Darren Pattinson, discarded by England, continues to take wickets with marked consistency in county cricket. Give him the new ball on an overcast day, the pitch green and damp, and he will most certainly do so. He took five for 40 and Andre Adams four for 39 as Somerset, at one stage 41 for seven, collapsed to be 106 all out. Nottinghamshire, the LV County Championship division one leaders, had a reasonable lead by the close.

This, then, was not the customary flat and true Taunton pitch. John Jameson, the ECB's pitch inspector who was present, took due heed of the fact that 16 wickets fell during the day, but he will not be reporting it. The significant rainfall in the West Country on Tuesday hampered the groundstaff's preparations and the humidity that assisted the bowlers in the morning did not make for comfortable occupation of the crease.

That said, there was scant excuse for Somerset to lose so many wickets so cheaply and, for that matter, for their specialist batsmen to be upstaged by a tailender. Steffan Jones struck six fours in his unbeaten 27, most of them off the middle of the bat. Others departed swiftly: Justin Langer, beaten by Charlie Shreck's in-swing and Marcus Trescothick, taken at gully off Pattinson, without moving his feet, for a start. The sorry procession continued with the middle order effectively giving catching practice to the in-field, Craig Kieswetter having his middle stump plucked out by Adams and Alfonso Thomas bowled shouldering arms.

It even seemed before lunch that Somerset would not surpass their lowest total against Nottinghamshire, 62. They did remove Matt Wood, returning to his old county, for a duck, but Samit Patel, with 56, including eight fours, and Mark Wagh, with 46, ensured that Nottinghamshire would have a first-innings lead. Patel in particular timed his drives delightfully, not least because the sun came out at times in the afternoon and the ball did not swing markedly.

Somerset did take the wickets of Adam Voges, leg before to one that Charl Willoughby did swing into him, and Graeme Swann, neatly picked up at second slip off Peter Trego, but Chris Read proved an effective partner for Patel. The pair added 74. The catch, incidentally, that Trescothick took to dismiss Swann was effortlessly taken, reminding us all - as if that were needed - just what England continue to miss.

Scoreboard

Somerset: First Innings
*J L Langer lbw b Shreck 1
M E Trescothick c Ealham b Pattinson 1
Z de Bruyn c Adams b Pattinson 9
J C Hildreth c Voges b Adams 13
P D Trego b Adams 1
I D Blackwell c Patel b Pattinson 1
C Kieswetter b Adams 18
A C Thomas b Adams 19
P S Jones not out 27
A R Caddick c Read b Pattinson 7
C M Willoughby c Shreck b Pattinson 7
Extras (lb 2) 2

Total (39.1 overs) 106

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-2, 3-23, 4-24, 5-25, 6-35, 7-54, 8-77, 9-90.

Bowling: Shreck 11-4-25-1; Pattinson 13.1-4-40-5; Adams 14-2-39-4; Ealham 1-1-0-0.

Nottinghamshire: First Innings
M J Wood c Langer b Caddick 0
B M Shafayat b Trego 25
M A Wagh c Thomas b Trego 46
S R Patel c De Bruyn b Thomas 56
A C Voges lbw b Willoughby 3
G P Swann c Trescothick b Trego 9
*C M W Read not out 33
M A Ealham not out 0
Extras (lb 5, nb 8) 13

Total (6 wkts, 47 overs) 185

A R Adams, C E Shreck and D J Pattinson to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-67, 3-82, 4-89, 5-108, 6-182.

Bowling: Caddick 12-2-61-1; Willoughby 14-3-37-1; Thomas 8-1-30-1; Trego 9-1-36-3; Jones 4-0-16-0.

Umpires: N G Cowley and B Leadbeater.