Carter creates slice of spin-bowling history

On the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, it was a Carter of a considerably less venerable variety who captured the headlines in the West Country.

At the age of 19 years and 20 days, Matthew Carter marked his first-class debut with the magnificent figures of 7 for 56 in 16 overs, to send Somerset hurtling towards their fifth defeat in seven Championship fixtures this season.

Bowling his offspinners from a tall classical action with flight, bite and composure, Carter returned the best figures by a spin bowler on Championship debut since Leicestershire's Jack Walsh claimed 7 for 46 against Northamptonshire in 1938.

"The coaching staff said they were all very, very proud," said Carter. "I couldn't ask for a better start and the pitch is only going to get worse.

"People say they don't like facing me because of my height, but to get turn is always an added extra. It's always nice to see a Bunsen, especially on day two.

"My first ball was a nervous one, but after that first over was finished I was pretty confident. All the lads were talking to me, making me feel comfortable. It's a day I'll never forget."

Carter's confident start was doubtless allied to his familiarity around the first team, with his elder brother Andy, not selected for this game, left to sweat on his status as the best bowler in the Carter family.

"I'm more worried about not being the favourite son!" Andy joked in a Twitter exchange with Nottinghamshire's better known offspinner, Graeme Swann. "Less snap on my plate on a Sunday."

For all of Carter's excellence, however, he was aided by another woeful display from Somerset's middle order who, from the moment that James Hildreth became a notable maiden first-class wicket, squandered the efforts of a promising morning session to lose eight for 88 in the space of 22.1 overs.

Somerset rallied to a degree in the evening session as well, restricting Nottinghamshire to 89 for 4 in their second innings, to capture eight wickets for 108 in their day's work. But the lead is already at 299, and to judge by the turn that Abdur Rehman was obtaining with his left-arm spin, Somerset have already squandered the best batting conditions they will face.

"It's not a position we want to be in, it's not a position we've been in for many years," said Jason Kerr, Somerset's bowling coach, acknowledging the very real threat of relegation that is hanging over the club. "But it's in the middle we need to turn it around. And very quickly, there's no doubt about that."

Carter's clatter of wickets came after Nottinghamshire's other teenage selection, Luke Wood, had followed up his breakthrough performance against Sussex last week with the key top-order scalps of Marcus Trescothick and Johann Myburgh in consecutive overs. Jake Ball, a relative veteran at 24, grabbed the one remaining Somerset wicket, that of Peter Trego for a duck, to highlight once again their opponents' peculiar reluctance to trust the kids at their disposal.

This was especially true given the one unequivocal success story of their day. Tom Abell, the 21-year-old opener, carried his bat and ignored the fearful strokeplay at the other end to finish with a hugely mature 76 not out.

A local boy made good, a product of Taunton School and a Wisden Young Cricketer of the Year, Abell was the one player with the confidence and gumption to use his feet to Carter's spin in a bid to neutralise the threat he posed.

"A couple of batsmen are low on confidence at the moment which is a massive thing for batting," he said. "To be fair [Carter] bowled very well, we found it difficult because they kept taking wickets regularly so we couldn't build momentum. People were trying to get themselves in, so maybe we could have put more pressure back on him which is something that we can look at. It was a disappointing day with the bat."

Abell's returns so far this season have been sparse, this was his second and highest fifty in 11 Championship innings to date, but his performance provided further evidence - as if evidence is really needed on a day when Jamie Overton joined his brother Craig in the England squad - of the wealth of talent available to a county in urgent need of generational change.

"I'm pretty happy with how I felt," said Abell. "I've been a bit short [of runs] in recent weeks, so it was nice to step up to the plate, but it felt a bit hollow

"If we can have a morning like we did this morning, we've seen how quickly things can change."