It's perhaps easy to take the venue for granted but we shouldn't. This ever-evolving ground - with all singing and dancing scoreboard screens and new stands - is a world class setting and regularly ranked among the top of its kind by people within the game. It pays not to forget how lucky we are to have that in reach.
A county championship match offers the perfect chance to soak in the surrounds and enjoy a slice of sporting action in a relaxing atmosphere. The action unfolds intriguingly before you - but at the sort of pace that leaves room to dip in and out a little. In fact I often find it's a great chance to catch up with a friend for a chinwag and today was also a good chance for that - a perfect mix of social and sporting pleasures. Oh and £15 for seven and a half hours? Not bad at all.
So, what of the action? Well, the combination of the cloud cover and green-looking wicket meant Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read was happy to put the visitors from Somerset into bat. It seemed to be a smart move when, before I'd even taken my seat, Vernon Philander removed ex-England opener Marcus Trescothick.
The South African test star has struggled to settle since joining the county but really got his teeth into the action today, with tight probing bowling that maybe deserved even more success than was shown by his final figures of 4-56. Luke Wood ably assisted Philander but Jake Ball and Harry Gurney struggled to keep the pressure on the visitors and it looked like Somerset would head to lunch having seen off the worst of the early morning pressure.
Then up stepped Steven Mullaney. He relished the conditions and made a breakthrough by beating Johann Myburgh for length, just when a half century was in his grasp. His partner James Hildreth then fell to Philander - the third of seven batsmen clean bowled during the day - as the game turned. The icing on the cake for the home side was provided when Tom Cooper came and went - just like that! - for a five-ball one, another victim of Mullaney. 101-5 made it Notts' morning.
After a nice lunch time pint - the Belhaven Golden Bay in the Pavilion - I expected (and hoped) Chris Read's men might turn the screw and limit the visitors to at least below 250, but it wasn't to be.
Some excellent aggressive hitting from Peter Trego (41) and that perennial fly in the ointment James Allenby (64) wrestled control back for Somerset, their efforts taking them to 241-8 before James Overton strode to the crease and stole the show.
The tall number 10 powered his way to the sort of quick scoring innings that wouldn't have been amiss in a Twenty20, with 11 4s in an impressive 31-ball 55. It was only when Gurney finally bowled full and straight that his damaging knock came to an end after tea. Still, when Luke Wood smashed Tim Groenewald's stumps to finish the innings off, Somerset would surely have been delighted with their total of 312.
Notts then faced a tricky 24 overs before the end of the day. Steven Mullaney seemed to ride his luck a little and, just when he was starting to settle, fell to a slightly harsh looking lbw decision. Debutant Greg Smith then added just 8 before himself falling lbw to a decision that appeared more clear cut.
Then, with two Taylors at the crease, it was a case of toughing it out against some tight bowling from Trego (8-4-17-0) and Groenewald (9-4-16-1). While the early overs gave a few too many 'leave-able' balls to the batsmen, this pair had the bit between their teeth by the end - vociferously appealing a couple of close lbw shouts against Brendan Taylor. As the spectators shivered in increasingly cool conditions and the floodlights were called upon to lift the gloom, both Taylors just about clung on, Brendan ending on 11 off 73 balls.
And that was that. It's probably curious to fans of other sports to leave a day's action with nothing decided but seeing the ultimate result isn't necessary to enjoy the cricket. If the weather forecast is to be believed then it may be a struggle to get a result in this game in the next three days but that didn't matter today. Good cricket, good company and a great setting all made for an enjoyable day. More people ought to learn to love the appeal of this gem of the British summer.
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