WARWICKSHIRE’S Olly Hannon-Dalby admitted it was ‘tough out there’ as Somerset’s batters dominated the opening day of the counties’ Championship game at Edgbaston.
The Bears worked tirelessly as Somerset took the upper hand.
Somerset chose to bat on a pitch offering bowlers no help and closed the opening day on 327 for three.
Opening pair Tom Kohler-Cadmore, 104 from 138 balls, and Josh Davey, 64 from 121, added 186, with Tom Lammonby following them with an unbeaten 75 (129).
It was a gruelling day in the field for a Warwickshire side without Chris Rushworth, due to a tweaked hamstring, and including Australian spinner Cory Rocchiccioli, on his debut at the start of a short-term contract.
Bears bowler Hannon-Dalby told the county’s official website: “It was tough work out there, but we kept plugging away and tried to be creative and didn’t let them get away.
“Fair play to Somerset, they played well. They came out and played enterprisingly – Tom Kohler-Cadmore certainly did, and Josh Davey played really well too.
“It’s a used pitch, the one we played T20s on the other night, so it’s a hybrid and the tradition with hybrids is they don’t deteriorate very much.
“I can’t really tell you whether the score reflects the Kookaburra ball or the hybrid pitch – but probably a combination of the two have made it pretty good for batting.
“Corey Rocchiccioli did really well on his debut. He has got a great record in Australian state cricket and bowled with a lot of control today and looked a serious threat to the left-handers.”
Somerset’s decision to bat proved fruitful, and their decision to promote Davey to open was also vindicated as he and Kohler-Cadmore eased to 100 in the 24th over.
Kohler-Cadmore exploited the pitch to reach 50 from 67 balls and advance to 100 in 128, reaching three figures with his 16th four, pulled off Che Simmons. The young seamer soon gained his revenge, however, when he removed both openers in six balls.
Davey, a sixth first-class half-century banked and a career-best (75) beckoning, hoisted a short leg-side delivery to long leg. Kohler-Cadmore gloved a pull to wicketkeeper Kai Smith. Somerset’s record opening stand against Warwickshire, in peril while the batters chugged comfortably along, remains the 223 by Jimmy Cook and Peter Roebuck at Taunton in 1990.
The Bears had a glimmer of opportunity with two new batters at the crease, but Lammonby and James Rew played responsibly to reassert their side’s control with a stand of 68 in 26 overs. Rew (38, 81) departed livid at himself for lifting a wide, slower ball from Olly Hannon-Dalby to point, but Lammonby pulled Simmons for four to post a 93-ball half-century and, with Tom Abell, prevented further damage.
Warwickshire’s bowlers persevered nobly to keep the scoring slow in the last hour of what was a tough baptism on an unresponsive track for Rocchiccioli.
He finished the day with none for 68, but bowled well enough and can take solace from the fact that fellow spinners Eric Hollies and Jeetan Patel also suffered on their Warwickshire debut at Edgbaston (one for 150 against Sussex in 1932 and Yorkshire in 2009 respectively).
