England legend Ian Botham slammed Somerset for getting ready an “appalling” pitch forward for the County Championship match in opposition to Durham in Taunton. Botham, now an honorary president of Durham, lambasted his former county facet for “lowering the sport to a farce” as he unleashed a social media tirade after 35 wickets have been felled throughout solely 5 classes within the match.
Dwelling facet Somerset ended up beating Durham by 5 wickets inside two days of play on the Cooper Associates Floor, with 22 of the fallen 35 wickets going to the spinners.
After profitable the toss, Somerset bundled out Durham on a inexperienced carpet for 145 within the first innings as seamer Craig Overton claimed 6 for 23 in ten overs. Somerset’s Tom Lammonby marked the one half-century of the match, a 109-ball 89 as they placed on 250 in reply.
Spinners Jack Leach (6-63) and Archie Vaughan (4-85) then shot down Durham within the second innings earlier than Somerset acquired to an 86-run goal in 19.2 overs.
Botham, who performed 176 matches for Somerset, shared photographs of the Taunton pitch on X and stated: “As an ex-Somerset participant, I discover this appalling.
“At a time when county cricket is beneath stress for relevance as a breeding floor for worldwide gamers and Somerset members have apparently voted for the established order, the membership produces this pitch.
“These aren’t first-class cricket situations in mid-summer.”
Earlier than a ball is bowled… As an ex Somerset participant I discover this appalling… at a time when County Cricket is beneath stress for relevance as a breeding floor for Worldwide
Gamers and Somerset members have apparently voted for the established order, the membership produces this pitch.… pic.twitter.com/qAU0CJbPlf— BeefyBotham (@BeefyBotham) July 23, 2025
Botham additionally acknowledged that he may perceive why ECB managing director Rob Key and Take a look at captain Ben Stokes should overlook county performances.
“I’m not stunned that Rob and Ben sadly should disregard county performances in assessing gamers for Take a look at-quality appearances,” he continued.
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“Durham raised severe considerations the day earlier than the sport began. Change is required.
“Each Somerset and Durham have high-quality batsmen.
“Somerset don’t want to do that… reduces the sport to a farce.”
Durham bowling coach Graham Onions stated “there was extreme flip” on provide throughout all the sport. “The underside line is that it’s day one and a half and the sport is over, which isn’t good for county cricket,” Onions added.
Nevertheless, Somerset coach Jason Kerr countered the feedback from Botham and Onions, describing the pitch as “an unbelievable floor”.
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“There was a whole lot of noise surrounding the pitch, however I assumed it was an unbelievable floor. You’ll be able to’t see 400 runs scored in a day, as occurred yesterday, after which complain in regards to the wicket.
“We’ve to discover a approach of getting outcomes right here and, as a result of there was a lot cricket on the floor this yr, we needed to put together a used pitch. Craig and Jack exploited any assist in it as a result of they’re high quality bowlers,” Kerr informed the ECB Reporters Community.