Second XI Championship Somerset Second XI v Gloucestershire Second XI, May 3rd – 6th 2022, Rockhampton Cricket Club, Day 2 – Somerset Second XI 592 all out, Ben Green 150, Lewis Goldsworthy 196, Marchant de Lange 85,
This was however a day that belonged to Lewis Goldsworthy. The quality, class and potential of Camborne’s finest was there for all to see as he added 133 to his overnight 63* in an innings that spanned 13 minutes short of seven hours in which he faced 340 deliveries. Such a shame he could not find another four somewhere both from a personal perspective but also because I was longing to ask Dan Kingdom when was the last time any Somerset team had a 200 and a 150 in the same innings.
While Goldsworthy has yet to establish himself in the first team he continues to demonstrate his talent. His time will come and he will be a big part of the next phase of Somerset’s story. For now he has established himself at the head of the pack of batsmen waiting for an opportunity in the County Championship.
Goldsworthy and Ben Green had to wait an extra hour to resume their partnership which hd already added 171 on day 1. They added a further 67 runs before Ben was bowled by Jared Warner for a magnificent 150. George Bartlett joined Lewis but only 1 further run was added before lunch which was taken at 294/2.
During the afternoon session George Bartlett (36), Will Smeed (5) and Kasey Aldridge (4) all departed. With Ben and Lewis pushing for a first team place their middle order colleagues will be rueing a missed opportunity on such a batting surface, against a tired attack. But through all this Goldsworthy continued, reaching 187 not out at tea which was taken at 433/5 with the maximum 4 batting bonus points in the bag.
I cannot claim to understand the right point for a tactical declaration, doubly so in a situation such as this. With no more bonus points available 430+ runs on the board and with the opposition having spent 5 tiring sessions in the field the only explanation for Ollie Sale deciding to push on must have been his assessment of the surface.
If the thought of having to spend two days in the field without too much encouragement was the motivation for delaying the declaration. He and his lower-order colleagues provided us with a lot of fun in the last session.
That evening session yielded another 162 runs. Supporting contributions came from Jamie Baird (31), Max Horton (27 not out) but the starring role was played by Marchant deLange who produced a startling display of rock-solid defence and power hitting.
The last four wickets (after Lewis G’s departure) added 126, a round hundred of those from the last wicket pair as Somerset finished on 592 all out, leaving no time for Gloucestershire to start their response.
We all know that competition for first team batting places is stiff, the same applies to the bowlers. It may be that Ollie Sale considers that, on a potentially deteriorating pitch, against some tired and deflated opponents his attack can take 20 wickets in 2 days. With no Roelof in the side perhaps Goldsworthy’s slow left-arm may get an outing?
