County Cricket: Gay Day for Durham, Gloucester find Form

It was a strange week, results-wise. All four Division One fixtures were drawn, but all three in Division Two had a positive outcome – apart from the losers, of course! 

In the higher echelon, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire met at Trent Bridge for the chance to displace Somerset from the top spot. As elsewhere, batters were largely in the ascendancy. Ed Barnard (165) and Chris Woakes (64, 3-44) ensured Notts had to follow on, but the home side managed to bat out almost two days for the draw meaning Warwickshire leapfrogged Somerset by a single point. Haseeb Hameed followed his first-innings duck with a ton, Kyle Verreynne made 115, and both Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke added their second half-centuries of the match. 

There were five centuries at The Oval, and Essex opener Dean Elgar almost scored two. Surrey’s Dan Lawrence contributed 125 and three tail-enders in seven balls but Elgar and Westley spent almost fifty overs together on the final day. Batting was so easy that even wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was given a couple of overs, conceding just seven. 

At Headingley, both Yorkshire and Sussex racked up 500+ totals, including 136 for John Simpson and a 182 partnership between the Tykes’ Finlay Bean and Doncaster-born Aussie Sam Whiteman. A Simpson catch curtailed Joe Root’s innings four short of three figures but he then spent hours spinning his way to 3-67 although the draw was nailed on.  The same was true at Cardiff. In the battle of the new arrivals, Glamorgan racked up a decent 440 only for Leicestershire to establish a lead of 146, with the aid of centuries by Jonathan Tattersall and Jake Weatherald, who retired hurt on 104. 

They host Notts later this week, and Hampshire welcome Glamorgan, with neither yet to register a victory. Surrey are also winless so far and meet Sussex, while Somerset take on second-bottom Yorkshire. 

There may haven been little to satisfy the purists, or bowlers, in the top tier but it was totally different lower down. After being tonked three times already, Gloucestershire not only earned their first bonus points of the campaign but also proceeded to defeat Derbyshire by ten wickets. Miles Hammond top-scored with 145 but much of the damage was inflicted by Gloucester’s numbers nine and ten, Henry Brookes and Will Williams. Both narrowly missed out on hundreds but their 191-run ninth-wicket partnership very nearly knocked WG Grace off the records. Williams chipped in with five wickets, too. 

For the first three days, it was an exciting contest at Chester-le-Street, where leaders Lancashire were looking good for a third win of the season. Marcus Harris struck 146 on Friday, and James Anderson delayed his second innings declaration until ex-Durham all-rounder Paul Coughlin reached three figures by stumps on Sunday. It wouldn’t have mattered. Second time around, Emilio Gay and David Bedingham found batting a breeze, putting on 290 for the third wicket at a cracking pace. There’s now talk of Gay being called up for England this summer, which is probably the kiss of death to his career. 

Worcestershire made short work of Kent at New Road, where Garth Roderick took nine catches behind the stumps and seamer Tom Taylor claimed 5-56 to hasten Kent’s demise. The latter now encounter Derbyshire, and Durham will cement their position in the promotion hunt by beating Middlesex. 

Team of the Week:- Elgar (Ess), Gay (Dur), Hammond (Glo), Harris (Lan), Clarke (Not), Lawrence (Sur), Barnard (War), Simpson (Sus +), Raine (Dur), Willliams (Glo), T Taylor (Glo)

County Cricket: Somerset Rewdy and Abell

Somerset Rewdy and Abell 

Only four Championship fixtures this week, but they delivered a high degree of excitement over the four days. At the Rose Bowl, Hampshire and Somerset engaged in a tight game of cat-and-mouse, with little between them, and enough in the wicket to please batters and bowlers alike. Lewis Gregory returned to lead Somerset and eventually turned the game in their favour, but the result was in doubt well into the final day. 

James Rew struck 86 to take Somerset to a 50-run first-innings lead, then Hampshire were heading towards a potential 400 total until Gregory mopped up the last four wickets. His side still had a lot to do. A target of 288 was not going to be simple. However, good things happen when Rew and Tom Abell are together at the crease. They put on 89 but, even after Rew was caught behind for 59 and three more were despatched, Abell maintained admirable patience and determination and his eighth boundary brought up both his century and victory for Somerset. There is talk about England sniffing around young Rew but I hope they hold off until the county’s season is over, preferably with a maiden title in their grasp. Well, you can only hope…. 

There were only forty-one runs separating Warwickshire and Essex, too. Seamers were generally on top and 220 proved to be the highest total, and Beau Webster’s 91 the top individual score. Chasing 206 to win on the fourth day, Essex slumped to 21-4, their top three falling to the veteran Keith Barker, back in the Warwickshire side after a seven-season stint at Hampshire. Harmer and Akhtar offered some tail-end resistance but Webster broke both to earn the home side’s first success of the year. 

Barker is a mere spring chicken compared with James Anderson but the former England record-breaker bowled his way to another Team of the Week entry and Lancashire dealt Gloucestershire another Spring blow at Bristol. The home side did acquire their first bonus points of the campaign, but batting remains a huge problem. Anderson (3-12) and George Balderson (5-34) skittled Gloucester for 136 but Matt Taylor’s 6-43 kept them in the match. Second time around, Hammond and Bracey put on 148 for the fourth wicket to extend the game into the final day. At 46-3, Lancashire were tottering but Keaton Jennings’ second 70+ score guided then home by four wickets. 

At Wantage Road, there was no repeat of Northants’ rampant run glut but batsmen were too dominant to prevent a draw. Nathan McSweeney struck a second successive ton and James Sales stroked his way to 164 but, in their second outing, Middlesex safely batted through four sessions to seal the draw. Sam Robson shared a couple of century partnerships with Holden and Du Plooy on his way to 162, falling to Guthrie shortly before the curtain fell. 

Lancashire will extend their Division Two lead next week, travelling to Durham, while it will be the Derbyshire attack eager to rip into the Gloucester line-up. 

Team of the Week:-  Jennings (Lan), Robson (Mid), J Rew (Som +), Bracey (Glo), Abell (Som), Sales (Nor), Gregory (Som), Balderson (Lan), M Taylor

County Cricket: Procter’s Lotta Runs, Sussex Success

Big totals and career bests peppered the domestic cricket scoreboards this week, while Sussex made it two out of two. They were second-best at home to Warwickshire, although Fynn Hudson-Prentice took six wickets to keep their final-day target within reach. An unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 144 between Jack Leaning and Tom Price saw them home. 

However, thanks to their pre-season points deduction, they sit third behind Somerset and Nottinghamshire. The former came away from Chelmsford a day early with a ten-wicket victory against the county which has pipped them to the title in recent years. Controversially, they invoked new injury substitution rules not once but twice. Fresh from plundering runs for the Second XI, white ball specialist Will Smeed made his first-class debut but it was stand-in skipper Craig Overton who stole the show. In addition to four wickets, he crashed his highest score of 141 to establish a lead that Essex failed to dent. 

Champions Nottinghamshire got off the mark with a 192-run victory over promoted Glamorgan at Trent Bridge. Fergus O’Neill and Brett Hutton each took four first-innings wickets, then Joe Clarke (136) pressed home their advantage to set the Welsh side an improbable target of 478. Tribe and Crane offered some resistance until left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White mopped up the tail. Having suffered badly in the opening fixture, Hampshire recovered to hammer Yorkshire at Headingley. Jake Lehmann, son of Aussie star Darren, scored 76 and 92, but it was their South African stalwart, Kyle Abbott, who produced his latest Team of the Week performance, with match figures of 10-70. 

At The Oval, Surrey looked good for success against Leicestershire, as Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope each notched welcome tons. However, their achievements were placed into perspective by the opposition’s reply. Opener Rishi Patel (164), ‘keeper Ben Cox and new recruit Stevie Eskinazi all made centuries of their own to boost the team total to 691. However, the bat-friendly pitch ensured there would be no fourth-day collapse by Surrey, and the current England pair added 80+ to their names to secure a draw. 

Sussex and Notts now have a blank week, so Somerset could open up a significant lead should they beat Hampshire at the Rose Bowl. 

In Division Two, Gloucestershire’s miserable start continued, again failing to register a single bonus point with bat or ball. They lost another game by an innings, this time by Durham. Ex-England under-19 captain Ben McKinney scored 244 and shared a triple-century partnership with Alex Lees, which was almost as many as Gloucester could manage in both innings. 

Northamptonshire’s batting was even more extraordinary. Their top four batsmen racked up a humungous aggregate of 684-2 and may well have reached a thousand without a declaration. Captain Luke Procter called time when unbeaten on 264, and was rewarded when Harry Conway claimed 5-36 as Kent’s batting fell apart. Following on, Ben Compton scratched together 114 but Kent really avoided defeat courtesy of the wet weather which descended on Canterbury on Monday. 

Jimmy Anderson was at it again, adding six wickets to his season’s tally, including a decisive 4-18 to complete an exciting 29-run success against Derbyshire. Marcus Harris also contributed 191 runs to the Red Rose cause. In the other match, there were no centuries and only three fifties as Worcestershire narrowly beat Middlesex. It seems strange seeing Oliver Hannon-Dalby out of the Warwickshire side but the 36-year-old seamer was the pick of Worcester’s attack, while the ever-reliable Jake Libby top-scored with 79. Later this week, Middlesex face the Northants run machine, while Gloucestershire must hope to leap out of the traps for a change against Lancashire to prevent another capitulation. 

Team of the Week:-  Procter (Nor), McKinney (Dur), J Smith (Sur), Pope (Sur), Lehmann (Ham), Cox (Lei +), C Overton (Som), Abbott (Ham), Hudson-Prentice (Sus), Conway (Nor), Anderson (Lan)

County Cricket: Critchley and Rew off to Another Flier

Luckily for the cricketing fraternity, Storm Dave subsided just in time for the new County Championship season, even if Chester-le-Street required some residual tidy-up, causing a delay in Durham’s opener against Kent. 

This time last year, I confidently predicted success for Surrey and Lancashire and naturally I was wrong. I’ll stick with them for topping their respective divisions in 2026. Mind you, Surrey’s bowling is currently nowhere near as star-studded as their batting. They struggled early on against Warwickshire, for whom Dan Mousley top-scored with 144. Only Ben Foakes’ 128 kept Surrey in the game on day one, but Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrence held their nerves to lodge tons of their own and see out the draw. 

Champions Nottinghamshire didn’t have it all their way, either, ceding the initiative to their hosts, Somerset. Toms Abell and Kohler-Cadmore, plus James Rew were in fine form with the bat and the latter, at barely 22, already boasts twelve first-class hundreds. He opened the 2025 campaign in similar fashion. Captain Craig Overton delayed the fourth-day declaration for far too long to stand any chance of winning. 

Essex all-rounder Matt Critchley was another who, as last year, was quick out of the blocks. He tonked Hampshire’s attack for 173 before destroying their second innings efforts with a return of 5-9. Leicestershire’s surprise return to Division One resulted in a heavy defeat at home to Sussex. Tom Clark was the game’s only centurion, but the star performer was the county’s academy graduate Henry Crocombe, whose pace netted him a match aggregate of 9-69. After a twelve-point deduction, Sussex will be relieved to have a positive number on the board. 

The other promoted side, in the top tier for the first time since 2005, more than held their own. Glamorgan brought Division One cricket back to Cardiff and it was 40-year-old Colin Ingram who showed the way in each innings against Yorkshire, for whom Dom Bess took seven wickets. The home side’s Mason Crane went one better, including a five-fer. Jonny Bairstow was one of the first players to be replaced under the competition’s experimental substitution rule after he injured a finger early on. 

In Division Two, Middlesex trounced Gloucestershire by an innings. Skipper Leus du Plooy racked up 182 before unleashing his bowlers. Veteran Toby Roland-Jones took 5-37 then, with Gloucester following on, it was Ryan Higgins and teenager Sebastian Morgan who inflicted the damage. 

It was an excellent week for anyone called Anderson or Andersson. At 43, James rolled back the years for Lancashire, claiming eight Northants victims. The Red Roses were heading for a surefire victory, but on the final day, George Bartlett marshalled the tail brilliantly to avoid defeat, even if it left him high and dry on 95 not out. Credit, too, to team-mates McManus and Sanderson for digging in so effectively in the closing stages. Emilio Gay was 2026’s first ton-maker in Durham’s draw against Kent, while Derbyshire’s Martin Andersson notched the opening double-hundred. He put on 273 for the fifth wicket with Luis Reece as the county declared on 625-8. Kent passed 300 on both occasions but needed the solid batting of Brookes, Waite and Taylor to secure the draw. 

Team of the Week:-  L. Wells (Lan), Lategan (Wor), Du Plooy (Mid), Mousley (War), J Rew (Som +), Ingram (Gla), Critchley (Ess), Andersson (Der), Roland-Jones (Mid), Crocombe (Sus), Anderson (Lan)

International Team of 2025

Despite all the dire predictions of its imminent demise, I applaud the persistence of international cricket, in particular the traditional red-ball formats. The franchise stuff continues to rake in sponsorship and TV cash but when leading countries accept the opportunity and challenge of a series spanning more than three Tests, cricket invariably rises to the occasion. If only other nations could embrace take note of England’s battles against India at home and the ongoing Ashes barney in Australia, producing high drama and great entertainment lasting several days, although a few Aussie groundsmen seemed hell bent on preparing Test match pitches geared to a T20 duration. 

Australia ended the year atop the ICC Test rankings but were undone in the World Test Championship Final at Lord’s. In a low-scoring encounter in June, South Africa, fired by Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada, at last scooped a major trophy. Both sides defeated India in five-day cricket series, while the Aussies inflicted an ignominous humbling of West Indies in Kingston, reducing their second innings to 27 all out. Mitchell Starc took 6-9. At the other end of the scale, England took the Indian attack for 669 at Old Trafford and Australia plundered their Sri Lankan hosts for 654-6 at Galle. 

I am amazed and encouraged by the plethora of nations participating in T20 internationals around the world. Many of them rely on the Asian diaspora but it’s great to see the likes of Austria, Bahrain and Rwanda playing so much cricket. However, I am not sure what their attendances are like. 

In women’s cricket, Australia barely broke sweat to take the multi-format Ashes without a single victory for England. However, Alyssia Healy’s squad were unexpectedly defeated by Harmanpreet Kaur’s India in the World Cup. The delight on their faces in triumph was a joy to behold. 

India also picked up the ICC Champions Trophy, but only after being allowed to play their fixtures in Dubai rather than Pakistan. The small-scale tournament contained its share of surprises, not least Afghanistan’s historic victory over England, whose Bazball boasting produced not silverware but nul points. Perhaps England weren’t as good as they thought they were…. 

So what about my Team of the Year? In first-class cricket, nobody outscored KK Nair or took more wickets than Mohammed Abbas. West Indian batters Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope seemed to be everywhere in T20. Compatriot Jason Holder garnered 97 T20 victims, the most by anybody in a single year.

Neither South Africa nor New Zealand played much Test cricket but their players nonetheless made an impact on the world stage. For the Proteas, Markram and Rickelton made runs, while Jansen and Maharaj looked dangerous with red ball in hand. The Black Caps’ Matt Henry was the top wicket-taker in ODIs and Daryl Mitchell proved himself one of the best batters. 

A new record was set by NZ openers Devon Conway and Tom Latham when they each scored a ton in both innings against the Windies in December, and Wiaan Mulder opted to avoid what he considered an undeserved place atop the list of individual Test match innings. On 367 not out, and Brian Lara’s world record at his mercy, he declared South Africa’s first innings against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo. Many criticised him, and I understand why, but to cricket fans, any record achieved against a side as weak as Zimbabwe’s would inevitably come with a mental asterisk against it. 

For openers, KL Rahul and Travis Head are leading contenders. The Indian remained a formidable scorer in Tests and ODIs, and the South Australian proved to be a brutal hitter in any format. He may be inconsistent but saves his best performances for the biggest stage, not least when promoted as emergency opener in the ongoing Ashes series. NZ’s Rachin Ravindra announced himself in the Champions Trophy, nailing down the opener’s spot. 

Shubman Gill was a revelation with the bat in England and was by far the most prolific batter in men’s Tests, albeit 17 shy of the 1,000 mark. Who needs Rohit or Kohli? Harry Brook is clearly hammering on Joe Root’s door as the premier Yorkshireman in cricket but 2025 was the senior man’s year. His 805 Test tally was pretty useful but he surpassed that in ODIs: 808 was superior to anyone else’s. The unbeaten 138 at Brisbane filled a glaring gap in his CV and only Tendulkar has more Test career runs. Root’s average tops 50 and he now claims 22,000 runs in England colours across all senior formats. I don’t normally dwell long on T20 specialists but even I cannot ignore the splash created by Indian Abhishek Sharma, who ended the calendar year with a T20 strike rate above 200. Not even the likes of Gayle or De Villiers managed that but, as boundaries shrink, scoring continues to accelerate. 

Aussie Alex Carey‘s brilliance behind the stumps and decent return with the bat cemented himself as the best ‘keeper in Test cricket and, for me, Ravi Jadeja retains his all-rounder spot in 2025, although he seemed to improve his batting at the expense of his left-arm spin. Ben Stokes demonstrated that he is not finished yet, but fitness issues restricted his appearances to major Test series. 

Last year, bowlers could claim to receive a bum deal. Jasprit Bumrah was given some much-deserved breathing space, allowing Mohammed Siraj to capture 43 Test wickets. Jofra Archer’s return to England’s attack was hailed as the Second Coming but, although miracles weren’t forthcoming, the old fore and pace were much in evidence. However, that old Aussie warhorse Mitchell Starc was relentlessly brilliant, hoovering up 55 wickets in eleven Tests at barely 17, driving the Barmy Army nuts. 

Amongst slower bowlers, it was also nice to see Simon Harmer back in the South African Test fold at the age of 36. In the series success against India, he finished with a superlative seventeen wickets at a mere 8.94 apiece. However, my attention has strayed to the women’s game for my final pick. England may not have enjoyed the best year but Sophie Ecclestone had no peers when it came to limited-overs spin bowling, and she is still only 26. 

My 2025 Team of the Year:

Ravindra (NZ), Head (Aus), A Sharma (Ind), Shubman Gill (Ind), Root (Eng), Carey (Aus +), Jadeja (Ind), Starc (Aus), Henry (NZ), Siraj (Ind), Ecclestone (Eng). 12th: Rickelton (SA)

Ashes 2nd Test: A Starc reminder for England

Living in the UK, during the weeks leading up to the Ashes, I could have been forgiven for believing that England’s 5-0 whitewash was in the bag. The Aussies were no-hopers, their pace attack either crocked or simply past it. Just hand over the urn now, knighthoods and bonuses all round. Cheers! 

Who needs practice? Just turn up, let the batters whack it around the boundary and the bowlers reduce Steve Smith et al to nervous wrecks. It doesn’t matter whether the ball is white, red or pink; Bazball rules, ok? 

Then came the Perth debacle. In truth, both sides struggled with the pitch. After the first day, the ‘papers and websites lauded the pace of Carse, Archer and Stokes. Crawley, Root and Smith would come good on day two and the tourists would be celebrating three days early. 

Oops! Crawley bagged a pair, Brook lasted only three deliveries and his Yorkshire brother-in-arm played on to Mitchell Starc for eight. Top score was Gus Atkinson’s 37. Never mind. Unleash the speedsters! Khawaja’s injury brought more optimism, but the promoted Travis Head was having none of it. Ably supported by Marnus Labuschagne, he made a mockery of this relentless marketing maelstrom by slamming an 83-ball 123. No bowlers were spared the Head treatment. Inside two days, it was 1-0 to Australia. 

On to Brisbane, where history isn’t kind to England. But – hey! – we have the fastest pace attack in Ashes history! Well, at least the Second Test lasted four days but the result was the same: an eight-wicket triumph for the hosts. Despite a plethora of runs, there was only one century and, Ironically, it flowed from the bat of Joe Root whose lack of a ton Down Under had been an over-stressed stain on his fantastic Test record. He was left unbeaten on 138, proving that class is permanent. 

When Australia batted, nobody could get close to three figures but, in a Test rarity, everyone reached double-figures. Five passed fifty, and on day two they compiled runs at a rate which would have had Brendon McCullum purring were it his own batters at work. The bowlers wilted, simple catches were spilled all over the place. The England second innings saw Michael Neser grabbing the headlines with two caught-and-bowleds, and a succession of poor strokes edging behind to Carey and Smith. 

England’s woes were epitomised yesterday by the chirping of Archer toward Steve Smith. Even that pathetic sledging failed, as the stand-in skipper was motivated to hook another bouncer for six and clinch victory with a controlled pull from Atkinson for another. 

So what next? I am no fan of England’s cricket but even I am surprised by their embarrassing performances so far. As for the coach’s suggestion that his squad practised too much, it’s laughable. Of course, England could fire on all cylinders at Adelaide. Root, Brook, Pope, Smith and Duggett have made big scores before, and Aussie pitches can aid our bowlers. However, the Bazball strategy can only take you so far. Selecting batters based on their Hundred strike rates and bowlers purely based on their speed gun stats is, in my opinion, ridiculous. 

I know I’m old-fashioned, and fume at the proliferation of T20 and the shortening of boundaries, but you need a Plan B, C or even D, depending on the players available, the conditions and the opposition. For too long, England have relied on sledging, bouncers, Root’s runs and Stokes’ big-stage heroics. Skills can still be honed, but there are many other sub-90mph bowlers and experienced spinners available on the county circuit ready and willing. 

As for Australia, they have performed admirably, uniting the nation against the Barmy Army. Aged 31, Weatherald has enjoyed a solid start to his Test career, Alex Carey has been as brilliant behind the stumps as Smith has been poor, while Boland, Doggett and Neser have compensated for the absence of Cummins and Hazelwood. Then there is ‘past-it’ Mitchell Starc. A six-fer in three successive Tests, a trio of Player of the Match awards and a top score of 77 at Brisbane. His career wicket tally has eclipsed Wasim Akram’s to make him the most prolific left-arm seamer in history. Smith collects records for runs and catches but the tall Sydney man deserves more credit than he receives. Tests, ODIs, T20, he excels in all formats. A glut of Aussie retirements cannot be far away but it is Starc who will be missed the most.

County Cricket: My Team of 2025

While I must admit that the highlight of the domestic cricket season was the sterling five-Test contest between England and India, the county season threw up a few welcome surprises. Surrey’s stellar squad failed to win anything, last season’s strugglers Nottinghamshire pipped them for the title at the death, my Somerset boys converted white-ball talent into Blast success and Worcestershire combined Championship relegation with victory in the One-Day Cup. Oh, and Jimmy Anderson tried – with mixed results – to reinvent himself as a supreme Twenty20 exponent. The IPL franchises were unimpressed but Lancashire were more obliging.

Now for my annual review of the stand-out performers on the county circuit. The Hundred doesn’t count, obviously. In arriving at my final Eleven, I looked at consistency across formats while prioritising the Championship ahead of the Blast and then the 50-over competition which was bereft of the one-day aces who preferred to spend their August earning larger salaries in The Hundred. 

Openers 

Ben Compton’s 1,386 runs at an average of 60 were the rare jewels in Kent’s miserable summer. Talking of which, Derbyshire’s Caleb Jewell was the top scorer across all three county competitions. He made only one of my Teams of the Week but accumulated his runs efficiently and consistemtly. Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed may have been discarded by Engand selectors years ago, but they were the outstanding openers in Division One. Sibley reached a triple-century out of a massive 820-9 against Durham but in the same match, Alex Lees scored a ton in each innings. Lees just failed to notch 1,000 runs in the four-dayers but had a fruitful T20 campaign. Tom Banton astonished everyone by cracking 371 against Worcestershire at the start of April but couldn’t maintain that throughout Somerset’s season.

Middle Order

Old favourites Wayne Madsen and Colin Ingram showed no signs of slowing down. The 41-year-old Derbyshire stalwart averaged 57 in Division Two adding 431 in the short stuff. Ingram’s Glamorgan colleague Kiran Carlson had an excellent 2024 but was even better this year, especially as the county achieved its first promotion in yonks. Northamptonshire had a rotten time, but nobody scored more Championship runs than their 27-year-old left-hander, Saif Zaib. Max Holden had a few golden moments for Middlesex, James Coles of Sussex made plenty of runs, as did Essex’s Tom Westley, while Hampshire’s Toby Albert topped the batting charts in the Blast, and his counterpart Nick Gubbins did the same in the One-Day Cup. However, my next member of the team of 2025 is Jack Haynes of county champs Notts. He struck four first-class hundreds and boasted a healthy strike rate in one-day cricket, too. 

All Rounders 

Ryan Higgins and Liam Dawson weren’t quite up to their traditional levels but there was no shortage of quality batting all-rounders on the circuit. Notitnghamshire’s Lyndon James included a double-century in his 2025 CV while Tom Lammonby of Somerset saved his best performances for when they really mattered. Lewis Gregory continued to deserve Somerset fans’ adoration, particularly when he whacked the winning six in the Blast final. Ben Kellaway and Rehan Ahmed added considerable runs to their customary spin bowling, and young Ethan Brookes of Worcestershire looked a useful player in both red and white-ball formats. However, my pick is Warwickshire’s Ed Barnard, mostly for his runs in a year when Hain, Davies and Yates didn’t often deliver.

Wicket-Keeper 

Lewis McManus claimed more victims (20 than anyone else in the Blast, while Garth Roderick topped the charts in the Championship, but their batting wasn’t quite up to scratch. James Rew of Somerset looked back to his best and even enjoyed some useful middle-order partnerships with younger brother Thomas. However, like last year, the wicketkeeping slot comes down to a fight between James Bracey (Gloucs) and John Simpson (Sussex). A third of Bracey’s runs came in the One-Day Cup but the South Coast skipper contributed everywhere, excelling in first-class cricket, both with gloves and willow, averaging 60 in his side’s push for fourth place.

Bowlers

Five men took at least fifty Championship wickets, and three of them make my XI. It wasn’t an easy decision. Ben Sanderson (Northants) and Riley Meredith (Somerset) were the most prolific in T20, Ben Allison (Worcs) in the One-Day Cup, while Ben Green (Leics) picked them up in all three competitions.

The evergreen Kyle Abbott ended the Championship season with almost identical figures to those of 2024 and is an automatic selection. Ben Raine’s seam bowling bailed Durham out of a few holes, also contributing useful lower-order runs. George Hill (Yorks) and Luis Reece (Derbys) achieved the half-century with eye-catching sub-20 averages. Spin wasn’t really to the fore this summer. Even Simon Harmer struggled so, for a second consecutive year, I am delighted to induct Somerset’s Jack Leach into the 2025 Eleven. He rarely featured in limited-overs but in the long-form the ex-England left-armer worked hard all season. Surprise bowler of the season must be Tom Taylor. Before April was out, Worcestershire looked doomed, but the 30-year-old plugged away throughout. Nobody took more wickets – 78 in total, including fifteen in the Blast. 

Like the whole country, players and fans alike, I have no idea what the hell is happening to county cricket next year. However, here is my hotly-awaited County XI of 2025;- 

Jewell (Der), Lees (Dur), Haynes (Not), Carlson (Gla), Barnard (War), Zaib (Nor), Simpson (Sus +), Abbott (Ham), Raine (Dur), Taylor (Wor), Leach (Som)

Just missed out: Brookes (Wor), Madsen (Der), Bracey (Glo +), B Green (Lei)