Somerset
Blast Game 3 - Different Country/Challenge Glamorgan
By Grockle
May 29 2026
Somerset look to keep the winning streak going but injuries will require changes as Both Will Smeed and Tom Lammonby join the injury list with TKC and others. Josh Shaw, Archie Vaughan are added to the squad for this one and it coule be Josh Thomas' debut tonight. Somerset lost the toss and Glamorgan put us in on their pitch.
Blast Game 3 - v Glamorgan @ Sophia Gardens Friday 29 May 2026
An undefeated Somerset pop over to Cardiff to face a strong Glamorgan side who have started 2026 with some very good games. They also face Ned Leonard and Sean Dickson as well in another county colours. The squad has seen changes as Tom Lammonby and Will Smeed are both out with injuries. In comes Josh Shaw who may debut tonight, Alfie Ogborne straight from the Lions games and Archie Vaughan as batting support.
The side chosen is;
Tom Banton (wk), Josh Thomas, James Rew, Tom Abell, Thomas Rew, Lewis Gregory (c), Daniel Sams, Craig Overton, Lewis Goldsworthy, Josh Shaw, Jake Ball
So debuts tonight for Shaw and Thomas in a different side which we hope has relevant amounts of strength in different bits of the side.
Bants and Josh T walk out to start the innings after being put in by Glamorgan on a beautiful early summers evening in front of a good side. Kellaway opens the bowling and he finds the Somerset men start with a bang as he goes for 2 fours in his first and finishes with 10 to the score with a boundary from each of the opening pair. McAndrew takes the second and he goes for 7 from his first. That brings Ned into the attack for the first after a slow start to his season because of injury. He bowls to Thomas but he gets some tap from Banton who takes 14 off his last three balls moving himself to 23 and his side to 32 after 3.
Douthwaite is the fourth bowler in four overs and the Somerset 50 arrives from the last ball of an 8 ball over. 51 for 0 after 4 with Banton on 39 from 16 and Thomas slower with 10 from 10. Natham McAndrew replaces Leonard for the 5th from the Cathedral Road after starting from the Taff. He does breakthrough as he has Josh Thomas LBW with his 4th ball for 10 at 51 for 1. It does look like it was not a great decision - looked like it was sliding down.
James Rew is the next man in for probably the last game he will play for us for a time because of his call up to the Test side as of this weekend. He'll be practising drinks carrying for a while unless Bethel's hand is not recovered. But we are still on one here as the 'Powerplay' comes to an end with Leonard's second over.
The 6th over ends on 58 for 1 with Banton on 44 from 20 and Rew the Elder on 2 from 4. Glamorgan show intent with Mason Crane coming on for the 7th. Tom shows his intent with consecutive sixes into the crowd from him. He moves to 50 from 22 with the first and 56 with the second. He then gets off strike but tries agini later in the over - maybe lost his head a little with the third which is short but drops safe. He is then given out 'caught behind' though he is absolutely certain that he has not hit that and has hit the floor instead. But a wicket is a wicket and Tom Abell is in at 74 for 2 with the keeper out for 59 from 25.
Kellaway takes the next to provide double spin followed by new Glam signing Jimmy Neesham taking the 10th at 92 for 2. Both new men move into double figures as they push the score past 100 at the end of it. Douthwaite does better starting the second half of the innings after being hammered in his first over. This one is much better though we still move to 106.
Abell looks to scoop Leonard at the start of the next one but he gets his bat in the wrong place and hits it off the splice and it loops up to the infield fielder Smale and he goes for 13 from 12 bringing Thomas Rew to the middle at 106 for 3 - a bit of a relief from studying probably. It might get a little quieter now as these two develop - they haven't had much time to do so in the games up until now. 115 for 3 after 12.
The first ball of the 13th spoils all that as Crane is back on, James tries to sweep him and top edges him straight to Smale. Therefore, Lewis Gregory walks out to bat for the first time this season in a T20 game. 115 for 4 with one Rew gone for 22 from 20. Thomas also sweeps and is nearly caught one handed by Dan Douthwaite in one of those where you aren't sure whether to go for the catch ot save the boundary. Rew survives and goes to 4 from 6. He tries again in Douthwaites next over and is nearly out to the same situation on the other side as Hurle nearly gets him. In the same over he drives upwards to the Glamorgan captain Carlson but he puts it down only to see the ball get slapped past him next ball. 127 for 4 after 14. The young man is still there qwith 10.
Crane then bowls at the captain and he sends him to the stand over the longest boundary for six only to be bowled by the next one muiusjudguing the length. Gregory goes for 10 from 6 as he looks to turn the ball and misses it. 133 for 5 sees Sams in the middle with a bat for the first time as a Somerset player.
The 15th over ends with Crane bowling out with 3 for 42 thanks to a final boundary from Thomas. 140 for 5 with 5 left means we are now looking to accelerate, with Lewis Goldsworthy and Craig Overton to come. McAndrew is back and he sends Rew a slower ball which he tries to ramp but does not get hold of and it is high enough for the bowler to run through and take the catch. He goes for 15 from 13 and out comes COve at 141 for 6. The Aussie has done well to take 2 for 9 from his 2 and a bit overs so far and this has put the brakes on the visitor's scoring rate.
146 for 6 with 24 balls to come is a difficult position as we need a lot from the next few. Leonard will bowl out with the 17th and Sams smacks one in the air which Dickson puts down as it goes over his head. Sean usually takes those. However, the boundaries have dried up and the over has only gone for singles presently bringing up the 150 buit nothing much over that. Ned finishes with 4 overs and 1 for 31 - decent figures after quite a fiery first couple.
Neesham is on with 3 overs left and we are probably 20 runs adrift presently. A 200 was on at 10 overs but it most certainly is not now. However, Sams gives it the long handle to the boundary from the second ball. He's swinging at most stuff presently and the fourth ball is out the ground into the Taff - shows what this man can do as he moves to 20 off 13.
Douthwaite takes the 19th at 165 for 6 and his role is to bowl as wide as he possibly can it seems. His fourth ball is frustratingly wide and Overton is tempted and sends it straight down Dickson's throat for 5 from 6. 168 for 7 and out comes Lewis Goldsworthy as this innings is being strangled by some good bowling.
Glamorgan have missed the cut off so they will have an extra fielder in the ring as the last over starts from McAndrew their moast economical bowler at 169 for 7. He has a single off the first, the second is a wide which Sams turns into a ball by going for it. Daniel is then caught behind for 22 from 18 at 170 for 8 and McAndrew continues his excellent spell. In comes Shaw who takes a single to get the bat on strike. Lewis misses the slower ball bouncer and McAndrew finishes with another wicket caught by Hurle - 4 for 15 from his and we finish on a 'limp' 171 for 9 as Goldsworthy departs for 2.
Disappointing end thanks to the Glamorgan debutant. That may NOT be enough but it's down to the bowlers now!! Crane took 3 and McAndrew took 4. We need some of the same and they need 172.
The Reply
Josh Shaw opens the bowling against Carlson and Smale and does not impress with his first going for 12 with 2 boundaries though one was a mistimed one from the Glam skipper. Craig opens at the other end and Carlson looks to send him for six though it bounces inside the rope. He's then nearly run out by Thomas but manages to get in. 22 for 0 is NOT what Somerset wanted I'd imagine.
Ball takes the third and Smale takes 3 boundaries from him and they have 12 an over at the end of it. It isn't looking good as Overton takes his second. Carlson is not going to die wondering as he gets a boundary from an edge - the luck is with the Glamorgan skipper and on the score goes.
Sams takes the 5th and Carlson mistimes a shot hugely and the top edge has gone over the keeper for six to bring up the 50. It is scrappy but everything they swing at is going so why should they worry. He top edges another for four the next ball. It's 61 for 0 after 5 and unless something drastically changes this game is pretty much over to be honest. The luck is with the batting side who are going at 12.2 an over with everything they swing at going, though not where they thought it was going. None of our bowlers are getting a handle on this. Craig bowls the third over, a classic four is followed by a streaky inside edge boundary and that is the story of this game. Carlson has 43 from 20 and I'd say 40% of those has been streaky lucky stuff but they've gone. Smale has had more good shots for his 26 from 15. They finish the 'Powerplay' with 74 without loss and it is their game to lose with little chance that they will lose it to be fair. It just is not our night I'm afraid.
Goldsworthy brings spin to the game and after the first, Carlson sixes him to go to 51 from 23 at 81 for 0. Smale is almost run out by the speed at which Sams fields on the boundary. The ball slams into Lewis Goldsworthy's hands and he doesn't break the stumps as he is too far from them. Was he in? No idea but a great piece of fielding.
The skipper brings himself on and goes for 10 off his first 2 and the run fest continues. They have 12 from 4 balls and it's a slight victory when we stop them passing 100 at the end of the 8th - 99 for 0 is a little victory!!!
There are wickets. Just after the 10 wicket ends at 131, Carlson passes the 100 he likes to score against us with a six off Shaw (who bowls the 11th). 102 runs off 42 balls - a captain's innings. Then the other Josh (Thomas) sends him on his way. First he sends the young left arm spinner for 6 but when he tries it again he is caught in the covers by Shaw when he doesn't quite get hold of it. 146 for 1 and the skipper leaves for 109 from 45. He's replaced by Kellaway needing to help his partner score another 26 to win.
Smale takes Glamorgan past 150 with a driven four through the covers to 153 for 1 after another single the Somerset captain takes the 13th. He has Kellaway smartly caught low by James Rew off the second ball of his over for 3 from 3 at 155. Then Smale is run out going for a second by sharp outfielding which has been a real strength of this game for the visitors despite the speed of the loss. Tom Abell dives to save the boundary and pops the ball up for Thomas Rew to fire the ball over the stumps and run the returning bat out. 157 for 3 with Smale gone for a supporting 39 from 26.
Hurle is joined by Dickson needing 15 from 45 balls and by the end of the over it is down to 10 as Shaw takes the 14th as his third having gone for 20 off his first 2. Dickson takes him for 3 consecutive fours and the game is over at 13.5 overs. Glamorgan win by 7 wickets.
We didn't get enough runs and then allowed them to hit too many boundaries too early in the game. Admitedly they had a number of lucky escapes with edges but they still got the runs with little difficulty and took the game withot working too hard. Good outfielding by us didn't stop the onslaught. we didn't do the same after the loss of Banton too many got a start but did not go on.
So our undefeated record goes and we have to work to get back to that level. Our bowling will not defend small totals. We have to outbat most of our opponents at home AND AWAY. That might be a problem. We'll see how we go when we welcome this lot to Taunton in a week or so.
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As is usual I'll close this one and add it to the comment thread after the game to keep scrolling OK for mobile phone users.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2026:06:02:10:28:00 by Grockle.
Banton
Vaughan
J Rew
Abell
T Rew
Goldsworthy
Gregory
Sams
Thomas
Overton
Shaw
Ogborne
Ball
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2026:05:29:11:14:47 by Grockle.
There's still plenty of talent in that squad, but to have Smeed, TKC & Lammers all injured at the same time is unfortunate to put it mildly.
Grizzers
It'll be a shame if Josh Thomas is not available because you'd think he couold make a decent case to open in Will's absemce and let Archie move into the Lammers position. It gives us more spin options but unless we are rota'ing bowlers the seam attack has fired really well. Josh Shaw gets the nod because Migael had an absolute 'mare' in the seconds game.
Has Alfie got a chance as a left arm option? Interesting that we look at this with few real worries that the side will be weaker (perhaps).
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:05:29:11:20:25 by Grockle.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Grizzers
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:05:30:10:38:27 by Grockle.
Either way interesting one tonight
Very sobering.
Grizzers
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:05:30:10:39:32 by Grockle.
Re Josh Shaw - although he came with a first-class pedigree that is probably best described as middling, he had been a regular and successful member of Gloucestershire's T20 squad, in the last two years taking 35 wickets in 23 matches at an average of around 19 and an economy rate of an entirely respectable 8.2 rpo. As others have said, he was not the only bowler with problems tonight - every Somerset bowler was taken for in excess of 10 rpo.
Somerset have proven to be an extremely successful T20 side, particularly when chasing. This appears to be based on a pedal-to-the-metal approach when batting, which more often than not will come off because when one batsman gets out, there is another equally good at finding or clearing the boundary to replace him. The batting line up has, for the past three seasons, been built around a stable top 7 - Smeed, Banton, TKC, Abell, Dickson, Gregory, Green. Two of these have moved on, two others are now out injured. Three of the four replacements have played fewer than 20 Blast games for Somerset between them. They are still learning - even if these days the kids have been playing the scoops, ramos and reverse slog sweeps since they were given their first plastic bat.
As for the bowling, well we've got used to Matt Henry taking power play wickets with hoops and Riley bowling rockets at the death. With those two, maybe not having a spinner with a bit of mystery didn't seem such a problem. But without them, where is the bowler that Gregory can turn to when everyone else is being hit out of the park?
I think tonight was a reality check. There has to be a reason why no county has ever defended the Blast title. Its tough. One star player can win you a match, but is unlikely to win you the title. You need a real team effort from 1-11. And this year, with two fewer matches and three six-team groups, qualification becomes I think a bit more of a lottery. In particular NRR is likely to be important for qualification and the more so in securing a lucrative home quarter final - you are competing not only against your own group, but also against the teams in the other two groups.
Onwards to next week when the Glammies make the return trip. This match needs to be put to one side as soon as possible.
It is actually good to see Welsh supporters actually enjoying watching cricket and I think much credit must go to Carlson, for whenever I look at him he seems to be playing with a smile on his face. I imagine he is an inspiring captain and an all-round good bloke.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
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