Often it's hard to find two outstanding performances by openi batsmen but this time there was an embarrassment of riches from which to pick. Thus I had to omit Chris Rogers (Middlesex, 203 not out), Jake Libby (Notts, 108 in only his third first-class match), Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent, 153) and Kane Williamson (two fine T20 innings for Northern Districts). In their place come Sussex's Chris Nash and Hampshire's Will Smith. Nash aggregated 263 runs in the victory over Nottinghamshire, including his first century of the summer. Smith's contributions were 11 and 142 not out, but that second innings score was the difference between draw and a defeat which would have left the county even more vulnerable to Essex in the promotion chase. In the context of Hampshire's whole season, that was superb.
Ed Joyce has enjoyed a great summer and in the penultimate round of Championship games, his second knock of 149, at almost a run a ball, set up what at the halfway stage had seemed an unlikely victory. James Hildreth has been a disappointment for Somerset in 2014 but he crafted a valuable 182 at Taunton against Middlesex. In the Test against Bangladesh, Shivnarine Chanderpaul boosted his career average even further with unbeaten scores of 84 and 101, but you can't accuse him of Boycott-esque greed this time; it was all in the cause of a routine win.
Ben Stokes contributed no weight of runs or clutch of wickets but he did OK in Durham's win against Northants and his 2-25 and 38 saw his side home to success in the Royal London Cup Final. My other all-rounder is the considerably less well-known Ben Raine. No, me neither! However, in the final of the Second Eleven competition at Chelmsford, the 23 year-old representing Leicestershire scored 208 and took 3-37 on the way to victory. The way the first XI have played this season and with their best players lured away by the big boys, watch out for him in the first-class arena in 2015.
In a week of excellent performances, Harvey Hosein's must be up there with the best, not only this week but the whole summer. At The Oval, the 18 year-old wicketkeeper claimed no fewer than eleven catches for Derbyshire - on his debut! Nobody has ever come near that, and only Bob Taylor has ever taken as much as seven in an innings for the county in their history. And he played for them for more than twenty years!
Derbyshire's Mark Footitt was the beneficiary of five of those dismissals, and he added nine wickets to his already impressive haul, more than anyone else in the Championship. However, my two remaining bowlers stand out; each took fifteen wickets in a single match. Chris Rushworth has plugged away all summer for Durham but nobody was expecting his 9-52 and 6-43 in the trouncing of Northants. He also contributed a useful 2-24 in today's cup final. Saqlain Sajib is another unsung hero, whose spin claimed 9-82 and 6-50 for Bangladesh versus Zimbabwe in an A international.
Congratulations, one and all:- Nash (Sus), Smith (Ham), Joyce (Sus, *), Hildreth (Som), Chanderpaul (WI), Stokes (Dur), Raine (Lei 2nds), Hosein (Der, +), Sajib (Ban A), Rushworth (Dur), Footitt (Der).
