1st Double Header Men's Vitality Blast Somerset v Surrey
By Grockle
May 30 2025
The first T20 game of the season and it looks like it will be a debut for the younger Rew brother as Will Smeed seems to be carrying some kind of injury. But that does not seem to be the case as Will is included in the side and the 17 year old makes his professional debut in front of a sellout crowd. Somerset won the toss and will bowl first leaving Pretorius, Lammonby and Davey out.
Vitality Blast Game 1 v Surrey @Taunton Friday 30 May 2025
As the white ball competition gets underway we have some team equations that may make for interesting reading.
Rumours at the moment are that Will Smeed is unable to play in this game so it may be a proper professional debut for Thomas Rew today. Tom Banton has also been released from the England squad and is expected to play tonight so no idea which one will keep. Riley Meredith is in the West country so he is available for this one but all three overseas players have been named in the squad. The only slow bowler announced in the squad is Lewis Goldsworthy so if they need ne he'll be in the side. It's all quite interesting given a number of expected players were used in the seconds game yesterday probably because they were not expected today and with James Rew unavailable and Sean Dickson still injured it will be an intriguing eleven.
Somerset have won the toss and they have decided to bowl first and Thomas Rew is in for his first game!! It is not because of a Smeed niggle though because Will is playing;
The side is;
Banton, Smeed, TKC, Abell, Gregory, Green, Rew, Goldsworthy, Overton, Henry, Meredith
Pretorius, Lammonby and Davey miss out, the second of those is a surprise given the obvious confidence building innnings Tom had in Durham where he was looking back to his 2020 form to many viewers. The reason for the younger Rew's inclusion becomes even more interesting as it does not seem to have been forced on the side.
Lewis is looking to give his bowlers their heads early and see what they can do and Somerset like chasing. Tom Banton has the gloves on as Craig opens from the MT bowling to Dom Sibley and again we have this weird situation where the umpires are in the same colour tops as the fielding side. The other end is given to Matt Henry to start proceedings he rushes Sibley with his second delivery and the Surrey man pops the ball lamely into the hands of.... Craig Overton. Start as you mean to go on. Surrey are 3 for 1. Henry is getting zip and bounce He may be quite a handful on this. Jason Roy has joined Ollie Pope in the middle. Craig gives Roy a torrid maiden as he tries to get into his batting stride. He manages to change ends and then Matt Henry also has him wafting outside off. It's a good start but you want to see them turn this into wickets while these two are not in.
At the end of the 4th Surrey move to double figures (10 for 1) after 11 dot balls. However, Roy is not a manto allow himself to be kept out of the game and after frustratingly slapping a four to the CA scoreboard, he deposites COve way over the Trade Nation stand with a beautifully picked up six. In two blows he doubles his side's score while he takes 14 off the over to move the score to 24 for 1 after 5.
Ollie Pope is still trying to get his length to the Kiwi and after a huge bottom edge saves him he flaps at the enxt one and becomes Henry's second caught by Goldsworthy for 5 at 28 for 2. He never looked comfortable. This brings in Sam Curran the Surrey captain.
At the end of the "Powerplay" 6 overs Surrey are 30 for 2 and another question is answered as the Somerset skipper brings himself on to bowl. So he will bowl. Now one wonders how many he'll give himself? He produces an excellent first over and then we see another change as Riley Meredith starts his 2025 Somerset role from the River end. To start with he is bowling too short and he gets punished by Curran and Roy
Gregory returns from the River for the 10th and he then bowls Craig out in the 11th as Roy moves towards a 50. It is 75 for 2 as the 12th from Riley starts. The present partnership is 47 and Roy then puts him onto the balcony to go to 50 from 31 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. If you let him get in you pay for the priviledge I'm afraid. It also moves the partnership past the 50 mark off 35 balls. Surrey are starting to motor.
Overton finished with 0 for 26 from his 4 and now Ben Green is on for his secnd from the MT. He gets a wicket with the first ball courtesy of Thomas Rew at deep midwicket 85 for 3 as Evans strides out to join Roy. Somerset then turn to the spin of Lewis Goldsworthy at 89 for 3. His first ball disappears into the crowd from Roy. He comes back well and holds them under 100 at the end of the 14th. Gregory comes back at the MT and Roy puts another into the car park to move the score to 104. He top edges the next one and is caught but it is called a no ball (overstepped) so he survives. The next is a free hit and the skiper makes it a dot. The one after that redresses the balance as Evans is caught by Overton from the skipper which brings in 'Mr Popular' Tom Curran
At 15 overs it is 110 for 4 as Ben Green goes to the River end for his next. He goes for 5. Matt Henry changes ends as well and comes in from the MT. Tom Curran flashes hard to the Somerset stand boundary. His second one he sends straight and is caught by...Overton for 9 at 119 for 5. In comes Sykes and the 17th finishes with a score of 124 and Henry finishes with 3 for 21.
Meredith returns at the River for the 18th and has Sykes for 2 at 125 for 6 caught by Tom Abell. In comes Chris Jordan and squirts his first for four off a bottom edge but he gets little more and we go into Green's last the first of which goes one handed into the Ondaatje from the bat of Roy. He tries for the yorker but bowls a full toss which Roy connects with well into the Caddyshack to take him into the 90s. That last ball to Jordan is another catch for Cove at 144 for 7. In comes Smith to face the last over from Meredith. Roy needs 8 for a team saving hundred. Surrey need 6 for the 150. Meredith bowls it wide to Roy and he provides a catch at 92 to TKC. 144 for 8 as Worrall joins the game and after a few singles he gets one straight and Excocet fast which destroys Worrall's middle stump. Surrey finish on 146 for 9 and all shout "Thank Christ for Jason Roy"!!
The Reply
Tom Banton, in need of runs and Will Smeed in his first game this year come out to face Dan Worrall from the River. Bants takes a risky single and then Will guides a boundary through the infield!! 7 for 0 after 1 over. Tom Curran starts from the pavilion. After 3 overs the Somerset pair have found the boundary a number of times and it is 28 for 0 as Sam takes over from his brother for the 4th.
Smith comes on at the River for the 5th and we move to 38and after the "Powerplay" the score is 45 but Banton gets a leading edge and flips the last ball of the over after an no ball and goes caught for 23 by Sibley off Sam Curran. In comes TKC and Smeed looks to push on with a flipped four from Majid's first ball. He does better with the second putting the ball into the cemetary or very close as it bounced off the scoreboard. They move past 50 to 55 for 1 with that and Smeed moves on to 25.
Chris Jordan comes on from the pavilion for the 8th with Smith continuing from the River for the 9th. As we move towards the hafway pooint we have 80 for 1 with Smeed on 33 and TKC on 15. Tom Curran is not to be taken llightly though and though he goes for 2 boundaries he bowls TKC at 88 for 2 after hitting 23 runs off 10 with 3 fours and a six. In comes Tom Abell.
After 10 we are 96 for 2 needing 51 for victory but iot's still 10 overs away. Sam Curran also keeps at his job abd has Smeed bottom edging into his stumps for 35 at 98 for 3. He got 35 off 29 wit 4 fours and one six. Good solid starting innings, now hopefully the rest will put the game away. In comes Thomas Rew for his first taste of 'big boy' cricket.
Majid returns to the MT for the 12th and Rew dies trying to beat the outfield caught by Jordan on the boundary with 1 to his name at 103 for 4. In comes Gregory and things calm down a little as the game moves to 'Nelson' at the start of the 14th. Majid gets Gregory trying to clear the outfiled as well caught by Evans in frnt of the Ondaatje. In comes Ben Green at 112 for 5 and it is all going a bit 'pear shaped' for the home side.
With 5 to go we need 30 to win with Goldsworthy, Overton, Henry and Meredith to come and Abell on 18 and Green on 3. It is going to be a close run thing looking at how Somerset usually perform in these positions. Presently it is a run a ball to get over the line. Until a six from Green moves it to 16 needed, he follows that with the dismissal of an absolute pie from Jordan for four. 12 needed from 17. It's then 5 needed from 14 and then Green clears the game for us. 147 for 5 with his 23 from 16 balls while Tom Abell held up the other end 29 off 22 balls. A great solid end partnership and a really good first win by 5 wickets.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:06:01:13:40:46 by Grockle.
News is that THOMAS REW is in for his debut and Pretorius, Lammonby and Davey miss out. It isn't an enforced debut, he has been chosen ahead of Tom L which may be a bit of a surprise but good luck to him at the start of a very potentially exciting career.
A slight mid-innings jitter, but I'm sure we'd happily have taken that result at the start.
Grizzers
Still, unlike Surrey, they didn`t have to rely on just one player - Jason Roy, making is first appearance for his county for four years in any form of cricket, contributed 63 per cent of their 146 runs. Not bad for an `old un`.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:05:30:23:01:30 by cricketjerry-mouse.
Meredith was a bit wide to start with but him and Green as death bowlers can be profitable as people try to push on against Riley's pace and Ben's length. It can go spectacularly wrong or very very right. Green still getting wickets with controlled 'filth'. Huis batting was a real asset at the end of the game as well. He doesn't show that aspect of his game enough to be honest. Commanding devastation
Matt Henry looked distinctly dangerous first up. Both openers were lucky to still be there in the early overs, he had Pope all ends up almost every ball.
Smeed and TKC both got into their stride quickly. Thomas Rew probably misjudged the size of the ground (don't think he's batted here 'professionally' before) seemed to get the distance to the boundary wrong. Also think Lammonby was unlucky to miss out as he looked to have hit a bit of form in the Durham game. Good to see Goldsworthy in the middle, also good to see him come back with the ball after beeing dismissed first ball. They seem to see him as the spinning bat in the T20 unit. A role he did very well for the Foxes on loan. It all looked pretty promising to be fair with a little stumble in the middle of the reply.
TKCs hair is ludicrous!!