Ohh, Lancy-Lancy! Lancy-lancy-lancy-lancy Lancashire! There must have been many such chants this evening after Glen Chapple's side finally overcame Somerset to clinch their tenth win of the season and their first outright County Championship title since 1934. Their opposition made them work hard for it, but they also had Hampshire to thank.
At Edgbaston, Warwickshire had been buoyant after making Hampshire follow on, but another big partnership between Carberry and McKenzie took their team to safety, albeit only in the context of this game. In the bigger picture, Hampshire finished bottom of Division One, their recent strong performances coming too late to stave off relegation. Despite Durham's 151-run win over Worcestershire, Warwickshire still could have won the pennant if Lancashire failed to win at Taunton, and that was the likely scenario while Peter Trego and Murali Kartik were batting together. Spinners Keedy and Kerrigan threw everything at them but a rare patient century by Trego and a spirited 65 not out from the Indian frustrated the title chasers for much of the final day.
When the home resistance finally ended, Lancashire needed to employ T20-style batting tactics to reach their 211 target within the remaining time. However, they managed it thanks again to solid work from the top four led by Stephen Moore's 71 from 55 balls. he and Paul Horton put on 131 for the first wicket in 17 overs, then Stephen Croft and Karl Brown did the rest before the celebrations could begin.
It may be a double celebration because old rivals Yorkshire were already relegated, but few others would begrudge the Red Roses their moment of triumph. They are no longer one of the wealthy counties, and this achievement came mainly without big name signings from home or overseas. Maharoof contributed a few runs and wickets early on, but this game typified the strength of the side. Every player made double figures in the first innings, while Somerset's wickets were shared between spinners and seamers.
During the season, they scored remarkably few centuries between them, but Moore, Horton, Croft and Brown each aggregated over 1000 Championship runs. Keedy, Hogg and the redoubtable skipper Chapple each took more than 50 wickets, the latter two plus Simon Kerrigan finishing with averages below 20.
In Division Two, the top three sides all won their final fixtures, which meant that Middlesex finished as champions. Surrey claimed a maximum 24 points from their victory over Derbyshire, as Pragyan Ojha finished with 6-42 and another ten wickets in the match. However, Northants dropped two batting bonus points against Gloucestershire and, despite David Willey's ten wickets for just 75 runs, they missed promotion by a single agonising point, and big spenders Surrey will be in the top tier next summer, and will no doubt be contenders for the title. Mind you, I said that about Hampshire in April, and look what happened to them!
