 43 points, and Northants 38.

[Jonathan Winsky]

I often find myself choosing to spend a Saturday or bank holiday watching Watford FC when I could have instead spent the day (or the whole day if it is possible to do both) watching Middlesex, and it often feels like Watford let me down while Middlesex do better. However, today it was the opposite considering Middlesex lost to Somerset, while Watford’s women’s side gained promotion to the second tier in a play-off match v Nottingham Forest in Milton Keynes which I could have attended or alternatively watched on iPlayer. Most of the occasions when I have enjoyed myself at sporting events in the last 12 months have come in women’s sport, so maybe I should quit attending men’s sport!

I began the day confident that we could make Somerset bat again, albeit less confident that we could give ourselves anywhere near enough runs to defend. However, when we lost five wickets in 16 overs, it became clear that the match wouldn’t last a great deal longer. In the end, it looked like success would have been getting into the lead and forcing Somerset to seek a second new ball, but we could not do either.

I had no idea what our over rate was. If we ended Somerset’s first innings with the belief that we could sort out our over rate in their second innings, then the fact that we have been deducted a point means that it has proven costly that there was no second innings as a result of us being made to follow-on and then losing by an innings. I wasn’t sure how desperate we were to make Somerset bat again, as it would have surely done little more than delay the inevitable Somerset win, even if we could have potentially taken a wicket or two. Similarly to what Toby Roland-Jones seemed to actually do, I was hopeful that our lower order could play some attacking shots, as that would have either given us some enjoyment and runs on the board, or it would have meant that we at least went down fighting. As Ryan Higgins and Tim Murtagh declined a single a ball or two before Higgo was out (the partnership only lasted three balls, so it shouldn’t be difficult to pinpoint this moment), the thought occurred to me that there must be a very good reason why we seemed keen to ensure that Somerset would bat again, and now it is clear why. However, it was our bowling rather than our batting which should really be blamed for a slow over rate.

Somerset appeared to have no problems with their over rate, finishing on +3 despite Jack Leach not doing much more bowling than Luke Hollman and Sam Robson.

Despite it only being May, it looks like I and many other supporters around the country who can only attend at weekends and bank holidays have little further County Championship cricket to attend during the remainder of the season. The wins for Surrey and Hampshire are good news for us, but less so for those who hoped to attend their matches tomorrow.

[James Mitchell]

That's an excellent review Jonathan. It's been a beautiful late Spring day and it's a shame that there wasn't a bit more entertaining cricket for the supporters at Lord's to enjoy. As a Surrey member, I was delighted by the comprehensive win at the Oval - but again not much play for the fans today and I am glad I chose to go to Craven Cottage to watch my team (Palace) instead.

[Paul W]

The batting averages do not make pretty reading!-

https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/tournament/averages-batting-bowling-by-team/county-championship-division-one-2023-15156?team=1241

[Peter H]

The batting averages do not make pretty reading!-

https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/tournament/averages-batting-bowling-by-team/county-championship-division-one-2023-15156?team=1241

They certainly do not.

We are getting a few larger scores than we did in April: Stoneman's 60 today, Robson's 76 and Malan's 66 against Surrey, for example. I noticed today that our top three scored 106 runs between them (avg = 35-ish), the next 3 scored 17 runs between them (avg 6-ish) and the next three scored 86 between them (avg 28-ish). As it happens, that is not the usual trend as it has been our middle order who have usually come to the rescue as evidenced by Higgins and Simpson being top three in the averages.

What is worrying about our batting averages this season is that we have managed 20 ducks in 121 innings - a rate of 17% or 1 in 6. Exclude the not-outs (which I presume aren't included in ducks) and that is 20 ducks in 107 innings - a rate of 19% or almost 1 in 5. We're not going to get many more batting points if we cannot form partnerships that put scores together.

I was disappointed with TRJ's post-match interview which seemed to concentrate on emotional responses (eg disappointment, rest, focus, motivation) and less so on technical analysis. I'd like to think the batters have spent time with a bowling machine and camera so that they can analyse their mechanics to see if they can refine their batting technique. That seven of today's wickets were either Bowled or LBW made me wonder why we were finding it difficult to protect the stumps. it's not as if a wonder-ball was finding the edge and going to slips. We have very good batters in our team but they are not performing to their expected standard

We used to say that a break was as good as a rest, but Sports Science has progressed so far in the past ten years that elite professional athletes don't need a break from competition, they simply need to refine their training to improve their performance. Middlesex has not demonstrated that that has been happening in its batting department so far this season.

[Peter H]

A bloke near me took a phone call and said the word "atrocious" four times. There was a pause when he answered and then he said: "It's atrocious, absolutely atrocious". There was a pause as he listened, then he replied by saying "The batting is atrocious", followed by a quick run down of the wickets, a small pause and then "It's just atrocious".

It's rare for cricket supporters not to find a positive, however I think he was at the end of his tether. I didn't think it was quite that bad, however I have to wonder what other conclusion can you draw when your team loses at home by an innings, by tea on Day 3. Goodness knows what he will think when Surrey come to Lord's.

But maybe we will be better by then... ;)