WHAT a bizarre game it was at Taunton. The previous biggest margin by which Durham have enforced a follow-on was 400 after Mike Hussey made 253 on his debut at Grace Road in 2005. On that occasion Durham dismissed Leicestershire for 123 and 184 to win by an innings and 216 runs. This time they were thwarted largely by the deadening of the pitch.

It seems unthinkable for a team to be dismissed for 69 then follow up with 485 for five and I gather Paul Allot made a point in his Sky TV commentary about the use of the heavy roller before Somerset’s second innings.

Whether it should be allowed is obviously an issue for debate, especially in a case like this where the hosts initially left on extra grass in order to achieve a result following their stalemate at home to Warwickshire. Having conceded a deficit of 474 they were then able to ensure they had a surface on which to bat for the draw.

Craig Kieswetter’s hundred was his third of the season (one was in the Friends Provident Trophy), continuing the glut of runs by wicketkeepers. Phil Mustard was left on 94 not out against Yorkshire, for whom Gerard Brophy has been among the runs, along with James Foster, Chris Read, Mark Wallace, Tim Ambrose and Stephen Davies. Kieswetter, Johannesburg-born but with a Scottish mother, has ambitions to play for England. But like most of the others he’ll have to sharpen up his glove-work as he missed two catches in Durham’s innings.