Key events
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.
