Craig Overton and Marcus Trescothick combine to register a rare first-class hat-trick for Somerset

Somerset ended the 2018 County Championship with a huge innings win in the game against Nottinghamshire at the Trent Bridge. They bagged 24 points from this game to finish second behind the champions Surrey in the Division One. Electing to bat first, Somerset posted 463 in their first innings with help of the 137-run knock from James Hildreth. Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton took three and four wickets respectively to reduce the hosts to 85/7.

With a partnership building up, skipper Tom Abell introduced himself into the attack and completed a hat-trick with the first three balls of his second over. Abell enforced follow-on over the hosts after bundling them out to 133. Overton gave Nottingham death blow on the third day’s morning who resumed their second innings at 115/3.

In the second over of the day, Overton completed a hat-trick by dismissing Ben Slater, Samit Patel and Riki Wessels with successive deliveries. Marcus Trescothick, who signed with Somerset for one more season yesterday, took the three catches in the slips during Overton’s hat-trick. The hosts were eventually bowled out for 184 in their second innings.

🚨 SECOND SOMERSET HAT-TRICK KLAXON! 🚨

Slater c Trescothick b C Overton 49
Patel c Trescothick b C Overton 0
Wessels c Trescothick b C Overton 0

Having fun, @Trescricket & @craigoverton12?! pic.twitter.com/SkZiuFRJCM

— County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 26, 2018

Rare History

Thus, Somerset recorded only the 4th instance in first-class and the third in County Championship where two different bowlers claimed hat-tricks in the same game for a team. The last such instance was recorded during the 1996 County game between Kent and Hampshire in Canterbury. The Kent bowlers DW Headley and MJ McCague took hat-tricks against the visiting team in the game which they won by 148 runs.

Trescothick was part of all the three wickets in this hat-trick as it became only the 3rd known hat-trick in first-class cricket coming via bowler-fielder combination. The first one was recorded in the 1914 County game when Northamptonshire skipper Sydney Smith took a hat-trick against Warwickshire. George Thompson was the fielder who took all the three catches. The duo accounted for ten wickets taking six and four scalps respectively in the home team’s first innings.

The 1946/47 Currie Cup witnessed another such hat-trick when Raymond Beesly completed a hat-trick with Cyril White taking catches for Border against Griqualand West. There are three other known hat-tricks in first-class cricket coming via bowler-keeper combination but none of them has come in the last 60 years. First FC hat-trick of the bowler-keeper combination came via hat-trick of stumpings affected by William Brain off CL Townend way back in 1893.

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