Somerset County Cricket Club played in Division Two of both the County Championship and the Sunday League in 2005. Somerset started at 10–1 to finish Division Two County Champions. Batting seems strong with Smith, Jayasuriya, Blackwell and Trescothick. But the same cannot be said of the bowling, which will find it difficult to dismiss teams twice on the flat Taunton pitch.
The first match of the season was against Durham UCCE, which showed how good a batting pitch Taunton is, with both teams scoring well. The first County Championship game was a draw against Lancashire at Old Trafford. The next game was a totesport League game against Warwickshire, which was abandoned as a draw because of rain.
Somerset's second Championship game was a comprehensive innings defeat at the hands of Yorkshire, which was followed by another heavy defeat to Yorkshire on the Sunday, and a 9 wicket defeat by Essex in the Championship. They then lost by 8 wickets to the Foxes at Taunton, but on the May Day Bank Holiday thrashed Surrey.
On 4 May they were edged out of the C&G Trophy at Round One by Leicestershire in a low-scoring game. They were then beaten by Durham in Stockton-on-Tees in the Championship, their fourth successive loss in the Championship, but continued their good form in the National League with a 16-run win in Edinburgh over the Scots. They picked up their form in the Championship, however, drawing with Lancashire in a rain-ravaged match before travelling to Northampton to beat the hosts Northamptonshire.
June started with a draw against Leicestershire, before two losses in the one-day league - to Leicestershire and Kent. Despite the poor one-day form, they could still pull off a four-wicket win against the Australians, however, widely recognised as the best in the world. Form eluded them in the league, though, as they whimpered to a 15-run defeat at the hands of Scotland at Taunton.
The Twenty20 Cup started with a confusing loss to Glamorgan Dragons where the scores were tied after 20 overs a side but Glamorgan won on fewer wickets down. However, Somerset got their revenge over Glamorgan five days later, in the middle of a three-game win streak. Then followed a rained-off game and two losses that threatened to send them out of the quarter-finals, but they recovered to beat Gloucestershire by 95 runs in a match where Somerset set a Twenty20 Cup record with their team score of 228 for 5. A stunning triple century from only 255 deliveries from Graeme Smith won them the match against Leicestershire, and they followed up with a win in Northampton to go through to the Semi-Finals of the Twenty20 Cup at the Oval. After not playing in the Championship the following week, they beat Kent by eight wickets in a shortened National League match.
Their poor Championship form continued in the last week of July, however, as they went down to Durham by 207 runs. However, despite their poor performances in the two league competitions, they went on to defeat Leicestershire Foxes and Lancashire Lightning on the Twenty20 Cup finals day at The Oval, thus winning the Twenty20 Cup.
Two days later, it was back to normal proceedings for Somerset, however. They suffered two narrow National League losses in the space of two days, to Sussex Sharks and Derbyshire Phantoms, before eking out a five-run win over Derbyshire in the Championship. A high-scoring draw with Yorkshire followed, and Yorkshire stayed for yet another high-scoring match - a National League game which Somerset won by two runs. Away from Taunton, however, Somerset couldn't keep up their good batting, and their bowling conceded 696 runs in one innings as Worcestershire beat them by an innings and 56 runs. A victory over Durham in the National League redeemed that loss somewhat, though, and they continued on the winning path with victories over Essex in the Championship and Surrey in the National League.
After a week-long break, September began with yet another National League victory, over Warwickshire, before their streak of four victories in a row was broken by Northamptonshire in a drawn game. As reigning Twenty20 Cup champions, they were invited to the International 20:20 Club Championship, where they lost two matches and bowed out at the group stage. Two days later, they travelled up to Chester-le-Street, where a batting collapse led to a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Durham, and they also lost to Derbyshire in the Championship, the first team to do so in three years.
Players Sanath Jayasuriya Gareth Andrew Ian Blackwell Mike Burns Andy Caddick Wesley Durston Neil Edwards John Francis Simon Francis Carl Gazzard James Hildreth Richard Johnson Aaron Laraman Nixon McLean Michael Munday Keith Parsons Michael Parsons Arul Suppiah Marcus Trescothick Robert Turner Matthew Wood Mike Burns Tables
Championship + 2005 County Championship – Division Two Pos Team Pld W D L Pen Bat Bowl Pts 1 Lancashire 16 7 6 3 0 43 47 212 2 Durham 16 6 8 2 0 45 44 205 3 Yorkshire 16 5 10 1 0.5 49 42 200.5 4 Northamptonshire 16 5 8 3 0 45 46 193 5 Essex 16 5 7 4 0 51 36 185 6 Worcestershire 16 5 4 7 5.5 53 46 179.5 7 Leicestershire 16 3 7 6 0.5 45 45 159.5 8 Somerset 16 4 5 7 0 42 37 155 9 Derbyshire 16 1 7 8 0 31 43 116
totesport League + 2005 totesport League – Division Two Pos Team Pld W L NR T Pts 1 Sussex Sharks 18 13 4 1 0 54 2 Durham Dynamos 18 12 4 2 0 52 3 Warwickshire Bears 18 10 6 2 0 44 4 Leicestershire Foxes 18 10 7 1 0 42 5 Derbyshire Phantoms 18 9 7 1 1 40 6 Somerset Sabres 18 9 8 1 0 38 7 Surrey Lions 18 7 10 1 0 30 8 Kent Spitfires 18 6 10 2 0 28 9 Yorkshire Phoenix 18 5 13 0 0 20 10 Scottish Saltires 18 2 14 1 1 12
Match details
Somerset v Durham UCCE (9–11 April)
Match drawn
At Taunton, the first day of the season for these two teams made up Somerset's first innings. In 105 overs Somerset made a mammoth 580 for 5 declared. Ian Blackwell contributed 191, John Francis 123 and Matthew Wood 95 as Durham UCCE struggled. Francis and Wood's partnership is a new record fifth-wicket partnership for Somerset, beating the 235 put on by Box Case and Jack White in 1927. Somerset declared on their overnight total. However, on a good pitch, Durham UCCE fared well, making a mammoth 304 for the first wicket, and were 327 for 1 at close on the second day. Will Smith scored 156 and Alistair Maiden 211 not out before Durham UCCE were able to declare on 433 for 4, 147 behind. Also, this was against a first-class attack including Andy Caddick and Nixon McLean. Somerset chose to bat out the rest of the day for a draw, finishing on 211 for 2 declared, with John Francis scoring 112. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Lancashire v Somerset (13–16 April)
Lancashire (10pts) drew with Somerset (9pts)
At Old Trafford, Somerset won the toss and elected to field on a seaming pitch after a delayed start. Mal Loye was the only Lancastrian to score a half-century, as Somerset made the most of the conditions. Iain Sutcliffe, Stuart Law and Mark Chilton all worked themselves into the 30s, but failed to progress. Lancashire finished the first day on 235 for 7.
Second day honours went to Lancashire. First their not out batsmen, Dominic Cork and Sajid Mahmood, took the eighth wicket partnership to 94, and Lancashire finished on 323. Andy Caddick took 4 for 78. James Anderson and Dominic Cork then set about damaging Somerset's batting. Only Ian Blackwell, who was dropped by Law at slip when on 17, put up much resistance, with captain and England opener Marcus Trescothick making only 11. At one stage Somerset were 53 for 4, and they finished the day on 193 for 7, with Blackwell not out on 74.
Just as Lancashire's tail had pushed on at the end of their innings, so did Somerset's on the third day. Blackwell made his second century in two innings, finally surrendering on 122. The second-highest scorer was Richard Johnson with 40. Blackwell explained, "I've changed a few things this year and started to bat on off stump. A lot of bowlers have been going across me because they know that I go at widish balls. The ball's now closer to me if it's slanted across and I'm backing my hand-eye co-ordination to avoid being lbw." The day itself was very cold, with Blackwell saying, "It was absolutely perishing out there. I think play should be abandoned if it gets that cold." After Somerset were dismissed for 272, six Somerset men came out to field sporting woollen hats. Bad light and rain meant the day ended at 2.07pm, with Lancashire on 33 for 1, 84 runs ahead. Whilst a Lancashire victory was not out of the question, the most likely result was the draw.
Lancashire batted on for another 49 overs, scoring 195 for 6 declared, and setting Somerset a target of 247 runs in 31 overs. Paul Horton and Loye put on 94 for the first wicket. But all in all, taking 61 overs to score 195 was hardly declaration batting. Somerset did not go for the win (which would have meant scoring at well over 7 an over), and made 69 for 3 off 22.3 overs before play ended because of bad light. Lancashire's Mal Loye, who fell just short of his century on 92 in the second innings to go with his 53 in the first said, "To get a couple of fifties against a pretty good attack is a good start. It was a pretty difficult pitch to bat on during the first day but it got easier as the match wore on and I was disappointed to miss out. Getting a century is a psychological thing for a batsman. I don't set myself goals or anything like that, but it's always nice to get a hundred." (Cricinfo scorecard)
Warwickshire v Somerset (17 April)
Match abandoned - Warwickshire (2pts), Somerset (2pts)
Warwickshire won the toss at Edgbaston and put Somerset in to bat. Mike Burns dominated proceedings with his 107 from 134 balls, supported by Keith Parsons' 51 and James Hildreth's 54, as Somerset scored 254 for 5 in their 45 overs. However, then bad weather put an end to the day's play before Warwickshire had a chance to bat. (BBC scorecard)
Yorkshire v Somerset (20–23 April)
Yorkshire (22pts) beat Somerset (3pts) by an innings and 44 runs
Rain meant no play was possible on the first day at Headingley. The second day was dominated by Ian Harvey, who, at close, was on a career-best 161 not out after being dropped by Andy Caddick on 96. Yorkshire were on 401 for 7. Matthew Wood had added 95 in 174 balls earlier in the day.
The third day Somerset acting captain, Marcus Trescothick, was away, as his first child was born in the night. On the field Yorkshire declared on 501 for 9, after Harvey got 209 not out, and Tim Bresnan 74. Their eighth-wicket partnership of 238 is the second-highest for Yorkshire after the 292 put on by Lord Hawke and Bobby Peel in 1896. Somerset, batting with 10 men, lost opener Sanath Jayasuriya for 0 after 3 balls, and were all out for 182. Following on Somerset plummeted to 10 for 3, and then 37 for 4 (which, given Trescothick's absence, meant that they only had five batsmen left). However, they avoided losing further wickets on the third day, finishing on 109 for 4 at close, still 310 runs behind.
Somerset clung on for 66 overs on the fourth and final day, with John Francis carrying his bat for 125 as they recovered to 275. This left Yorkshire with their first win of the campaign, and a comprehensive victory. (BBC scorecard)
Yorkshire v Somerset (24 April)
Yorkshire (4pts) beat Somerset (0pts) by 5 wickets
The home side won easily at Headingley. The Sabres batted first and made 209 for 9 in their 45 overs, with four batsmen out with scores between 25 and 40. Former England Under-19 player Tim Bresnan took four for 25 for Yorkshire Phoenix. Yorkshire were always in control, thanks to a third-wicket partnership of 84 in 15 overs between Phil Jaques, who scored 84 off 78 balls, and Michael Lumb. Despite two late wickets, Yorkshire finished in style to win by 5 wickets with 32 balls remaining. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Somerset v Essex (27–30 April)