Maurice Tremlett erroneously heralded as the answer to England’s fast bowling prayers; instead, he was to become a batsman of quality and the county’s first professional captain. Poor batting and an ageing attack resulted in a fall to joint 11th. They lost the Whitsun game at Taunton, although Tremlett ensured they went down with all guns blazing; an undefeated 85 in 93 minutes including six sixes and five fours. Gloucestershire were level with Middlesex at the top when the August match began at Bristol but they made a bad start, losing five wickets for 117. Billy Neale and Andy Wilson restored respectability and the total reached 244. When Somerset batted, George Lambert bowled one over with the new ball before he was replaced by Goddard, who promptly rubbed the ball in the dirt. Charlie Barnett took three wickets with his cutters from the other end, Johnnie Lawrence, the little Yorkshire-born leg spinner, hit a six and five fours in 34 but Goddard took seven for 61 and only some lusty blows from Wellard enabled Somerset to avoid following on. Hazell caused problems in turn before a Monday gate of 12,000 before Allen declared with a lead of 342. Somerset were in immediate trouble, losing four wickets for six to Lambert and Barnett. Frank Lee resisted for a time; Goddard came on at Lambert’s end and then at 24 for five Cook replaced Barnett for his first over of the match, a maiden. Goddard then took four wickets in his next over, including a hat trick, for no runs. Cook, in his second over, was pushed for one by Buse and then had Hazell leg-before. Somerset were all out for 25, Goddard five for four and 12-65 in the match; Cook, his co-executioner that summer, one for one in the ten deliveries he sent down. Somerset’s captain, Jack Meyer, said it was like batting on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. Gimblett was absent from this match but the Sherborne schoolteacher Micky Walford, who used to turn up in August and make hundreds of runs, although not many against Gloucestershire, was playing. Gloucestershire finished runners-up with Goddard taking 206 Championship wickets at 15.94 and Cook 120 at 19.90. So the post-war series settled down, with Taunton at Whitsuntide and Bristol over the August Bank Holiday high on the lists of holiday attractions. Gloucestershire made over 500 at Taunton in 1948 with a hundred from Crapp and excellent support from Barnett and Emmett; Somerset, despite Gimblett’s best efforts, could not escape an innings defeat in the face of Goddard and Cook. They thirsted for revenge and got it on a rain-affected Taunton pitch in 1949. On the Saturday Gloucestershire could make nothing of Hazell, who at one point delivered 105 balls – 17.3 overs - without conceding a run. The young Somerset player, Leslie Angell, recalled: “There was a remarkable tension among the fielders as the maidens increased. We were all so anxious not to be guilty of breaking the sequence by any error on our part.” AGloucestershire side including Emmett, Wilson, Crapp, Graveney, Allen and Milton could make only 123; Hazell’s figures were 28.3-21-27-8. Goddard struck back with seven for 110 but Hazell was not to be denied with a match analysis of 50.3-29-63-12 and Gimblett ensured there would be no alarms in Somerset’s eight wicket victory. The slow left-hander added eight more to his tally at Bristol, where Tom Graveney made a polished 159, but the match was drawn. If in 1951 both counties occupied places in the lower half of the table it was not reflected in the Taunton match that year. Gloucestershire needed 105 in 55 minutes and got them with six minutes to spare after some fine hitting by Emmett, Crapp and Ken Graveney. Tremlett and Buse delivered 15.5 overs, Jim Gloucestershire v Somerset 159