Josh Thomas century puts Somerset in control as Leicestershire face pitch-charged points threat
A 20-year-old who once batted at ten for Leicestershire as a loanee spinner returned to Grace Road on the opposing side and scored a century that helped Somerset reach the top of Division One.
Josh Thomas, the Somerset all-rounder born in January 2005, spent a loan spell at Grace Road last season as a back-up left-arm spinner in the Vitality Blast — the T20 competition where overs are limited and the game moves fast. He batted at No 10. In his first-class appearance there this week, he batted near the top of the order and made 100 from 152 deliveries, striking 15 fours before Ben Mike bowled him on day one (BBC Sport).
Thomas shared an opening stand of 173 with Tom Lammonby in the 33 overs up to tea on the first day. Somerset's official preview had listed day one for Tuesday 8 September, with a morning session from 10:30am to 12:30pm and an evening session from 3:30pm (Somerset CCC). Somerset joined Leicestershire on loan for the Foxes' final four group-stage matches, and the player page on Somerset's site confirms his availability across formats (Somerset CCC).
Thomas has now scored 760 red-ball runs this season, with centuries against Yorkshire and Essex to his name. The first-class game — cricket's multi-day format, where innings unfold over sessions rather than overs — rewards exactly the kind of patient accumulation Thomas showed at Grace Road.
While Thomas compiled his innings, Leicestershire were dealing with a charge from the England and Wales Cricket Board over the pitch prepared for their previous home win against Glamorgan. The ECB, the game's national governing body, deemed the surface sub-standard. Leicestershire could lose all 19 points gained from that victory if their appeal against the charge fails (BBC Sport).
The timing is uncomfortable. Somerset moved into top spot in Division One with an innings victory over Glamorgan the previous week — a result that puts them in the strongest position in the table. An innings win, where one side scores enough in a single innings to avoid batting again, carries a heavy points reward.
Leicestershire's pitch troubles, by contrast, threaten to reshape the lower reaches of the division. Nineteen points is a substantial haul in the County Championship, where teams accumulate points across drawn or completed matches over a long season. Losing them would drag Leicestershire down the table regardless of how they perform on the field.
The 2026 Rothesay County Championship — the first-class domestic competition — began on 3 April, with matches live-streamed through the ECB's County Championship Match Centre (ECB). The ECB had flagged Somerset v Essex, scheduled for 20–23 August at Cooper Associates County Ground, among ten matches to watch in the run-in (ECB).
What makes Thomas's century resonate beyond the scorecard is the circularity of it. A player who could not buy a batting slot at Grace Road last summer returned there wearing a different shirt and put on a masterclass. Leicestershire's loan arrangement with Somerset gave them a bowler for a white-ball tournament. Somerset got a batsman with a point to prove — and on the evidence of 760 runs this season, a settled one.
The appeal outcome, when it arrives, will determine whether Leicestershire's pitch problems cost them more than pride.
