Steven Davies shines for Somerset in the South-West derby

SAM DALLING AT TAUNTON: This one is for Steven Davies; a man who may not, in a cricketing sense, be around too much longer but is most certainly right here, right now.

Scorecard

Such is the modern obsession with instant gratification, little time is spent enjoying the here and now. Instead, we get stuck in a cycle of what comes next.  
 
Students are shamed by peers for failing to line up gainful post-graduation employment before the ink dries on second-year exams, while meal times seem to be dominated by the planning of subsequent such events rather than savouring what is on the plate.  

In sport, the excitement tends to surround the next cab off the rank.  Who is the next big thing? Should they be immediately thrust into the international limelight?  

Nothing wrong with that but it can lead to an underappreciation of the present.
 
And so, this one is for Steven Davies - a man who may not, in a cricketing sense, be around too much longer but is most certainly right here, right now.  
 
Despite his Somerset side being 94 for four come lunchtime, by the time Davies departed for a fine 87, the cider show was very much back on the road.  That he chopped on to David Payne before reaching three figures was the only real surprise. "I'm not ready to talk about that yet," he said afterwards, laughing.

Gloucestershire for their part - buoyed from last week’s win over Surrey - deserve great credit. What their attack lacks in pace, it more than makes up for in guile.  
 
Ryan Higgins – who of the three former Seaxes now playing in Bristol is the one whose departure rankles most - enticed Tom Lammonby to nibble before he had scored. Tom Banton then suffered a touch of misfortune when a defensive prod rolled back onto his stumps, before Tom Abell - the last of Taunton’s top-order Tom triptych - was removed shouldering arms.
 
James Hildreth came and went courtesy of a fine catch at square leg by Tom Lace, and so it was left to Davies to reconstruct.  
 
Finding foils George Bartlett (22) and then Craig Overton (54) the pendulum had swung firmly back in Somerset’s favour by tea, 128 runs added in just 31 overs.  That is going some on the opening day of a red-ball clash.   
 
The only blot on Somerset’s copybook was the loss of Bartlett, who had the air of a man who had made a match-winning 76 not out at Lord’s only a few days previously. He was not happy with his LBW decision - replays suggest it was a tad high – but he at least had the sense not to express his displeasure until he had reached the boundary’s edge. At that point, the gloves were discarded on the outfield outside the Colin Atkinson Pavilion, where they remained for much of the afternoon.  
 
Davies and Overton then set out about their task as if geography teachers marking mock exams: fast enough to gather momentum but not too quick as to reduce diligence levels. Aside from a swipe that landed safe from Davies, there was precious little for the bowlers to wheeze over.  
 
The Davies ‘V’ is a 30 yard or so slot betwixt backward point and cover. Today he earned 54 of his runs there, including each of his first ten fours. It was a surprise to all then when Matt Taylor dropped a fraction short, and Davies swatted a six over square leg.  The smelling salts were called for and the very next ball raced away through backward point. Order had been restored.  

Championship Digest: Thursday, April 15, 2021

Davies’ scoring areas should shock few. He’s been on the job for 17 summers, has 34 career centuries and now more than 22,000 runs. There is a beauty in his style, an elegance in the way his hands run through the ball that caught the eyes of England’s white-ball selectors a decade or so ago. Starting with front foot planted outside leg, a crouch comes before a trigger movement gets him into position – it’s little wonder he prefers the off-side.  
 
But at the same time there is risk to it, and frequently the ball leaves bat at a catchable height. That is perhaps why there are those amongst the Somerset faithful who feel he has underwhelmed since his 2017 switch from Surrey, fresh from what remains to date the most fruitful year of his career (1,147 first-class runs at an average of 44).  
 
But mitigation should be offered.  
 
Firstly, he was brought into to replace Craig Kieswetter, the T20 World Cup winner having been forced quite literally into the stable due to the long-lasting impact of a nasty eye injury.

5️⃣0️⃣ for Steve Davies! Good knock from the Somerset man, particularly strong through his favoured off-side!

Somerset 187/5

LIVE STREAM -> https://t.co/dF6GhNA901#WeAreSomerset#SOMvGLO@lavhillhols pic.twitter.com/g1AgrcZL8X

— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) April 15, 2021

Prior to suffering that blow, Kieswetter had been amongst the most prolific and destructive run-scoring wicketkeepers in county cricket. A like-for-like replacement was always an impossible task.   

Furthermore, Davies’ numbers simply aren’t that bad. In fact, 2019 (688 runs at 27.52) aside, they are pretty good, particularly given he plays 50 per cent of his innings at Taunton.  

He should be enjoyed not endured.

"My processes are working really well," Davies explained afterwards. "I just want to spend as much time as I can in the middle. You have to think that way as a batter.

"I was super disappointed with the way I get out. It was a lapse of concentration and I handed them my wicket which is really disappointing. That is the way it goes sometimes."
 
Overton provided the perfect Robin to Davies' Batman. Often guilty of over-doing his aggression, this was a mature display of controlled hostility from the Devonian. He got off the mark with a swatted on-drive from Higgins, and by the time Higgins saw him off for 54 the pair had added 116.

Gloucestershire fought back well after tea, with Higgins, Payne and Taylor all finishing with three wickets as Somerset were dismissed for 312 - some late pyrotechnics from Marchant de Lange (37 off 26) entertaining the live-streamers, while a mammoth six momentarily threatened the safety of those watching on from the top-tier of the adjacent retirement flats.  
 
A word too for Gloucestershire’s debut pair. Dominic Goodman, a squad-number-less Exeter University student started the day well and picked up his maiden first-class wicket late on.  
 
However, all eyes tomorrow will be on West Indies captain Kraigg Braithwate who, having seen off the final three overs of the day without alarm, will go again in the morning.  

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