SAM DALLING AT TAUNTON: The day’s hero was Matt Renshaw. Batting in long-sleeves and a jumper - some say he sleeps in them - he showed just why Somerset were so keen for him to return.
Pinching themselves. The Taunton locals could not quite believe what unfolded.
LV=Insurance County Championship cricket at a pace, and with the enjoyment, they have not felt for a while.
A fortnight on from the chaos that saw 39 wickets fall in seven sessions, life was suddenly very serene. And how it was needed; eight straight defeats does not bear contemplating.
The day’s hero was Matt Renshaw. Batting in long-sleeves and a jumper - some say he sleeps in them - he showed just why Somerset were so keen for him to return.
On the stroke of tea, he edged Oliver Hannon-Dalby behind. Disappointment, yes. But by then, he had made 129. It was a knock of real quality. And he shared in not one, but two century stands. Unheard of. Somerset, having been asked to bat, closed on 351 for 4.
Renshaw was positive from the outset, both with his strokeplay and when scuttling between the wickets. Not a single run was left out there. Plenty of adventure, but with precious little risk.
Twenty-one boundaries, including a pair of sixes; from very early, it felt like it was going to be a good ‘un.
Four times Renshaw found the ropes twice in an over, with Craig Miles, Will Rhodes and Danny Briggs all suffering. He took a particular shine to Briggs, from whom he scored 40 in 27 balls.
Will Rhodes sums up a poor day for the champions (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
The openness with which Renshaw sets up suggests a man likely to offer chances to the slips. Yet in fact, until he fell, there was nothing. Comfortable scoring on both sides of the wicket, only the straight boundary survived. Except, that is, for a firmly struck six into the Lord Ian Botham Stand off Briggs.
Anything overpitched was punched firmly, and with such lengthy limbs, balls that might have been full to others, become half-volleys. Short stuff was cut and pulled away merrily, Miles hooked into the retirement flats. He juxtaposed brute force with silk, like a butcher carving meat. Precise, skilful and very deliberate.
A cut-shot off Nathan McAndrew took Renshaw to three-figures; his fourth hundred in 10 innings batting for Somerset on this ground. Little wonder they adore him here. From Middlesborough to Somerset, via New Zealand (from age seven) and Australia (from age 10).
Renshaw is a Queensland teammate of Marnus Labuschagne, and there are plenty of comparisons to draw. Twice they have tasted Sheffield Shield glory together, and Renshaw is a semi-regular in the fiercely competitive garage cricket circuit that Labuschagne oversees.
There is a touch of Labuschagne in his batting too, the exaggerated leave, bat twisted behind the back after a light-sabre swoosh. That makes it difficult to differentiate between the ball that genuinely beats him, and the one left alone. Today was more of the latter. Either way, he finishes a foot outside off-stump.
Renshaw is a bundle and a cricket badger too; when the surface on his home ground - the Allan Border Field - was replaced, he re-laid a decent chunk of his own garden.
His first Somerset rodeo came in 2018, a fruitful, injury-curtailed six-match stint; 513 runs at over 51, with three hundreds. Back then he had just made 81 unbeaten in the Sheffield Shield Final and played for Australia against South Africa.
But hard times followed, and a lean 2019 home summer (182 runs at 20.22) saw him take an indefinite break.
"The Somerset bowlers enjoyed a much more pleasant day. Rare in recent times, and much needed."
He is a Test pedigree cricketer though, fast-tracked into the Australia side after just a dozen first-class games. Renshaw made 71 against Pakistan at the Gabba, following that with a maiden Test hundred at the SCG.
Many more days like this, and he will be a Test player again. Remember, his arrival was delayed having been called up as cover for the Australia white-ball series with Pakistan.
But Renshaw was not the only Somerset batter in touch. By lunch, it was nosebleed territory, Tom Lammonby and Renshaw having steered the home side to 130 without loss. Some very welcome pad rash for Tom Abell.
Soon after, Hannon-Dalby made the breakthrough, Lammonby edging to Sam Hain at second slip for 56. It was his first half-century of the summer, although he had been offered a life on 28 when Dom Sibley put down a catch. He passed 1,000 red-ball career runs in the promise.
But Lammonby’s demise was not followed by Somerset’s. One did not, as it has done many times recently, bring five.
Somerset’s torrid run with the bat had been mirrored by Abell. But having ended 13 consecutive knocks with a career-best 150 at The Oval last week, he now has three consecutive half-centuries.
The tone was set with a drive down the ground off Hannon-Dalby first ball, and there were a further pair of his now trademark on-drives. Talk of England captaincy was fanciful, but a Test call-up? Well, that is different altogether.
The only surprise came when Rob Yates’ part-time off-spin immediately saw him off. First ball, and around the wicket, a tickle down the leg-side ended in a smart catch for Michael Burgess.
Tom Banton showed flashes of brilliance (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Warwickshire’s Australian endured a difficult first day. McAndrew’s arrival was delayed by visa issues, and he has not long been in the country. He ended wicket-less from 17 overs, having conceded 72 runs.
His first-class experience extends to just 11 first-class games, but he was the Sheffield Shield’s second-leading wicket-taker. There is quality there then. Maybe not the international class that many other counties have secured, but he may prove a canny signing.
Warwickshire were - Hannon-Dalby aside - unusually poor time with the ball. Rhodes’ 10.30 am decision to ask Somerset to bat was not, in the context of recent history, that mystifying. But it turned out to be so.
Hannon-Dalby, was his usual quietly excellent self. His seven-over opening burst went for just 10. He came back post-sandwiches to bowl half-a-dozen for just five, picking up the wicket of Lammonby.
Then, on the stroke of tea, Renshaw tickled behind. It was a much-deserved reward. He later added a third, James Hildreth slashing to Miles at point.
The Somerset bowlers enjoyed a much more pleasant day. Rare in recent times, and much needed. Jack Brooks spent much of the afternoon engrossed in the Take a Break mini-crossword collection, while Craig Overton was able to give his gammy toe another day off.
The most panic from a Somerset perspective came when Marcus Trescothick, carrying out his England scouting duties, was asked (nicely) to leave the pavilion that bears his name by a member of staff. Naturally, he was far too polite to offer up an argument.
Somerset require 49 in 14 overs if they are to achieve maximum batting bonus points for the first time since July 2017. Tom Banton, who resumes on 47, is more than capable. His first two boundaries were streaky, but thereafter he showed glimpses of the cricketer he can be.
Hope. Finally.
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