Somerset 310 for 6 (Abell 88, Hildreth 76) v Hampshire
Scorecard
Tom Abell, just 21 years of age, taps the bat in his stance with great care. It is almost as if he is standing on glass; as if he doesn't want to damage the crease around him. This is his area, his territory. He nurtures this zone, looks after it and protects it, not ostentatiously like Jonathan Trott, or eccentrically like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, but quietly and carefully. It was this soft bat-tap; one of minimal fuss and undemonstrative personal protocol that embodied Abell's serene innings of 88 that, alongside James Hildreth, who scored 76, led Somerset to 310 for 6 on a difficult pitch to leave the match well poised after an intriguing first day.
Abell's 88, that came from 170 balls in exactly three and a half hours at the crease, caps off a memorable week having signed a four-year contract on Monday and scored two crucial fifties in Somerset's dramatic win against Nottinghamshire which ended on Wednesday.
A highly regarded product of Somerset's academy, Abell was the 2013 Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year following in the footsteps of the likes of Jonny Bairstow, James Taylor and Jos Buttler. He is learning from the best too. After scoring 95 at No. 4 on his first-class debut last season, and then finishing his French and Sports Science degree at Exeter University this spring, Abell has been given the opportunity to open with Marcus Trescothick this season. Here, while Trescothick conspicuously struggled with some probing Hampshire bowling, Abell's progress through the morning session was comparatively trouble-free.
Hampshire will perhaps think themselves unfortunate not to have taken a wicket in a compelling first hour in which the ball beat the bat regularly and at times spat nastily off the pitch. But they had their chance and didn't take it: with Trescothick on 30 Gareth Berg produced an edge and Liam Dawson couldn't hold onto a sharp chance at second slip. Trescothick briefly threatened to punish Hampshire, twice pulling short balls to the boundary with awesome power, but he fell for 53 shortly before lunch, bowled by a good full ball from Berg.
Abell reached his fifty soon after lunch with a nicely struck boundary but just eight balls later Jackson Bird took the wicket of Johan Myburgh, caught driving at point, to leave Somerset 142 for 2. Myburgh's demise brought together Abell and James Hildreth, a partnership of steel and silk, and the pair fed off some poor Hampshire bowling as the sun beat down and the afternoon session wore on.
It seemed as if it was going to take something special to remove Abell, and special it was. Pushing forward to a full ball from the left-arm spin of Dawson, Abell was opened up by some sharp turn and the ball clipped the top of off stump. Abell walked off just as he batted, with no fuss and no remonstration, but when he raised his bat to warm applause there was understandably a sense of disappointment in his manner. A maiden first-class hundred was there for the taking, and although he was dismissed by a good ball, he will just wish he had covered his off stump - even an edge may have seen the ball squirt away through third man.
Less than six overs later Jim Allenby was on his way back to the pavilion too, caught well by Sean Terry at short-leg for 9, again off the bowling of Dawson. And when tea came with Somerset 222 for 4 a day that had been almost entirely dominated by Somerset was suddenly back in the balance.
Hildreth is quite possibly the best current county cricketer never to play for England in any format, and after tea he demonstrated his class, moving from 36 to 50 in five balls and three scoring shots before making excellent headway towards a century. But the pitch was still offering assistance to those disciplined enough to consistently hit a good length, and within the final hour Peter Trego, who scored a patient 21, was bowled through the gate by a sensational ball from Sean Ervine before Hildreth was trapped lbw by James Tomlinson. There were many occasions in this day when things looked to be running away from Hampshire but it is to their credit that they kept coming back, but Somerset will be the happier of the two teams on a pitch that has proved tricky to bat on.
Michael Bates, on his return to the home of the county who controversially released him, received a warm applause as he made his way to the middle in the final half hour, and Somerset will hope he can marshal the tail tomorrow to drag Somerset to and beyond 350.
