Despite the absence of a number of "star" players from both the Australian and Somerset teams, there were runs galore and plenty of entertainment for the large crowd who turned out to see the first day's play at Taunton.

Chief Executive Peter Anderson was very pleased with the way that the first day had gone. "There were 5000 people in the ground before lunchtime, and a large number of them were paying customers," he told me as he watched the closing overs of the day. Mr Anderson went on: "We're expecting as many if not more tomorrow, judging by the number of telephone enquiries that we have had during the day. Let's just hope that the weather is kind to us."

Somerset Coach Kevin Shine was equally upbeat about the day, "There's been some entertainment out there today," he told me. "Ricky Ponting is a very talented player and he had a superb knock. Once he was out we managed to peg them back.

"It was great to see Shoaib Akhtar bowling at Ponting - there aren't many better bowlers in the world at the moment.

"It's a great wicket, Frosty has prepared a belter, and when it's our turn to bat hopefully we can get a good score. There's plenty for the crowd to watch, especially with young Matt Wood, who is really looking forward to batting out there, and Keith Parsons who has been out of the side injured for a while."

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