Trego punishes wasteful Surrey

Peter Trego © Getty Images

Somerset’s Peter Trego blasted an unbeaten 103 as Surrey let a strong position slip through their hands on the opening day of the Bath Festival.

Seven catches went down as Somerset recovered from 38 for four to make 335 for nine after losing the toss on a green and damp looking pitch.

Trego led the recovery with his second Liverpool Victoria County Championship ton of the season, made off 123 balls, with three sixes and 12 fours. Keith Parsons contributed 54 and James Hildreth 42.

Martin Bicknell was the pick of the Surrey attack claiming 5-86 from 26 overs despite receiving poor support in the field.

Among his five were his 1,000th Championship wicket - Andy Caddick caught off a skier by wicket-keeper Jon Batty.

By then Bicknell had already seen five chances dropped. He exploited the conditions perfectly alongside Mohammad Akram to put Somerset in deep trouble early on.

Bicknell struck first with the score on 17 as Arul Suppiah was judged lbw pushing forward, and it was 30 for two when Matt Wood aimed an extravagant drive at the experienced seamer and was caught behind.

Akram then had Wes Durston caught at third slip and quickly followed up by removing Somerset skipper Cameron White, picked up by Ian Salisbury at first slip as he edged a drive.

Hildreth was dropped on two, but the game changed when Bicknell and Akram were replaced with figures of 2-24 and 2-28 respectively, both from nine overs.

Surrey’s back-up seamers were nowhere near as effective as Hildreth and Parsons added 95 by lunch, punishing anything loose. It took the return of the opening bowlers after the interval to break the stand.

Hildreth edged Akram into the slips, having struck nine boundaries. Then Parsons, who had reached an excellent half-century off 76 balls, was caught behind trying to withdraw the bat from a Bicknell delivery.

At 155 for six, Somerset were back in trouble. But Carl Gazzard hit a breezy 32 in a stand of 67 with Trego, who rode his luck, playing and missing on numerous occasions, while also producing some glorious strokes all around the wicket.

Gazzard was caught in the slips off Rikki Clarke, having been dropped on nought, and there were also lives for Richard Johnson and Caddick as they chipped in with 22 and 16 respectively.

Last-man Charl Willoughby was swinging lustily without connecting when the batsmen accepted an offer of bad light at 5.30pm. One over had been lost earlier as an early tea was taken.

The light did not improve and Surrey had to reflect on an opportunity lost.

Akram returned 3-81 from 25 overs, but James Benning went for 43 off five overs, Neil Saker for 37 off eight and Ian Salisbury 34 from five.

Better fielding could have seen Somerset bowled out for under 150. Instead, the home side look to have made a very useful score on a pitch that assisted the seamers all day.