SAM DALLING AT LORD'S: Sports fans have always been unforgiving, but recent years have seen them given a wider reach. Lately, Bartlett has been the victim of plenty of ire. His crime? Just 45 runs in four innings
"Bartlett OUT Goldsworthy IN." "Bartlett again." "Why Bartlett ffs where's Goldsworthy."
Just a sample of the joy-filled responses aimed at George Bartlett when Somerset's official Twitter account confirmed the batter had retained his place for the trip to Lord's. Fortunately, players have more sense than to check social media at 10.30am on a match day.
And anyway, little attention should be paid to it. The last of the three keyboard warriors, for example, misused their emojis by adding a pair of "crying with joy" faces: if you're going to dig someone out, at least do it properly, eh?
Sports fans have always been unforgiving, but recent years have seen them given a wider reach. Lately, Bartlett has been the victim of plenty of ire. His crime? Just 45 runs in four innings. True, it has not been the best of summers.
How pleasing then – for him - that a mere handful of hours later, Bartlett was holding aloft his helmet and bat. A century at Lord's is worthy of celebration. It is the stuff of a young cricketer's dreams and a moment to savour.
Somerset had, having been inserted, endured the most inauspicious of starts. At 10 for 2 the "here we go again" grumbles emanating from the west country hills were audible hundreds of miles away.
Tim Murtagh, who else, was among the early wickets (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
But along with skipper Tom Abell - whose only false stroke was the one that saw him dismissed for 77 - Bartlett helped add 183 for the third wicket.
One theory as to why Bartlett takes so much stick is simply this: it is extremely obvious when he is out of nick. He loves to shuffle across his stumps, quite commonly offering the bowler a wide-angle view of all three. He leaves in that exaggerated way and tends to get stuck between thoughts. It can all look a little discombobulated.
But when Bartlett is good, he is exceptional, a point never better illustrated than in the space of two balls. Stuck on 49 for longer than he'd have liked, Bartlett reached his half-century with a streaky edge off Toby Roland-Jones. John Simpson and Stevie Eskinazi stared at each other in disbelief as the ball dissected them perfectly.
It was, in fairness, a beauty of a delivery, that nipped back and took the outside edge. But Bartlett's shot from the subsequent ball was the best of the day, a booming checked on-drive that whistled past the non-striker's stumps. Perfection.
"To kick on and get a hundred today was really pleasing, especially at the home of cricket against a good attack"
George Barlett speaking after his 121 on day one at Lord's
That was the catalyst for a flurry of strokes. There was an authoritative walk at Ethan Bamber that ended with a flourishing cover drive. There was a slog sweep off Luke Holman, a classy back-foot cut off Tim Murtagh and many more fine strokes in between. By the time Bartlett reached three figures, Abell was some 23 runs behind him despite being the first to reach fifty.
Bartlett enjoyed one stroke of luck when Eskinazi shelled a regulation slip catch off Bamber. Bartlett had made just 25 at that point and would add 96 more runs before his departure.
As he trudged off frustrated, the densely populated Pavilion rose to applaud his efforts. A lovely touch, the kind of 20 seconds that lives eternally in the memory.
When Bartlett first broke into the Somerset side six years ago, he quickly acquired many admirers. This is the lad who will anchor the middle order for many years to come, they said. His talent has never been doubted. The issue has been consistency: in this, his 50th red-ball appearance was his 14th half-century or better.
Undoubtedly, Bartlett has underwhelmed at times. Somerset only saw fit to extend his expiring contract by a single year last summer. A metaphorical gauntlet was flung firmly at his toes, as once more he bats to save his Taunton career.
Barlett's 20 seconds of fame (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
It would have been no surprise had Lewis Goldsworthy been preferred. But Jason Kerr, Andy Hurry and Abell stuck with their man and were rewarded handsomely. Bartlett will rest his head well tonight, a seventh first-class hundred in the bank.
"I only played a couple of games and didn’t get that score I was looking for," Bartlett said afterwards. "To kick on and get a hundred today was really pleasing, especially at the home of cricket against a good attack. The conditions weren’t east up top but once you get through that it can be a nice place to bat."
Tom Kohler-Cadmore also made a spritely 68, smoking a pair of consecutive sixes off Tim Murtagh before being bowled around his legs by the next ball. And all that brought Somerset a pair of batting bonus points, in doing so passing Warwickshire as market leaders in this particular column. Given all the criticism aimed at their batting efforts, that might surprise a few.
For Middlesex, a difficult day followed a near-perfect start, although the late dismissal of James Rew buoyed them just before close. The pitch is slow though, and it will take a fine effort from either side to take 20 wickets. Sunday service looks inevitable.
That, though, is for then. For now, Bartlett deserves the plaudits.
"Great to see George Bartlett back to his class best." "See what happens when you give people a chance and don't write them off straight away…" "Let Bartlett be Bartlett."
How swiftly the water switches direction.