Lewis Goldsworthy takes responsibility before the rain

NICK FRIEND AT THE KIA OVAL: For the moment, today amounts to just one point each. For the future, it’s a day that Goldsworthy would do well to bottle up and take with him

Two of the counties worst-hit by call-ups for The Hundred went head-to-head at the Kia Oval, with a series of pleasing consequences, at least until this oft-sodden English summer unveiled its latest range of wet weather.

James Rew, 17 and desperately talented, played his second game for Somerset, two weeks after representing a combined county side against the touring Indians.

Sonny Baker, 18 and desperately talented, ran in and bowled fast.

Lewis Goldsworthy, 20 and desperately talented, dug Somerset out of a hole in making the highest score of his professional career.

Ben Geddes, 20 and desperately talented, timed the pants off a showreel of backfoot punches and legside jabs; he made his first runs in 50-over cricket.

Jamie Smith, 21 and desperately talented, captained Surrey for the first time.

Dan Moriarty, 22 and desperately talented, took four wickets to record his best figures in List A cricket – the latest indicator, a year on from his debut, that English cricket has a fine young spinner on its hands.

From county to county, this year’s Royal London Cup looks very different; in the drier realm of Gosforth, Durham – their batting unaffected by The Hundred – smashed their third score in four innings upwards of 325.

At the other end of the spectrum, though, you won’t find many games where so many regulars are missing from the action as here. Even since the competition started, Surrey have lost Gus Atkinson to Southern Brave, while Ben Green – Somerset’s stand-in captain – is self-isolating.

^{Marchant de Lange featured for Somerset, having also played for Trent Rockets}

Perhaps most curiously, Marchant de Lange has gone the other way; he became the first person to complete the rare double of representing Trent Rockets – for whom he was the tournament’s leading wicket-taker – and his county side in the same month. He was a fill-in for Wahab Riaz until the Pakistan seamer’s arrival and, such were his efforts in Skip yellow, there would no doubt have been mixed feelings about having to lose him. His return added a significant wad of experience to an otherwise youthful line-up.

Yet, for clubs like this who have lost the crux of their squads, this month has become a chance for youngsters to take responsibility and to do the legwork normally left to more senior colleagues.

And amid the well-founded scepticism around what exactly this tournament represents, every coach to whom I have spoken agreed that this is an excellent thing. Youngsters in at the deep end. Granted, not as deep as if fewer first team regulars were absent and the challenge was greater, but still far more than a paddle in the shallow end of the second team carousel.

A year of Dan Moriarty: From relative anonymity to one of the country's best young spinners

When Surrey came to chase 147 in 25 overs after a significant rain delay had threatened to end this game once and for all, Mark Stoneman – once of England – took charge alongside Geddes. They faced Josh Davey, Somerset’s captain for the day and a red-ball gun, and Baker, a highly rated teenage tearaway. After them, de Lange took over; he was clocked at 94mph during his Hundred stint.

Earlier, Rikki Clarke had dropped a slip catch. In fact, he dropped it three times and stood with hands and hips conjoined thereafter, as shocked himself as the rest of us.

For a time, this was the piece. Few events are rarer in the English game. The allrounder will retire at the end of the season but there can hardly have been a better fielder on the circuit over the last two decades. Certainly, that was the view of a Surrey tour guide who appeared in the press box with a legion of tourists to instruct of that opinion. He redeemed himself later on, picking up one-handed at mid-on and almost throwing down the stumps with just one to hit.

And in this youth-heavy contest, there was even time for Clarke to find James Hildreth’s outside edge – almost certainly the most experienced dismissal this competition will deliver this year.

^{Dan Moriarty took four wickets for Surrey}

Those moments apart, this was mostly just a very good advert for the talents of Lewis Goldsworthy, of whom there doesn’t appear to be much. Slenderly built, he dragged Somerset into a game they were in danger of letting slip away. After electing to bat first, the visitors were 141 for 7 at the end of the 32nd over; but having come to the crease at 67 for 3, the Cornish allrounder scored 96 of the remaining 153 runs and the vast majority in a 48-run last-wicket stand with Baker, which included three sixes over an inviting boundary towards the new stand.

He deserved a hundred, not only for the sake of his own statistics and the self-belief that undoubtedly comes with ticking that particular landmark off the list as a young player making his way. But also, because that’s what this competition is now about: what happens when the pillars of a first team dressing room vanish? And who steps up?

“It’s about those guys being able to find roles for themselves and potentially do things that they might not have had the opportunity to do before,” Paul Tweddle, Somerset’s temporary head coach, told The Cricketer ahead of the competition.

“Whether that’s leading in certain areas or taking a different role with bat or ball or in the field, that’s what’s really exciting. You’re hoping that they’ve got enough experience from seeing Craig Overton or Tom Abell operate to be able to do those similar things but in their own way, while still being their own person.”

Scott Boswell, 20 years on: A life rebuilt from the ruin of the yips

That he fell four runs short of the milestone – caught on the deep midwicket rope – was an irrelevance in the end; he had more than done as Tweddle had asked, and he will be a better, more confident cricketer for his day out, safe in the knowledge – if he wasn’t already – that he can do this.

There were 4,500 spectators in attendance and he had announced himself to them on a decent-sized stage. This wasn’t his first Royal London rodeo either: he made 57 against Derbyshire in Somerset’s opener and a crucial 41 against Glamorgan, rescuing his team from 49 for 5. In the long term – batting at No.5 and blossoming as a senior-ish player in a young side – days like this might just be more important than they appear at present.

It didn’t amount to a victory, though, and Somerset would almost certainly have lost had the heavens not opened when Surrey were 66 without loss after eight overs and more than halfway towards their DLS-adjusted score.

For the moment, it means just one point each. For the future, it’s a day that Lewis Goldsworthy would do well to bottle up and take with him.