Bowler, Rose celebrate a day for the ages

Peter Bowler, a stalwart of over 250 first class games, celebrated his thirty-seventh birthday with his third century of the season as Somerset evened up its County Championship clash with Durham at Chester-le-Street today.

To experienced Bowler watchers, news of this latest century will come as no surprise as the situation was tailor made for a man of such a temperament and application. He restarted his innings at 62 today and built slowly toward his landmark, so much so that he had still not ascended to it by lunch. When it did come - in a minute over six hours and from 283 balls - the generous and spontaneous applause that it prompted from the crowd was a measure in itself of its quality and importance. By the time that Simon Brown (3/69) eventually found a way to beat his defences with an off cutter, he had reached 107 and had added a magnificent 157 in partnership with the almost equally resilient Graham Rose (82*) for the seventh wicket. The pair had taken Somerset from a dire position to one of near parity with the Durham first innings of 292. That the tail enders could only contribute another thirty-five to the total after Bowler made his exit only reinforced the centrality of their twin contributions.

Here a word of praise needs to be devoted specifically to Rose, another player nearer to forty years of age than thirty. When the Somerset innings was eventually terminated at 280, he was left only eighteen short of his own century - one that would likewise have been well deserved. To add to his good day, he then had opener Michael Gough (5) edging to second slip as Durham revisited the crease. With the score on 29, he struck again, this time causing first innings centurion Jon Lewis (12) to shoulder arms and ignominiously lose his off stump to a delivery that kept slightly low as it swung in toward him. His was a fabulous all-round performance.

Regrettably, late interruptions for rain and bad light then clipped twenty-four overs off the day just when the match had entered perhaps its most critical phase of all. With Durham positioned at 73/3 by day's end, it seems that both teams will need to play aggressively in the morning if an outright result is to be engineered.

For the home team today, John Wood (5/88) was easily the pick of the bowlers - his heart and gusto infectious on a hot morning. Its cause was, however, badly hampered by the loss of Melvyn Betts (1/22) to a knee strain.