Will Jacks follows Moeen Ali's lead in Test allrounder bid

Surrey spinner “working as hard as I can on my bowling” ahead of England’s return to Pakistan in December

Matt Roller26-Sep-2022Will Jacks is one of six England players who will fly home from Pakistan next week while the rest of the touring squad travel to Australia for the T20 World Cup, but he hopes that he will have the chance to return before long.Jacks had only taken four first-class wickets this time last year and his first-class bowling average is 53.28 but he made a significant contribution to Surrey’s title-winning County Championship season with bat and ball and is in the frame for a place in the Test squad as a back-up allrounder for England’s three-match tour to Pakistan in December.Gareth Batty, Surrey’s interim head coach, has drawn a comparison with Moeen Ali and Jacks revealed that the pair spent some time working on his bowling together during the Karachi leg of England’s T20I series. With Moeen distancing himself from a Test call-up earlier in the tour despite having reversed his retirement from the format earlier this year, Jacks will come into contention.Related

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“I’m working as hard as I can on my bowling,” Jacks said, speaking at the Pearl Continental hotel in Lahore after flying from Karachi on Monday. “I’ve been chatting to Mo since I’ve been here and we’ve been talking about our similarities as bowlers, me compared to him when he was younger.”He sees a lot of similarities in our actions – the way our arms move, all technical stuff – and it’s about how I can almost… not replicate what he’s done, because everyone is different, but take things from how he’s gone about changing his action [and] become tighter, so that I can bowl more consistently.”I know there’s something there for me and I know if I can improve then going forward, I can make myself into that allrounder and push for spots. I know how important that is and I’m giving everything to try to make myself that.”Jacks has developed his bowling significantly in recent years, to the extent that Batty told him in pre-season that he was likely to start as Surrey’s main spinner. His selection was controversial at the time, squeezing Amar Virdi and Dan Moriarty – widely considered to be two of England’s most promising young spinners – out of the side, but has been vindicated by their title win.Jacks’ contribution with the ball was relatively modest, with 17 wickets at 47.00, but he regularly performed a holding role and allowed seamers to rotate. He also finished the season with 648 runs at 54.00 from the middle order, and earned a Lions call-up for the four-day match against South Africa in August.”There were chats with the coaches there,” he said of his experience with the Lions. “They spoke about how they liked the way I put shape on the ball and spin the ball, so they’re obviously telling me to keep working and keep pushing which I am doing.”The first five or six [Championship] games before the T20s, I made loads of mistakes and bowled a lot of terrible balls, but it’s something that I’ve really had to grow. It’s forced me to learn quickly, which has definitely helped me, and when we came back I feel like I bowled much more consistently and more maturely.Jacks made 40 from 22 balls on his T20I debut•Getty Images

“I was coming in and playing instead of two guys who have done really well. They’ve got records over a few years, so I did kind of feel that pressure. At the beginning, I put too much pressure on myself: I was expecting to bowl like a real high-quality county spinner when at that stage I wasn’t that.”Jacks is one of three Surrey players in Pakistan for the T20I series and admitted it was “strange” to miss out on their title celebrations after playing an important role in their title win. “Me, Sam [Curran] and Toppers [Reece Topley] were on the WhatsApp group, seeing the photos and videos sent through and were disappointed to be missing out on the fun,” he said.”But you wouldn’t change playing for England for anything. It’s a mixed feeling: I’m over the moon and delighted to be here – it’s something I’ve worked my whole life for. But seeing those celebrations… I’m not going to lie, I was gutted to miss out. When I go back in a week’s time, I’ll celebrate with them.”Jacks has not yet been required with the ball in this series and has experienced contrasting emotions with the bat, hitting 40 off 22 on debut before being bowled by Mohammad Hasnain for a third-ball duck in Pakistan’s last-gasp win on Sunday night.”I’ve loved every second,” he said. “All the games have been such high intensity, and the crowds have been amazing. The message to me coming in has been to play my natural way and play how I’ve done for Surrey: that’s what’s got me into this team so I should play how I have been to stay there and perform in international cricket.”

Dravid given break for New Zealand tour, Laxman to coach India

The coaching staff has been given a break after the T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2022Rahul Dravid has been given a break now that India’s T20 World Cup campaign is over with VVS Laxman taking over as acting head coach for the team’s white-ball tour of New Zealand starting on November 18.A PTI report also suggests that Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Sairaj Bahutule will join the New Zealand-bound squad, taking up the roles of batting and bowling coach respectively.Related

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Laxman, who runs the National Cricket Academy, has had other short-term stints as India’s coach, namely the tours of Ireland and Zimbabwe earlier this year, as well as the last month’s home ODI series against South Africa. He was also in charge of the India Under-19 side that won the ODI World Cup in February.India’s tour of New Zealand will kick off with a three-match T20I series next Friday in Wellington.Dravid will return to his coaching duties when India travel to Bangladesh immediately after the New Zealand tour. India play the third ODI against New Zealand on November 30 and will then play the first of three ODIs against Bangladesh on December 4.Apart from the coaching team being given a break, India have also rested regular captain Rohit Sharma and senior batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.Allrounder Hardik Pandya will captain India in the T20I series, while Shikhar Dhawan will lead the team in the ODIs.On Thursday, India were knocked out of the T20 World Cup as England thrashed them by 10 wickets in the semi-final. The members of the Indian team who are not part of the New Zealand tour have already started dispersing from Australia, according to reports. While Kohli left from Adelaide, Rahul and Rohit are also expected to fly out soon.

Cummins ruled out of Adelaide Test, Boland recalled

Steven Smith will be stand-in captain for the second year running

Andrew McGlashan07-Dec-2022Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the Adelaide Test for the second year running after not recovering from the quad strain he picked up in Perth.Scott Boland, who averages 9.55 after his three Ashes Tests last year, will come back into the side to face West Indies and is likely to form a pace attack with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cameron Green.Cummins went through 40 minutes of running work on Tuesday but did not bowl and he was scrubbed from the match before Australia trained on Wednesday.Related

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“Team medical staff commenced Cummins’ recovery in Adelaide but selectors deemed there was not sufficient time for the fast bowler to be fully fit for the match, which starts tomorrow,” a statement said. “Cummins is expected to return for the opening Test match against South Africa in Brisbane.”It means that Steven Smith will captain the Test after he also stood in for Cummins last year when he was deemed a Covid-19 close contact.”There’s a bit more time to prepare for this game than last year, that was chaotic,” Smith said. “I have to do it my own way, I can’t try and be someone else.”When something like this happens we have plans in place for certain batters, but ultimately it’s what the game entails is what needs to be done. I’m pretty chilled, I took over the game here last year and it went pretty smoothly.”With a crammed Test schedule where Australia play five matches in little more than five weeks, managing the fast bowlers will be key for the selectors. The tour of India, which includes four Tests, then begins in early February.”I don’t think [Cummins] was too far away,” Smith said. “With what’s coming up with a big series against South Africa and Tests in India, there is a lot of cricket.”From a strategic point of view, to have the possibility of going down and putting the load through the other quicks after they bowled some overs during the Perth Test. It would have been a risky decision to continue going, so I think we have made the right call.”With Australia playing two series in Asia following last summer’s Ashes, and then Josh Hazlewood returning in Perth last week, Boland has yet to add to his three caps, but there is the belief that he will be well suited to the pink ball in Adelaide.Boland’s spectacular Test debut, where he claimed 6 for 7, came on an MCG wicket that Nathan Lyon said closely resembled what is traditionally produced for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.”That wicket last year was pretty similar to an Adelaide wicket. It’s probably the closest a drop-in MCG wicket has been,” Lyon said. “I don’t think many things will change. His confidence is up and so it should be. His skill set has always been at the top in my eyes. He hits me in the pad for fun when I play him in state cricket. But what I see in Scott now is his confidence level has gone up a little.”Boland bowled impressively during training on Tuesday evening, giving a number of batters a difficult time, as those who had been used in Perth were carefully managed.The opening Test against South Africa in Brisbane starts on December 17.

Ash Gardner turns criticism to positives after January 26 backlash

Allrounder claims career-best five-for after speaking out over Pakistan T20I scheduling

Valkerie Baynes11-Feb-2023Ashleigh Gardner has revealed the backlash directed at her stance on Cricket Australia’s decision to schedule a match on January 26 had taken a toll, but she was determined to turn that into positives on and off the field.Gardner, the Indigenous Australian allrounder, took a career-best 5 for 12 from three overs – her maiden international five-for – to help bowl New Zealand out for just 76 as her side won their opening T20 World Cup match by a massive 97 runs in Paarl on Saturday.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A Muruwari woman, Gardner had last month criticised Cricket Australia for scheduling a T20I against Pakistan on January 26, saying it was not appropriate for the national side to be playing on what is known as Australia Day – the day the First Fleet arrived in 1788 – and that it is a day of “hurt and a day of mourning” for Indigenous people. She made herself available for selection and played in the match, during which her team wore an Indigenous jersey, socks and wristbands, but she was subjected to abuse on social media.Reflecting on that period after her team’s latest victory, Gardner said: “Social media has a lot of good things and I knew when posting that statement that there was going to be backlash. I think I underestimated how much I copped and I guess I tried my best not to look at all that stuff, but I feel like it’s only human nature to read comments and things like that.Related

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“It was a moment where I stuck to my guns and I put that statement out there because that’s what I believed in, and I just have to stick true to what I said. I guess I’ve just tried to flip that and turn into a positive and it’s sparked conversations. Not everyone’s going to agree with everything that people say, and that’s totally fine, as long as I change some people’s minds about certain things, whether it’s social issues or not.”In response to Gardner’s tweet at the time, Cricket Australia released a statement saying scheduling the match on that day was an opportunity to continue an “ongoing education journey” with the Indigenous community.Following her Player-of-the-Match performance in South Africa, Gardner said she had tried to take confidence from the fact that she had been unwavering in her stance.”The support that I had from my team-mates and support staff was huge, because it was a couple of dark days there where I was like, ‘Why did I do that?'” Gardner said. “But knowing that it was for a good cause and then just trying to take that confidence with that going into my cricket as well, sticking to my guns with how I play cricket, and then I guess how I act off the field as well, trying to keep them pretty close together.”

Arshdeep Singh joins Kent for Championship

India bowler available for five matches in June and July

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2023Arshdeep Singh, India’s left-arm swing bowler, has agreed to play five County Championship matches for Kent.Subject to approval, Arshdeep will be available for home fixtures against Surrey and Warwickshire as well as travelling to Northamptonshire, Essex and Nottinghamshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship in June and July.Arshdeep enjoyed a breakout season for Punjab Kings in IPL 2022, becoming their go-to bowler in the death overs and ultimately taking 10 wickets from 14 games at an economy rate of 7.70.The 24-year-old Arshdeep made his T20I debut in England last July. He played all three of his ODIs to date in New Zealand in November and now has 29 international appearances for India, for whom he was a standout performer at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. In seven career first-class matches to date, he has taken 25 wickets at an average of 23.84 and economy rate of 2.92.Related

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Arshdeep said he had heard good things about Kent from Rahul Dravid, India’s current men’s head coach who played for the club in 2000.”I am excited to play red-ball cricket in England and continue to improve my skills in the first-class game,” Arshdeep said. “Rahul Dravid has already told me it is a club with a great history.”He joins Kane Richardson, the Australia pace bowler who will play in the Vitality Blast, and South African spin-bowling allrounder George Linde, who is in the second half of his two-year deal as an all-format player, as overseas players confirmed for the county so far.Paul Downton, Kent’s director of cricket, said: “We’re delighted to have a player of Arshdeep’s potential join us for five matches this summer. He has demonstrated that he has world-class skills with the white ball, and I am very confident he will be able to put those skills to good use with the red ball in the County Championship.”

Mark Alleyne named as Glamorgan white-ball head coach

Former Gloucestershire allrounder takes over from Matthew Maynard, who retains red-ball role

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2023Mark Alleyne, the former Gloucestershire and England allrounder, has been named as Glamorgan’s new white-ball coach.Alleyne, 54, takes over T20 duties from Matthew Maynard, who has retained the red-ball role following Glamorgan’s strong showing in last year’s County Championship, while he will also oversee their 50-over fortunes, with David Harrison departing after guiding the club to the Royal London Cup in 2021.The appointment marks a return to county coaching for Alleyne, who became the first Black British coach in English domestic history in 2004 when he took over the reins at Gloucestershire for three years, initially in a player-coach capacity.Alleyne played a total of ten ODIs for England between 1999 and 2000, but he made his name during a 20-season career at Gloucestershire between 1986 and 2005, including an innovative spell as captain of one of the best white-ball sides of the era.In March 2009 he succeeded Clive Radley as head coach of the MCC, and latterly Marlborough College in Wiltshire. He has also served as assistant coach of the England Lions, including support roles with the senior white-ball squad, and assistant at Welsh Fire Men’s team.”I have always looked forward to travelling over the Bridge to the cricketing cauldron at Sophia Gardens or to a more relaxing holiday in North Wales – both done on numerous occasions,” Alleyne said.”My next trip though, as Glamorgan’s white-ball head coach, will be my most anticipated. This unique splitting of the domestic roles – often reserved for International teams- tells me the club are serious about competing on all fronts.”This is exactly the environment I love to be part of, and I can’t wait to join Matt Maynard who will be leading the Championship challenge.”Working in the white-ball coaching team with England in 2022 has given me the stimulus to make a big mark domestically. I am here unequivocally, to do just that.”Mark Wallace, Glamorgan’s director of cricket, added: “We are absolutely thrilled to bring Mark on board as our white-ball head coach.””Mark brings a wealth of experience to our white-ball sides and a fresh perspective on how we can move forward in both formats. It is an exciting time for the Club, and we are looking forward to Mark putting his stamp on our style of play.”We want to compete across all formats, and with this new coaching setup, I am extremely optimistic about what the future holds for Glamorgan in both red-ball and white-ball cricket.”

Ponting: 'Our fielding after first four overs was really sloppy'

The Capitals head coach says dropping Kyle Mayers early on was a big reason for their loss

Ashish Pant01-Apr-20231:25

Ponting: ‘I don’t think it was a 190-plus wicket’

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting reckoned that dropping Kyle Mayers early on, and the team’s lacklustre fielding in general, was a big reason behind their 50-run loss against Lucknow Super Giants.Mayers was on 14 off 15 balls when Khaleel Ahmed shelled a sitter at short third off Chetan Sakariya in the sixth over. The opener then flicked a switch and clubbed 59 off his next 23 balls. As a result, Super Giants amassed 193 for 6 despite being 30 for 1 after the powerplay. It was the fourth-highest total in Lucknow across all T20s.”To be totally honest, I think they got more runs than they probably should have,” Ponting said after the game. “I don’t think we helped ourselves in the field today. Our fielding after the first four overs was really sloppy.Related

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“A couple of chances went down, a few misfields. One of those chances that went down was Mayers’, who ended up going on a bit of a run after that, which put us behind the game a little bit.”The thing with giving chances in the IPL is you’re giving very good players a second opportunity. And he cashed in. For pretty much from that moment on, he hit everything in the middle. He attacked our spin, which he played really well. So that’s just a good lesson for us.”We know that we have to be really sharp in the field. You can’t afford to put chances down, and if you do, you have to expect that they’re going to make you pay. There are a few reasons why we lost the game, and we’ll address those and hopefully improve for our next game.”Mayers’ knock meant Capitals ended up conceding 163 in the last 14 overs. Another staggering statistic was that Super Giants hit 16 sixes and just five fours in their innings. Ponting suggested that the surface in Lucknow wasn’t one where 190-plus should have been scored.”I think we conceded 16 sixes in our bowling innings. That goes to show that we were a fair bit off with our execution with our bowling,” Ponting remarked. “Whenever you’re giving up 16 sixes, and there’s only five fours, which is quite remarkable. So, whenever you’re giving up that many, it’s going to be hard to drag yourself back into the game.”Looking at the wicket today, I didn’t think it was a 190-plus wicket. There was a lot of dew there. If anything, on that wicket, it was probably better for us batting second.Ponting was also effusive in praise of Mark Wood, who rocked Capitals’ batting unit, finishing with 5 for 14 from his four overs. The Capitals coach, however, suggested that the Englishman’s spell wasn’t totally unexpected.”He bowled the way we thought he would bowl,” Ponting said of Wood. “We know he will run in and bowl fast; we know he will run in and attack the stumps and use his bouncer. That’s what he did.””He got those couple of bowleds and used his bouncer really well. He’s a world-class fast bowler. As this tournament goes on, if he stays fit, you will see him bowl some really fast spells.”

Quick wickets for Josh Davey put Leicestershire in box seat at Worcestershire

Foxes enter third day as favourites to complete second win of their campaign

ECB Reporters Network19-May-2023Worcestershire 83 (Wright 5-32, Davey 3-26) and 26 for 2 (Haynes 17*, Davey 2-19) need 245 runs to beat Leicestershire 173 and 180 (Hill 49, Leach 5-41, Waite 4-21)Leicestershire picked up two early wickets after setting Worcestershire a challenging 271 target on a still-bowler friendly pitch on day two of the LV=Insurance County Championship match at New Road.Loan signing Josh Davey from Somerset made the double breakthrough in dismissing openers Azhar Ali – for a pair – and Ed Pollock in his first over.Gareth Roderick and Jack Haynes managed to survive to the close at 26 for 2 but the untrustworthy nature of the pitch means the Foxes will be favourites tomorrow to complete a second win of the campaign.Leicestershire had earlier been bowled out for 180 after Joe Leach’s impressive five-wicket return and Matthew Waite’s Championship-best figures of 4 for 21.It was the 16th five-for of Leach’s distinguished career and Waite eclipsed his previous best of 4 for 35 in the corresponding fixture last season.Captain Lewis Hill’s patient 49 was largely responsible for the visitors being able to set a daunting target on a wicket of uneven bounce.After the dramas of day one, when 22 wickets fell, the game proceeded at a more sedate pace for the first half of the day as Leicestershire looked to capitalise on their first-innings lead of 90.There were two nightwatchers occupying the crease when play resumed – but both soon fell to Leach.Davey could only help a delivery which bounced on him to Pollock at first slip and Will Davis went lbw working to leg.There was more joy for Leach when Colin Ackerman fenced at a delivery outside the off stump and Pollock did the rest.Leach’s morning spell brought the excellent figures of 7-4-15-3 but then Hill and Peter Handscomb entrenched themselves during a partnership of 71 in 30 overs.The pair batted sensibly and took few risks in ensuring Leicestershire built a substantial lead on a pitch where the occasional ball still misbehaved.Handscomb, on 11, had to survive a delivery from Adam Finch which spat up off a length and flew onto the off side and then a confident appeal for lbw from Waite to the last ball before lunch.Play progressed at a serene pace but then Waite instigated a collapse which saw five wickets tumble for 20 runs.His first over back into the attack brought about the downfall of Hill, one short of a deserved half-century, when he inside edged onto his stumps.Waite then struck three times in an over and ended the resistance of Handscomb who battled away for 26 off 98 balls but then aimed a blow on the leg side and was caught off a leading edge by Brett D’Oliveira running back to deep mid off.Wiaan Mulder attempted to force Waite off the back foot and was taken at second slip by Haynes who then pulled off a fine low one-handed effort to the next delivery to dismiss Tom Scriven.Leach wrapped up the innings when Rehan Ahmed went for a big blow and was stumped.Worcestershire needed a solid start if they were to harbour realistic ambitions of chasing down their target but Azhar and Pollock quickly perished to undistinguished shots against Davey.Azhar completed a pair when he took a stride forward, tried to work the ball through midwicket and instead edged low to first slip. Pollock also aimed a blow on the leg side but instead the ball lobbed a gentle catch to cover at 2 for 2.Roderick and Haynes got their heads down but there were signs of the heavy roller wearing off and batting becoming more difficult before the premature close due to bad light and rain with 14 overs remaining.

Lees and Robinson heap more misery on coach-less Leicestershire

Durham pile on the runs as Leicestershire’s attack struggles to get a tune out of the Kookaburra ball

ECB Reporters Network25-Jun-2023Centuries from Ollie Robinson and Alex Lees put Division Two leaders Durham in a commanding position at 422 for four after the opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with third-placed Leicestershire.Robinson, who finished unbeaten on 113, posted the third century of what is turning into an outstanding season following his move from Kent last winter, sharing an unbroken 221-run fifth-wicket stand with Graham Clark, who is 15 away from a hundred of his own.Earlier, openers Lees and Michael Jones had laid the foundations with a first-wicket stand of 145 before Leicestershire, currently without a head coach after the shock announcement that Paul Nixon had been placed on “gardening leave”, were able to make any inroads with the Kookaburra ball.Wicketkeeper Robinson, who was completing back-to-back centuries after his second-inning 102 against Glamorgan earlier this month, moved from fifty to 100 in just 40 balls as a tiring home bowling attack was made to suffer on a flat pitch.Despite last week’s revelation that they would be playing for different counties next season, former captains Callum Parkinson and Colin Ackermann and veteran fast bowler Chris Wright were all selected by Leicestershire, even though the first-named pair will be wearing Durham colours next year.Indeed, Parkinson and Ackermann wrote what will be a curious footnote to the day’s play by combining to dismiss Lees, simultaneously offering their new side evidence of their ability while striking an important blow for their current one.Having won the toss and invited Leicestershire’s bowlers to explore the Kookaburra experiment, Durham could only have been more satisfied with the opening session had Lees and Jones been still together at lunch.As it was, they shared Durham’s best opening partnership of this season, before Jones, already with 14 fours and a six to his name and looking on course for a second century of the campaign, mistimed a ball from Ed Barnes that he flicked tamely to short mid-wicket, where Ackermann took a good catch.The pitch had a reasonable covering of grass, particularly on a full length, yet with a short boundary to one side Lees and Jones flew out of the traps with such purpose that, at 66 without loss after eight overs, spectators might have had pause to wonder if they were watching T20 rather than a four-day game.To their credit, by lunch a home attack lacking the injured Josh Hull and teenage leg spinner Rehan Ahmed – on England duty – had managed to drag the rate back to a more respectable three runs per over, with Jones the only casualty as Durham lunched on 150 for one. Parkinson’s left-arm spin was summoned as early as the eighth over, although the pitch would never offer him much help.Having snared the wicket of Jones just before lunch, Leicestershire made a second breakthrough soon afterwards, seamer Tom Scriven finding the edge as Durham skipper Scott Borthwick prodded at one outside off stump.Indeed, the middle session was a better one for the home side, who began the round just a point behind second-placed Sussex.At tea, they had Durham 263 for four, still well placed but 113 for three in the session. Sussex-bound Wright, playing in his 50th first-class match for Leicestershire, took his 160th wicket in that time, reacting quickly to grab a return catch in his follow-through as David Bedingham’s defensive push popped up.And Parkinson, who had bowled eight overs without success in the morning, dismissed Lees towards the end of his second spell. The Durham left-hander ultimately reached for a ball that turned just enough to find the edge, Ackermann taking the catch low down at slip.In energy-sapping conditions, the final session was hard work for the bowlers; Clark hitting Ackermann’s off-spin for three consecutive fours before a fourth took him to a 70-ball half-century, 24-year-old Robinson completing his from 103 deliveries just before the second new ball became available.Leicestershire took it, but the change served only to increase the speed at which the ball flew off the bat, seven of the 11 boundaries in Robinson’s hundred coming in the space of eight overs with the new Kookaburra, the right-hander driving and cutting Barnes for back-to-back boundaries to reach the milestone.

Surrey take charge after Tom Lawes four-for limits Somerset

Division One leaders get on top with ball before Latham fifty anchors reply

ECB Reporters Network25-Jul-2023 Surrey 138 for 4 (Latham 67*) trail Somerset 170 (Kohler-Cadmore 59, Lawes 4-41)Tom Lawes ran through the top order as Division One leaders Surrey bowled out Somerset for 170 after losing the toss on the opening day of the LV= County Championship match at Taunton.The home side were dismissed in 56.3 overs, 20-year-old seamer Lawes sending back three of the top four on his way to figures of 4 for 41. Tom Kohler-Cadmore top scored with 59. By stumps, Surrey had replied with 138 for 4, Tom Latham leading the way with 67 not out and fellow New Zealand Test player Matt Henry marking the last appearance of a prolific spell in red- and white-ball cricket for Somerset by taking 3 for 26.A day dominated by seam bowling began with Somerset’s total on 12 when Tom Lammonby clipped a Dan Worrall half-volley off his legs straight to Jamie Smith at midwicket. Tom Abell flicked at a leg-side delivery from Lawes and feathered a catch through to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes to make it 32 for 2. With nine runs added, Sean Dickson, on 25, fended at a delivery from Lawes and edged to Latham at second slip.Kohler-Cadmore hit offspinner Will Jacks back over his head for six. But it was a rare moment of cheer for Somerset supporters in a 2,000 crowd at the Cooper Associates County Ground.Soon George Bartlett became a third victim for Lawes, caught by Jacks at third slip. It might have been worse for the hosts as Jacks spilled a sharp chance, diving to his left, to give Kohler-Cadmore a life on 22, Jamie Overton being the unlucky bowler.With his side in trouble, James Rew took 32 balls to get off the mark and was unbeaten on 4 at lunch, which was taken at 85 for four, Kohler-Cadmore having moved to 32. But hopes of a substantial stand between the pair ended soon after the interval when Rew got a top edge aiming to pull a short ball from Jordan Clark and skied a simple catch to Foakes.Kasey Aldridge helped Kohler-Cadmore add 47 for the sixth wicket, contributing 18 before edging Overton, back on his old stamping ground, to Latham in the slips.Kohler-Cadmore’s innings ended in disappointing fashion when he aimed a big shot at a wide delivery from Lawes and dragged the ball onto his stumps. The former Yorkshire player had faced 101 balls, striking seven fours and a six.Craig Overton glanced his first ball from twin brother Jamie to fine leg for four, provoking two unfriendly short balls, the second of which he gloved through to the immaculate Foakes. Henry managed a few belligerent blows before falling for 16 and tea was taken when Ben Green was bowled by a full ball from Worrall.Somerset had batted poorly. But they managed an early breakthrough in the final session when, without a run on the board, Surrey skipper Rory Burns edged a defensive shot off Henry to Overton at second slip. The same combination accounted for Dom Sibley with the total on 15, Overton holding another straightforward chance off Henry, who was maintaining an exemplary line and length.Smith narrowly avoided the same fate when, on 4, he edged just short of Overton, as Henry finished a superb opening spell with 2 for 16, ten of those runs coming off the last of his seven overs.Momentum changed when Smith hit boundaries off four successive balls from Overton, who had switched to the River End. Batting started to look comfortable under cloudless skies as Latham helped put together a half-century stand in 67 balls.It was a surprise when Green broke through in the opening over of his first Championship appearance of the season. Having proved a golden arm in the Blast, the medium-pacer had Smith caught at midwicket by Lammonby, stretching out his left arm.Henry’s return to the attack saw him strike again with his third ball, Foakes nicking a defensive shot to wicketkeeper Rew to make it 95 for 4. Then Latham, on 43, survived a chance to Dickson at third slip off Overton.The experienced Kiwi left-hander went on to an 83-ball fifty, well supported by Jacks as Surrey closed just 32 runs behind.