It was a cracking week for Warwickshire. It ended with securing a place in the CB40 final but earlier they had the better of a Championship draw with rivals Nottinghamshire. Rain having wiped out the second day, an unbeaten 151 from Tim Ambrose helped Troughton declare with more than 500 on the board knowing they couldn't lose. They might even have won had Alex Hales and Chris Read not shared a fifth wicket stand of 222 to avoid the follow-on. The result leaves Notts 28 points adrift in third place. Even if they gain revenge in the return game at Trent Bridge, it may not be enough to prevent Warwickshire raising the champions' pennant at Edgbaston next aeason.
Sussex remain second despite not playing, but Middlesex leapfrogged Somerset into fourth by beating Worcestershire by five wickets. Daryl Mitchell had carried his bat for the home side, with 133, but two five-fors by Toby Roland-Jones ended Middlesex's relegation fears. As in most of the UK, Wednesday was a wash-out at Taunton, but batsmen were in charge. England bad-boy got frustrations out of his system, scoring 163 in 168 balls on day one, while colleague Arun Harinath reached three figures as the match petered out on day four. This was Somerset's tenth draw of a soggy summer. In the other Division One fixture, only two innings were completed at Liverpool. Durham skipper Paul Collingwood struck his 26th first-class century in the draw.
Hampshire may be riding high in the one-day competitions but their week's rest in the Championship meant they slip to fourth in Division Two. Derbyshire had a hard-fought context with Essex and the draw keeps them 19 points ahead of the rest. Yorkshire returned to second by beating Gloucestershire in a contrived finish. Gale and Lyth served up declaration bowling but Anthony McGrath saw them home to win by two wickets.
Kent leapt to second with an easy defeat of Leicestershire. Darren Stevens' 5-35 starred as they bowled out the opposition on the final day. As usual, Cardiff saw more almost as much rain as cricket, but Glamorgan poked their noses above Gloucestershire at the bottom of the table having drawn against Northants, for whom opener Niall O'Brien struck a career-best 182.
An exciting finale could yet emerge but who's to be against the weather gods from deciding the winners?!
