England legend Ian Botham slammed Somerset for preparing an “appalling” pitch ahead for the County Championship match against Durham in Taunton. Botham, now an honorary president of Durham, lambasted his former county side for “reducing the game to a farce” as he unleashed a social media tirade after 35 wickets were felled across only five sessions in the match.
Home side Somerset ended up beating Durham by five wickets within two days of play at the Cooper Associates Ground, with 22 of the fallen 35 wickets going to the spinners.
After winning the toss, Somerset bundled out Durham on a green carpet for 145 in the first innings as seamer Craig Overton claimed 6 for 23 in ten overs. Somerset’s Tom Lammonby marked the only half-century of the match, a 109-ball 89 as they put on 250 in reply.
Spinners Jack Leach (6-63) and Archie Vaughan (4-85) then shot down Durham in the second innings before Somerset got to an 86-run target in 19.2 overs.
Botham, who played 176 matches for Somerset, shared images of the Taunton pitch on X and said: “As an ex-Somerset player, I find this appalling.
“At a time when county cricket is under pressure for relevance as a breeding ground for international players and Somerset members have apparently voted for the status quo, the club produces this pitch.
“These are not first-class cricket conditions in mid-summer.”
Before a ball is bowled… As an ex Somerset player I find this appalling… at a time when County Cricket is under pressure for relevance as a breeding ground for International
Players and Somerset members have apparently voted for the status quo, the club produces this pitch.… pic.twitter.com/qAU0CJbPlf— BeefyBotham (@BeefyBotham) July 23, 2025
Botham also stated that he could understand why ECB managing director Rob Key and Test captain Ben Stokes have to overlook county performances.
“I am not surprised that Rob and Ben unfortunately have to disregard county performances in assessing players for Test-quality appearances,” he continued.
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“Durham raised serious concerns the day before the game started. Change is needed.
“Both Somerset and Durham have high-quality batsmen.
“Somerset do not need to do this… reduces the game to a farce.”
Durham bowling coach Graham Onions said “there was excessive turn” on offer during the entire game. “The bottom line is that it is day one and a half and the game is over, which is not good for county cricket,” Onions added.
However, Somerset coach Jason Kerr countered the comments from Botham and Onions, describing the pitch as “an incredible surface”.
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“There has been a lot of noise surrounding the pitch, but I thought it was an incredible surface. You can’t see 400 runs scored in a day, as happened yesterday, and then complain about the wicket.
“We have to find a way of getting results here and, because there has been so much cricket at the ground this year, we had to prepare a used pitch. Craig and Jack exploited any help in it because they are top quality bowlers,” Kerr told the ECB Reporters Network.
