With the title already in Yorkshire’s hands, the main focus this week was on the relegation battle. For Worcestershire, it was simple: beat Durham to survive.
They also needed to beat the weather, which was wreaking havoc across England. Indeed, Worcester’s first innings spanned the first three days, then the scoring rates picked up as the away side tried to set a challenging target for Durham on the final day. Unfortunately for them, Dave Richardson (65 not out) and the reliable Steve Borthwick (99) were too good for the Worcester attack and duly clinched victory in their last match of the season.
At the Ageas Bowl, Hampshire also enjoyed a good start, Liam Dawson’s 140 contributing to a 400 score. A weakened Yorkshire struggled in response but more rain meant Hampshire needed an early declaration and a forfeited second innings to contrive a result. At 37-3, the home team looked like taking a giant stride towards safety. However, Andrew Gale and Jack Leaning put on 190 for the fourth wicket, not only denying Hampshire victory but also five valuable points for a draw.
Just along the South Coast, Sussex were hosting Somerset, starting on an equal footing. Ed Joyce chose to bat and both sides could be satisfied with h situation at lunch on day 2. Mike Yardy scored a century on his final appearance at Hove, but Somerset bowled them out. With rain wiping out day three and no risky declarations on the agenda, it was all about bonus points. A flawless double-hundred from Marcus Trescothick took them past 400 then, once Peter Trego also reached three figures, a declaration was offered by Tres. Although Sussex had claimed only one bowling point, the captains shook hands and Somerset finished two points ahead.
There was even less play at Edgbaston, where James Taylor’s 164 was the highlight of Nottinghamshire’s draw with Warwickshire.
In next week’s final round of fixtures, Hampshire must beat Notts at Trent Bridge and hope neither Sussex nor Somerset also win their games versus Yorkshire and Warwickshire, respectively. They will also be praying for washouts at Headingley and Taunton to keep the bonus points down!
In Division Two, the promoted pair of Surrey and Lancashire met at Old Trafford, and it was the former who had the better of the drawn encounter. They declined to enforce the follow-on, allowing Kumar Sangakkara to score his 54th first-class hundred and set the home county 492 to win. The match ended with the score at 195-7, Hameed having produced a valuable 91. Having been called up by England, Surrey’s Zafar Ansari scored 99 but a dislocated finger prevented him from bowling. Meanwhile, James Anderson made his first county championship appearance of the year and took the three wickets needed to reach 700 in his first-class career.
The only match to produce a positive result was at Leicester. Despite losing the first two days to rain, both sides negotiated a target of 307 for Essex in the final two sessions. This they managed, largely thanks to Nick Browne. The opener struck his fifth century of the season to take his side up to third in the table. They’ve done particularly well since coach Paul Grayson resigned!
There wasn’t much to shout about at Northampton, especially for Glamorgan. Wicketkeeper, captain and stand-in opener Mark Wallace retired hurt early on and this could end his amazing run of 230 consecutive Championship matches dating back to 2001. Young Welsh batsman David Lloyd enjoyed a career-best 92. Only fifteen overs were possible in the Kent v Gloucestershire contest. Kent must be relieved the 2015 season has finished. They did at least avoid the wooden spoon with a few recent victories.
Team of the Week: Trescothick (Som), Browne (Ess), Borthwick (Dur), J Taylor (Not), Dawson (Ham), Yardy (Sus), Trego (Som), Foster (Ess +), Kleinveldt (Nor), T Curran (Sur), Barker (War)
