County Cricket: Notts Too Hot for Surrey

As England’s heatwave faded, the County Championship re-emerged to provide plenty of drama. All nine fixtures produced results, as batsmen found life rather tough. Indeed, Daniel Lategan’s 144 was the highest individual score and, unusually for this day and age, no innings came anywhere near 500. 

Surrey still have only one victory to their name, as leaders Nottinghamshire came away from The Oval with a 145-run pounding. At halfway, the two were neck-and-neck but Joe Clarke’s 95 put the visitors in a strong position. Olly Stone took his match tally to ten wickets as the Surrey batting collapsed again, although Ollie Pope contributed more than half the total, last out for 111. 

Somerset remain second, defeating Essex at Taunton by eight wickets. Josh Thomas (110) and new recruit Henry Nicholls (96) led the way on day one, before Lewis Gregory destroyed the top order and Jack Leach chopped the tail. Allison and Critchley kept Essex in the contest, but there were four ‘c Abell b Leach’ entries on the scorecard. On the fourth day, Somerset knocked off the required 103 in under twenty overs. 

At Edgbaston, Warwickshire and Sussex fought a desperately tight encounter as the seamers made hay on the dry grass. Sean Hunt took nine Warwicks wickets but it was the cool head of Chris Woakes which steered his side over the line to win by just one wicket. Runs were in short supply at Southampton, too, especially on the first couple of days. Hampshire’s Kyle Abbott (4-17) and Yorkshire all-rounder George Hill (5-29) were in top form, then spinners took charge. Dom Bess wheeled away for 46 overs, ending on 5-103 and even opener Adam Lyth chipped in as Hampshire crumbled, 39 runs short. 

Only 770 runs were scored at Leicester, where the home side outlasted Glamorgan by 42. Kiran Carlson’s dismissal on 99 took the puff out of the Welsh dragon and his opposing skipper Ian Holland took charge. He proved almost unplayable, bowling twelve maidens and taking 5-19. Remarkably, Glamorgan still sit in a very respectable fourth place. 

Durham continue to dominate Division Two, and it was another all-rounder, Mr Ben Stokes, who caught the eye as they destroyed Derbyshire by 338 runs. He thrashed two half-centuries and claimed match bowling stats of 7-31. Ben McKinney’s second-innings 140 and Matthew Potts’ first-day 5-46 also played their part. Brydon Carse was less successful but at least he made the headlines in the evening by being led away from a sesh with Stokes and Potts in handcuffs. No drinking problem, eh?

It was very one-sided, too, at Old Trafford where Northamptonshire hammered Lancashire by 316 runs. Ricardo Vasconcelos top-scored but all the bowlers shared the wickets. At Cheltenham, the aforementioned Lategan and Jake Libby shared an opening stand of 244 as Worcestershire wrapped up an eight-wicket victory over bottom county Gloucestershire, but there were no tons at Northwood, where Kent beat Middlesex to occupy the second promotion slot. Matts Milnes and Quinn each eked out six London batsmen but player of the match was arguably the veteran Toby Roland-Jones despite finishing on the losing side. 

On Thursday, Kent travel to Northampton and at Chester-le-Street it is top v bottom, aka Durham against Gloucestershire. In the top tier, Somerset head to Hove but the tastiest tie is the Edgbaston clash between Warwickshire and leaders Notts. If Glamorgan dodge the forecast Cardiff showers and defeat Hampshire, they could yet threaten the top three. 

Team of the Week: Lategan (Wor), Thomas (Som), McKinney (Not), Pope (Sur), Critchley (Ess), Stokes (Dur), Cracknell (Mid +), Holland (Lei), Hunt (Sus), Stone (War), Potts (Dur)

Northants Bounce back to win the Blast

So Northamptonshire won the men’s Vitality Blast but it was a rollercoaster ride in the concluding week. The Steelbacks had dominated the Central/West group so ultimately it did not matter that they lost their last two games. The other two group leaders also stumbled across the qualification finish line. Hampshire were trounced by Essex, for whom Matt Critchley took 4-16, and it was Yorkshire’s seamers who inflicted most of the damage in beating Nottinghamshire. 

In the South division, Essex also defeated runners-up Surrey to nick one of the best third-place slots in the knockouts. Lancashire also took two out of two, including a 22-run Roses victory in which Mitchell Stanley claimed 4-30. He also caught Joe Root off Anderson’s bowling for just four. However, it obviously did the England man’s confidence no harm given his fabulous form in the ensuing India ODIs. As for the Red Roses, their efforts came too late to progress in the competition. 

In contrast, Somerset had to fight al the way to advance. They completed an improbable demolition double over Northants at Taunton before thumping Worcestershire by 78 runs at the same venue. Each were achieved on the foundations of barnstorming opening partnerships involving Will Smeed and Thomas Rew. 

It was more difficult for Somerset in their quarter-final with Yorkshire at Headingley. Pacemen Daniel Sams – who enjoyed an excellent week – Riley Meredith and Jake Ball limited Jonny Bairstow’s side to 161-9, but tables were turned when George Hill (2-12) and Hasan Ali (2-30) reduced the visitors to a quivering wreck on 82-8. Enter Craig Overton. With nothing to lose, he single-handedly engineered one of the most sensational winning comebacks in T20 history, clubbing 79 from 30 deliveries – including three sixes from Revis’s final over – to haul Somerset to their sixth successive Finals Day. 

Meanwhile, Hampshire sailed serenely on. Joe Weatherly was consistently strung all week but it was a masterful 125 from James Vince and a five-for from Sonny Baker who gained revenge on Essex in the last eight. The remaining matches were all quite low-scoring. At Trent Bridge, chasing 164, Surrey were in charge while Roy and Evans were racking up a century opening stand. However, they crumbled meekly in the last eight overs to fall seven short. Northants rediscovered winning ways at Wantage Road. Ben Sanderson’s 4-20 was the key bowling performance, and the batsmen picked off the required 153 with consummate ease. 

So to Edgbaston for Finals Day. Vengeance was sweet for Northants, avoiding a third loss to Somerset in a fortnight. The latter’s Ball and Meredith took seven cheap wickets to give themselves a clear chance of making another final only for Willey and Sanderson, supported by Sales and Harrison, to stifle the Rews. Tom Banton was released by England only to be caught behind first ball! Vince and Weatherley’s 126 for the second wicket underpinned a straightforward victory against Nottinghamshire and we had probably the most deserving counties playing out the evening climax. 

All twenty wickets fell, five of them to Hampshire’s Baker (again) and only Northants’ Ricardo Vasconcelos (88) and tournament top scorer Weatherley (75) passed 40. With seventeen needed from ten deliveries, four wickets in hand and Weatherley still at the crease, Hampshire looked favourites. However, all four fell at the death, and success was sealed when Sanderson bowled Baker. Cue the fireworks…. 

Team of the Week: Hughes (Sus), Vasconcelos (Nor), Vince (Ham), Weatherley (Ham), T Rew (Som +), Critchley (Ess), C Overton (Som), Jordan (Sur), Sams (Som), Sanderson (Nor), Baker (Ham). 

Over the fifteen fixtures, Northants were worthy winners. In addition to those mentioned here, Chris Lynn’s runs, including two tons, the economical leg-breaks and googlies from Calvin Harrison and the under-rated seam of James Sales all contributed strongly. 

My team of the tournament: Lynn (Nor), Vince (Ham), Weatherley (Ham), Donald (Der +), Webster (War), Livingstone (Lan), Willey (Nor), Hasan Ali (Yor), Currie (Ham), Harrison (Nor), Mohammad Ali (Not)

County Cricket: Nottinghamshire Cut it Fine in Blast

Northamptonshire’s 100% record in the Vitality Blast was finally ended, and it was bottom-placed Somerset who inflicted this damage on Northampton’s own ground. It wasn’t even close. Thomas Rew made another brisk fifty before Daniel Sams smashed an unbeaten 48 in only sixteen balls to set the home county 224 to win. They were never in the race, and young spinner Joshua Thomas ended his three-over stint with amazing figures of 4-6. 

Somerset enjoyed another successful awayday against Derbyshire, with Will Smeed’s 89 anchoring another 200+ total and Sams taking 3-29. Meanwhile, Northants climbed back on the bike to re-establish their twelve-point margin at the top of the Central/West group. They defeated Glamorgan at Cardiff, with Chris Lynn’s 117 and Calvin Harrison’s 3-20 the standout performances. 

With a good record in cross-group fixtures, the Central/West group is proving to be the strongest of the three, so whoever comes third will almost certainly qualify for the knockouts. Indeed, the fourth-placed county could well outpoint third in the other two regions, but that won’t help them! Worcestershire and Gloucestershire had a rollercoaster week, opening the door for Somerset to sneak back into second place. However, they will have to overcome Worcestershire and do the double over Northants to do so, whilst hoping Glamorgan get the better of Gloucestershire. Warwickshire look out of it, despite a thirty-run victory over Gloucester at Edgbaston. 

Their Pakistani off-spinner Usman Tariq had a great week, as did his compatriots Usama Mir (Worcestershire), Sufyan Maqim (Derbyshire) and Hasan Ali. However, it was veteran South African offie Simon Harmer who was the all-round star. Besides two typically mean bowling displays, he demonstrated to the Essex faithful his new role as destructive finisher. A 17-ball unbeaten 47 helped flatten Sussex, then his 56 not out was the sole ray of sunshine in the defeat to Middlesex. In the Sussex match, Sam Cook waved the flag for seamers with an excellent 4-7. Hampshire head the South group despite losing to Middlesex. Beating Essex at Chelmsford tonight should see them into the last eight. 

Up North, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire are in the box seats. Lancashire’s dramatic tie with Derbyshire did neither side any favours, and Durham’s penultimate ball loss to the White Roses cost them dearly. Nottinghamshire remain on top but they needed a couple of nailbiters. Lancashire needed four from Olly Stone’s final two deliveries but scrambled only two. Then, on Sunday, it was Mohammad Ali who held his nerve at the death to deny Durham, securing victory by the relatively comfortable margin of two runs. Adam Lyth’s 131 not out against Leicestershire is the highest individual score of the season so far.

It’s the Roses match-up at Old Trafford tonight, then on Sunday Yorkshire welcome the leaders to Leeds for the concluding league fixture. Three days later, it’s the quarter-finals and this year, the Finals Day is wrapped up the following weekend before the horrors of the Hundred are unleashed on us all. 

Team of the Week; Lyth (Yor), Lynn (Nor), Roy (Sur), Lees (Dur), Smeed (Som), T Rew (Som +), Harmer (Ess), Tye (Yor), Cook (Ess), J Thomas (Som), Usman Tariq (War)

County Cricket: No Stopping Northants!

With the Men’s Vitality Blast entering its final phase, Northamptonshire prolonged their 100%r record to an impressive eight games. They widened their lead in the Central and West to twelve points with two crushing victories over Essex and second-placed Gloucestershire. Calvin Harrison spun his way to a 5-9 return as Essex crumbled to a 130-run defeat and David Willey helped himself to eleven sixes across the week, seven of them in a blistering 32-ball 73 as he and Nathan Mc Sweeney blazed a 99-run stand to surpass Gloucester’s 184, in which Dawid Malan crunched an unbeaten 91. 

Gloucestershire also fell to Somerset in the West Country derby. After becoming derailed in the last sequence of T20s, Somerset seemed to have recovered with an 18-run victory, with James Rew utterly dominant, scoring 116 not out. However, on Sunday they came a cropper at Worcester. Rew senior again top-scored but their response to the home county’s decent 180 never really got going. 

In the same group, Warwickshire won both their fixtures at a canter, all-rounder Beau Webster making two half-centuries and picking up a couple of wickets. Opener Zen Malik came within one from a maiden white-ball hundred in their 59-run triumph over neighbours Worcestershire. Apart from Rew, the week’s only other centurion was Durham opener Alex Lees, whose 108 anchored an unassailable total of 218 against Middlesex. 

Nottinghamshire displaced Yorkshire as kings of the north, taking Kent and Leicestershire to the cleaners. Scottish one-day specialist George Munsey performed much of the heavy-duty scrubbing with innings of 82 and 75 without getting out. Lancashire had England regulars Salt, Buttler and Livingstone in harness for their defeat of Leicestershire but managed without the first two in overcoming Derbyshire by just four runs. 

Yorkshire were involved in even tighter finishes. At Southampton, Hampshire overhauled them with a Chris Wood six off the penultimate delivery then two days later shared the points with Derbyshire. Matthew Revis plundered 69 off 32 balls, including two final-over sixes, to achieve an improbable tie with a single from Akif Javed’s finale. 

The greatest run-fest of the week occurred at Chelmsford, where Essex and Surrey treated the crowd to 473 runs. Roy, Evans, Pope and Aussie signing Josh Philippe whacked most of Surrey’s 240 before Paul Walter gave the home side a cracking start. Wickets tumbled but a late-innings rally by Snater and Akhtar took Essex tantalisingly close. For such a high-scoring match, figures of 3-28 for both Reece Topley and Dan Lawrence were exceptional as the visitors won by seven runs. 

Hampshire top the South division despite being well beaten by Kent, for whom Grant Stewart took 4-32 and skipper Sam Billings carved an undefeated fifty from only 21 balls. Hampshire seek revenge at Southampton on Sunday, followed by Middlesex three days later. Can Northants maintain their rampant run of success? Only Somerset and Glamorgan stand in their way, while Gloucestershire are ready to close the gap should they emerge victorious against Surrey and Warwickshire. Still plenty to play for in he remaining fortnight’s group fixtures. 

Team of the Week; Munsey (Not), Lees (Dur), Willey (Nor), J Rew (Som), Webster (War), Billings (Ken +), Phillippe (Sur), Lawrence (Sur), Tye (Yor), Harrison (Not), Topley (Sur)

County Cricket: Cox Leads Essex Charge to the Top

It was a great return to first-class cricket for some of England’s finest wicketkeeper-batsmen, some of whom had a major influence on the positions at the congested summit of the County Championship. 

Jordan Cox prepared for his Test debut by pinging a double-century for Essex against Leicestershire, which propelled his county from fourth to first in Division One, although Paul Walter’s second-innings 110 laid the foundation for Essex’s last-day run chase. 

They benefited from a rare home defeat for Nottinghamshire at the hands of a resurgent Somerset. Another England debutant, James Rew notched another fifty, but it was his younger bother Thomas who struck his own maiden ton to follow a 68. 24-year-old South African opener Jordan Hermann also weighed in with his first Somerset century, while it was Craig Overton’s 5-29 which polished off the champions’ miserable match, losing by 306 runs. 

Yorkshire skipper Jonny Bairstow added another two half-centuries to his tally, while opening bat Will Luxton, thirteen years his junior, helped himself to 236 runs in the draw with Warwickshire, including a fine 167, his inaugural three-figure score in first-class cricket. His opponents were nowhere near reaching their fourth-day target, and were eight wickets down at the close. Sam Hain occupied the crease for well over four hours for his 69, which ultimately thwarted the Roses’ attack. 

At Hove, Sussex registered their fourth victory, finishing just a point behind Essex and two ahead of Somerset. They hammered Glamorgan by an innings, inspired by James Coles, who combined a career-best 224 not out with a decisive 3-34 in Glamorgan’s second innings which started well but ended with a whimper. 

Sussex now entertain neighbours Hampshire, while Somerset welcome Warwickshire to Taunton and reigning champs Nottinghamshire travel south to face the pretenders at Chelmsford. 

Durham remain clear in Division Two after thumping Derbyshire inside three days. Their total of 377 wasn’t massive but first Kasey Aldridge (5-19), then Matt Potts (8-66) broke any Derby hopes of rescuing a draw. Harry Came could at least hold his head high in defeat, carrying his bat for 105 over 95 overs and six hours. 

Northamptonshire kept in touch by handing Gloucestershire their sixth loss in the season so far. How they would welcome the return of Kane Williamson, whom I recall being interviewed on the regional news programme in Bristol fifteen years or so ago as a raw teenager learning his trade in a foreign land. Like everyone, I was shocked to read of his sudden international retirement in the middle of New Zealand’s Test series in England. Definitely one of the modern greats. Anyway, another of the week’s former England glovemen, James Bracey returned to form, his second-innings 148 not out ensuring Northants had to bat again.  Saif Zaib and Nathan McSweeney had made tons on day one but it was Calvin Harrison’s rapid unbeaten 92 on day four which clinched the winning bonus. 

Kent sit third after eclipsing Lancashire at Blackpool by 140 runs. Twenty-two wickets fell on the first day and Liam Livingstone, on his first Championship outing for five years, claimed five of them. However, in the final analysis, it was the Kent seamers who stole the show. Keith Dudgeon took 6-21 as Lancashire slumped to 87 all out. The home batsmen fared better next time out but Bangladesh’s Hasan Mahmud claimed 6-69 to seal the win by 140 runs. 

Middlesex’s margin of victory over Worcestershire was one better at New Road. Luis Du Plooy compiled the only three-figure score of the game, and Pakistan’s one-Test wonder Zafar Gohar enjoyed the best bowling figures with 6-31. Middlesex and Kent meet at Canterbury tomorrow, while the top two fight it out at Chester-le-Street. If he can stay out of the pub long enough, Ben Stokes is expected to get some batting practice for Durham. 

Team of the Week:-  Hermann (Som), Luxton (Yor), Cox (Ess), Coles (Sus), Du Plooy (Mid), T Rew (Som), Bracey (Glo +), C Overton (Som), Zafar Gohar (Mid), Potts (Dur), Hasan Mahmud (Ken)

County Cricket; Rew and Andersson have a Blast

The launch of 2026’s Vitality Blast campaign coincided with record-breaking May temperatures across much of the country, but it wasn’t all about sun-baked featherbed strips. The preliminaries are arranged in three groups of six, but with a few matches crossing over just to confuse matters. 

The North group is led by Durham and Yorkshire, although each had a close finish. Durham had an easy ride against Leicestershire but pipped Derbyshire by only six runs. Derbyshire also pushed Yorkshire to the limit at Headingley. Martin Andersson’s unbeaten 81 pushed Derby to 194-4, then Morley, Potts and Montgomery clipped the Tykes to 139-8. However, Tye and Hasan Ali defied the bowlers and odds to win the match with four balls to spare. At the time of writing, Derbyshire and Leicestershire are the only counties to play three games, and their Wednesday clash finally delivered victory to the Falcons. Their 230-5 was easily the highest total of the week, including another Andersson half-century. He then entered his county’s record books by taking a remarkable 6-23, the final pair caught-and-bowled from successive deliveries. 

Surrey and Kent are unbeaten in the South division. Lancashire were comprehensively Curran-ed at The Oval, and Surrey claimed London bragging rights by defeating Middlesex by six wickets at Lord’s. Sam Curran was there at the end on 71. Middlesex also concede 200 runs against Kent, and Zak Crawley’s 75 not out from a total of 199 versus Sussex was instrumental in a seven-wicket success. Another England big-hitter, Sam Billings, crunched 84 not out at Lord’s, the week’s second-highest score. 

His innings was eclipsed only by the indomitable James Rew of Somerset, who cruised to a couple of seven-wicket triumphs. The 21-year-old dominated his side’s run chase against the Birmingham Bears, caught by Woakes just seven short of a century. Northamptonshire sit top of the Central/West group on net run rate, assisted by a 100-run thumping of Worcestershire ay New Road. Calvin Harrison’s leg breaks earned him figures of 4-17. 

In the same league, Gloucestershire also made it two from two. Left-arm seamer Duan Jansen took seven wickets altogether, including 4-25 against the Bears, who slumped to a miserable 74 all out at Bristol. They were also involved in the most exciting finish so far. Chasing 157 against Glamorgan, they were struggling. Requiring fifteen from the final over, Matt Taylor went for broke but it took a thick edge from the final delivery to take the four points. 

100% records are sure to suffer during the next seven days. Yorkshire meet both Durham and Gloucestershire, who also meet Northants. Surrey welcome Kent (and Middlesex in the return derby clash) to the Oval, and Somerset take on Glamorgan home and away. 

Team of the Week:-  Lees (Dur), Crawley (Ken), Andersson (Der), J Rew (Som), Billings (Ken +), Montgomery (Der), T Curran (Sur), Jansen (Glo), Harrison (Nor), Hartley (Lan), Currie (Ham)

County Cricket: Surrey Thrashed, Somerset Thwarted

It is not often that Surrey get beaten, let alone dismantled by an innings. However, they returned from Leeds with tails between their legs and only two points to their total. Yorkshire had both Joe Root and Harry Brook in their ranks but it was former internationals Adam Lyth (141) and Jonny Bairstow (120) who underpinned the total of 468. In contrast, bowler Sean Abbott was the only batter who reached fifty in either of Surrey’s two innings, and England ‘keeper Jamie Smith contributed a solitary boundary and no catches. At least Brook took his wicket! 

Southern England suffered some unkind weather last weekend, and Southampton was no exception. Consequently, Hampshire and Nottinghamshire played out a damp low-scoring draw. After five half-centuries in six innings, Jake Lehmann finally reached three figures in the second innings but it was the seamers who shone brightest. Notts’ Fergus O’Neill claimed match figures of 8-86 and for Hampshire, England newbie Sonny Baker took 5-45, his best Championship return so far. 

Glamorgan’s fine form continued at Edgbaston, where they had the better of the stalemate with second-placed Warwickshire. After both openers fell with no runs on the board, Ben Kellaway (139) and Kiran Carlson put on 194 and, despite Oliver Hannon-Dalby’s 5-53, Glammy posted a useful 360. Last week’s hat-trick hero debutant Tom Norton took 4-48 to help his side to a healthy first-innings lead. Second time around, it was Colin Ingram with three figures and Ethan Bamber’s five-for, then rain called a halt with Warwickshire way short of their 368-run target and only two men down. 

Monday’s weather was even unkinder to Somerset at Taunton. Tom Abell (119) and Craig Overton (111) were again in the runs, propelling the home side to 526-8. Sussex opener Daniel Hughes’ 107 was the only score of note and, following on, the visitors were again listing badly at 113-7 when the covers came on and remained there. 

At Chelmsford, Essex and Leicestershire were evenly matched until Sam Cook and Shane Snater ripped Ben Cox’s team apart for just sixty runs on Sunday morning. Allison and Critchley saw Essex home by seven wickets with a day to spare. 

Division Two has been a right topsy-turvy affair so far. After six fixtures, all eight sides have won at least one, but only leaders Durham remain unbeaten. Only six points separate third and seventh but Durham were in trouble against struggling Kent at Beckenham for whom teenager Ben Dawkins easily eclipsed his opening partner Zak Crawley. An innings of 180 wasn’t bad for a maiden hundred! Crawley was Ben Stokes’s sole wicket, while Matthew Potts finished with a creditable 6-92. At 288-9 in reply, Durham were facing a likely follow-on, only for Ben Raine and Callum Parkinson to rescue the situation with a stand of 158, ended by Callum’s brother Matt when he bowled Raine for 106. 

Northamptonshire sit second after squeaking home against Gloucestershire by two wickets. Ben Sanderson (Northants) and Matt Taylor (Kent) shone with the ball, until Louis Kimber’s brisk 66 carried Northants towards a hard-won victory, and Gloucester to a fifth defeat. The latter have only three weeks before seeking revenge. With a Saturday washout, there was little to shout about for Lancashire’s clash with Worcestershire at Southport. The highlight seemed to be the break when Jimmy Anderson joined others in searching for the ball in the greenery through a boundary fence. Takes me back to my schooldays! 

At Lord’s, Derbyshire made it two wins in a row, with Ben Aitchison taking centre-stage. He followed a bowling return of 5-47 with a maiden century and a 208-run sixth-wicket stand alongside Wayne Madsen, who also reeled off first-class ton number 44. Leus du Plooy led a Middlesex fightback on Sunday, but Derby had plenty of time to knock off the required 122 to win, captain Madsen unbeaten on 31. 

The County Championship now endures a fortnight’s hiatus for a brief Blast of T20, which should bring some sun-kissed Bank Holiday weekend punters in.  

Team of the Week:-  Dawkins (Ken), Lyth (Yor), Northeast (Ken), Kellaway (Gla), Bairstow (Yor +), Aitchinson (Der), C Overton (Som), Snater (Ess), O’Neill (Not), M Taylor (Glo), Sanderson (Nor)

County Cricket: Champions on a Charge

Both the favourites for the 2026 County Championship won this week, leapfrogging Somerset into the top two positions. Reigning champs Nottinghamshire were too strong for Leicestershire, despite Ben Green’s career-best 7-112 and a Stevie Eskinazi century. For Notts, it’s current England international Ben Duckett who steals the headlines, but Joe Clarke and Ben Slater are making the runs. The latter scored 178 and a rapid unbeaten 52, while Olly Stone continued his recovery from a knee injury with handy match figures of 8-109. 

Surrey broke their season’s duck, defeating Sussex by eight wickets. Adam Thomas had a first-class debut to remember, compiling a neat 120 and sharing a stand of 162 with Sean Abbott. Earlier, Dom Sibley had uncharacteristically struck three sixes in an innings of 187 out of a total of 622. That Surrey didn’t win by a greater margin owes much to a late first-innings partnership of 173 involving bowlers Jack Carson and Ollie Robinson, both of whom reached three figures. 

It was a game of two halves at Taunton, where previous leaders Somerset enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges. Lewis Gregory claimed 6-43, then opener Josh Thomas powered his way to a maiden century as their side opened up a 112- run lead. Then things went wrong. Wharton, Root and Richardson carved half-centuries, to set their hosts a final day target of 260 which proved beyond them. Only Thomas, again, passed fifty, as the Tykes’ spinners dominated, led improbably by Joe Root (4-49)! 

Last month, I would have forgiven for Glamorgan’s realistic ambitions to have been avoidance of immediate relegation. However, after this week’s hammering of Hampshire at Southampton, it is the latter who should be nervously testing the trapdoor’s timbers. Glamorgan captain Kira Carlson led from the front, stroking a smooth 209 and being the dominant partner with Zain -ul-Hassan in a triple-century second-wicket alliance. Carlson even took teenage top-scorer Ben Mayes’ wicket with the only ball he bowled in the first innings but it was the consistent Timm van der Gugten and Hampshire old boy Mason Crane who inflicted most of the damage over both Hampshire’s attempts, securing an innings victory. 

This week, Glamorgan welcome Somerset to Cardiff, while the leading pair, Notts and Surrey meet at Trent Bridge. Leicestershire hope to notch their opening triumph at Hove against Sussex. 

Meanwhile, in Division Two, Kent secured their first victory for a year, outscoring Derbyshire by 225 runs. Daniel Bell-Drummond (129) and ‘keeper Chris Benjamin (56 and 123) stamped their authority on the Derby attack, although inexperienced Rory Haydon can hold his head high with a brace of five-fors. However, the best figures were returned by Kent’s Matt Milnes, whose 6-12 ripped the heart out of the second innings, despite the efforts of Luis Reece. 

Another ‘keeper-batsman, Worcestershire’s Garth Roderick slammed a huge score, 164 not out, yet ended up on the losing side at the hands of Northamptonshire. The home side declared on 597-9, with Vasconcelos, Sales and McManus each registering tons of their own. In the second outing, not even Roderick could save Worcester, as Ben Sanderson tore them apart, ending on 7-31. 

Northants sit in the promotion places but Durham remain in the driving seat despite only drawing with Middlesex at Lord’s. Ryan Higgins struck 131 and took four wickets but Durham went about their batting with greater fervour. Both Emilio Gay and David Bedingham achieved centuries and Kasey Aldridge fell one short. They had a day to finish off the home county but, while Ben Raine took three more wickets, Max Holden held firm and steered his side to safety. 

Next up for Durham are Worcestershire, while Northants visit Derby. Lancashire could advance by defeating Middlesex. 

Team of the Week:- Slater (Not), J. Thomas (Som), Carlson (Gla), Bedingham (Dur), Root (Yor), A. Thomas (Sur), Benjamin (Ken +), Raine (Dur), Haydon (Der), Milnes (Ken), Sanderson (Nor)

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: Record-Breaking Somerset Bag the Blast

It can be difficult supporting Somerset. Not that we are bad. We’re not. We have been in the top tier of the County Championship longer than most, won the One-Day Cup at Lord’s in 2019 and are regular qualifiers for the Blast Finals Day. It’s just that, like England Men’s football team, the expectation is that we will probably bow out in the semis or final. Coming second is what we do best, and it can be sickening. 

Cricket has changed since the late Seventies and early Eighties, Somerset’s golden era. Year after year, we could enjoy performances by the likes of Richards, Garner, Botham, Rose, Marks, Moseley, Denning et al. These days, you never know who might appear on the team sheet, such is the schedule minefield of global international and franchise cricket. However, it only takes one blistering innings to win a T20, whoever they may be. 

In the first semi at Edgbaston, it was Tom Kohler-Cadmore whose 81 laid the foundation for Somerset’s defeat of Lancashire. Ben Green, Lewis Gregory and Migael Pretorius completed the job with the ball. In the other semi, reduced to eighteen overs, Northamptonshire never really got off the blocks. Earlier in the tournament, they had racked up three of the four highest totals but when it really mattered, they amassed only 158-7. When Hampshire replied, Saif Zaib caused all sorts of problems, but not to veteran Aussie Chris Lynn. Despite his long career, I know little about him but his amazing 108 not out included no fewer than eleven sixes and the game was won with plenty to spare. 

And so it was Hampshire vs Somerset under the lights. I have been to only two live one-day finals supporting my county and both featured the same opposition. At Cardiff in 2012, Somerset capitulated miserably to Dmitri Mascarenhas’ Royals at the semi-final stage but in 2019 I witnessed Tom Abell lifting the 50-over cup after a surprisingly smooth chase. What would 2025 deliver? 

Hampshire’s successful 2012 Blast side featured James Vince and, now 34 years of age, he was again in good nick. Lynn was caught on the boundary early on but Vince and Toby Albert blazed away with abandon, adding 97 in just under ten overs. Vince also fell in the deep, for 52 but young Albert, the competition’s top scorer, continued to 85, when Gregory clipped his off stump. The momentum was lost but a total of 194-6 challenged Somerset to achieve a record run chase in a final if they were to take the crown. It looked unlikely. 

Would Kohler-Cadmore repeat those heroics? No, but it was to be the day for his opening partner Will Smeed to excel. Still only 23, the Taunton-educated right-hander has never played top-level red-ball cricket but is one of the most destructive T20 batsmen in England. On 94, he crunched Scott Currie hard and flat on it way to the six which would have given him the first-ever Final century, but that man Vince was in the way. Sean Dickson and Gregory still had plenty to do. The former was fortunate to watch Currie drop a sitter, which could have altered the course of the match but it was the ever-dependable captain Gregory who eased the tension with two sixes off Currie’s final over, the winning flick sailing over square leg. 

I don’t know how many of this team will be there to defend the title next summer but as long as you have Lewis Gregory and a squad filled with economical spinners, strong seamers and match-winning openers slotting in as required, anything is possible.

County Cricket: The Runfest Continues….

820-9, 722-6, 679-7, 305,….It was a week when numbers seemed to encapsulate the latest round of County Championship matches. With the Kookaburra ball and hot, dry pitches almost everywhere, it was a double-whammy for batsmen. There were even more centurions than last week, making it extremely difficult to decide which to omit from my Team of the Week. And the hapless, put-upon bpwlers? Pity poor George Drissell of Durham. His 45 overs were plundered by Surrey for 247 runs, with just the solitary wicket of Sam Curran as compensation. 

Surrey compiled a county record 820-9 declared, anchored by Dom Sibley’s triple-hundred. Jacks and Curran also weighed in with tons, but Dan Lawrence’s 149-ball 178 was the most eye-catching. Dan Worrall (4-60) helped dismiss Durham for 362 but, despite the massive deficit, the visitors’ openers cruised to the close without losing a wicket. Alex Lees struck his second hundred of the game, while Emilio Gay struck twenty-five boundaries in his unbeaten 156. 

Nottinghamshire also failed to win, despite having a first-innings advantage over Somerset at Taunton, and slipped a point below Surrey at the top of Division One. Slater and Haynes reached three figures while Jack Leach twirled away for 53 overs but on the final day Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s 147 not out was crucial in preventing defeat. 

Bottom club Worcestershire have struggled for first-innings runs all summer so it was a shock when their third-wicket partnership went on….and on….and on. Captain Jake Libby was the quiet partner while Adam Hose provided the fireworks. Both swept past 200 and the stand totalled 395. They even collected maximum bowling bonus points as Hampshire slumped to 221 all out. Second time around, Ben Brown et al pulled up the drawbridge and crawled to safety.

Sussex remain third after another high-scoring game at Hove. They, too, topped 500, both Hughes and Coles hitting the 150 mark but, like Somerset, Durham and Hants, Warwickshire batted out day four with little hardship. 

The only victory in the division came at York. For the first three days, there wasn’t a great deal separating Essex and Yorkshire, with Westley and Revis exchanging tons. However, Ben Coad and Jack White tipped the balance and polished things off by ten wickets. In doing so, Yorkshire leapfrogged Essex out of the relegation positions. 

In the second flight, the form book was tipped upside-down. Both leaders were beaten by basement residents. Runaway table-toppers Leicestershire lost to Middlesex by an innings. While Sam Robson (133) and Ben Geddes (137) propelled the Londoners to 534, seamers Tom Helm and teenager Naavya Sharma helped restrict the home team to 205 and 202 and their first loss of the season. 

At Chesterfield, Lancashire recorded their first triumph so far, crushing Derbyshire by 261 runs.  Their star performers were all-rounders George Balderson and Chris Green, although Ashton Turner and Keaton Jennings also scored centuries. 

Northamptonshire racked up the highest score at Canterbury, 722-6, including an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 298 involving Saif Zaib (196*) and Justin Broad (157*). Although responding to Kent’s formidable 566-8, the pair sensed a possible victory so accelerated the run rate on the last morning, giving their bowlers sixty-odd overs to bowl Kent out. They almost succeeded. Spinners Chahal and Harrison worked their way through the batting, but Joey Evison defended admirably, and the injured Muyeye limped on as tenth man to aid the survival effort, but it was nerve-shredding stuff. 

Another 500+ total was delivered by Glamorgan at Cardiff against Gloucestershire. Colin Ingram and Ben Kellaway contributed almost half of those runs, then the latter added six wickets. However, the visitors held on comfortably for the draw. 

It is now back to the Blast for a few weeks. At least in this format spectators won’t mind so much if the boundaries flow unchecked. 

Team of the Week:- Sibley (Sur), Lees (Dur), Libby (Wor), Hose (Wor), Lawrence (Ess), Bracey (Glo +), Kellaway (Gla), Saif Zaib (Nor), Balderson (Lan), White (Yor), Helm (Mid) 

County Cricket: Batsmen Fill Their Boots!

“Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree….” I remember singing this at school, a ‘round’ involving the choir singing different lines simultaneously. “Laugh, kookaburra, laugh…” it went, but it was the batsmen who had the last laugh facing the Kookaburra ball in this week’s County Championship fixtures. There were no fewer than 26 centuries in the full programme of nine matches. 

The Headingley Test proved that cricket can deliver an exciting contest spanning five days with runs a-plenty and produce a result. If only the Championship games had been allocated an extra day because seven of them ended in a draw, with bowlers unable to assert much authority on proceedings. 

Last week, Surrey surged to second in the Blast and they maintained that momentum into the red-ball competition. In fact, they needed only three days to despatch a weak Worcestershire by nine wickets. Contrary to the situations elsewhere, both sets of bowlers were on top. Ben Allison and Tom Taylor performed well for the home side, but ultimately it was the Surrey seam pair of Nathan Smith (6-38) and Matthew Fisher (4-47) who wiped out Worcester’s second innings and secured the victory. 

With Nottinghamshire failing to beat Yorkshire, the champions advanced ominously to within two points of the leaders. Notts opener Ben Slater made his fifth and sixth consecutive half-centuries, and even bowlers Dillon Pennington (61) and Liam Patterson-White (87) got in on the act in the first innings. In reply, Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth first-ball but Finlay Bean went on to rack up 224. Teenager Farhan Ahmed and Patterson-White toiled for 112 overs between them. Not since 1929 has a Notts bowlers sent down more balls in a single innings than NL-P’s 372, and he had just three wickets to show for it. 

Jofra Archer’s first-class comeback for Sussex after more than four years’ absence netted him the solitary wicket of Emilio Gay. He sent down eighteen overs, which might have landed him back in hospital but instead earned him an England Test recall. As for the match, it ended up as batting practice for Sussex, yielding centuries for Coles and Ibrahim. 

At Edgbaston, Somerset had the better of Warwickshire, but Latham and Hain dug deep to thwart the opposing attack on the final afternoon. The visitors had amassed 498 in the opening five sessions, including tons for Toms Kohler-Cadmore and Lammonby, but Warwickshire’s run rate was consistently below three an over. OK for five days, but they always seemed to be playing for the draw even if it meant Somerset swapping positions with them in the table. 

In the bottom half, Essex and Hampshire also played out a draw at Chelmsford. Kyle Abbott’s latest five-for put Hants in the driving seat, albeit frustrated by Charlie Allison’s 101. In response, Liam Dawson (139) and India’s Tilak Varma each made three figures, too. Varma is known as a white-ball specialist but he has a habit of making tons in the few first-class games he has played. At 131-5 second time around, Essex were heading for defeat, but a double-century stand between Tom Westley and the expansive Michael Pepper saved the day. 

In Division Two, front-runners Leicestershire couldn’t fashion another triumph despite compiling a massive 576-7 declared. Asa Tribe (107) had anchored a decent 353 for Glamorgan but Sol Budinger and Rehan Ahmed led a strong batting display to establish a healthy lead. However, not for the first time, the experienced duo of Northeast and Ingram rescued the Welsh side from 36-3 to earn the draw. 

It was a topsy-turvy affair at Bristol where Gloucestershire reversed a 211-run deficit to come within two wickets of bating Derbyshire on the final evening. Cameron Bancroft (176) and Graeme van Buuren (175) helped set Derby a stiff target of 316 in about five hours. To their credit, they accepted the gauntlet. Harry Caleb and Caleb Jewell galloped to 177-0 but once they fell, so did the run rate, and time was called twenty runs short. 

The scoreboard also ticked over rapidly at Blackpool. Lancashire topped 600, fuelled by hundreds from Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon and Ashton Turner, the latter’s 154 coming at more than a run a ball. James Anderson’s side had Kent’s second innings in deep trouble at 116-7 but Grant Stewart decided to risk an all-or-nothing approach. His luck was in, and he cracked nine sixes in a score of 130, leaving the Red Roses no time to wangle a win. 

The only victory occurred at Northampton where the home team edged Middlesex in a tight encounter providing almost 1,500 runs. Little-known Aussie quick, Liam Guthrie, took 7-94 while his colleagues enjoyed little success against Middlesex, for whom ‘keeper Joe Cracknell scored a maiden hundred. In the end, Northants won the match by four wickets. Captain Luke Procter (107) and James Sales (108) had to crack on at five an over to reach the target. 

This weekend, Leicestershire meet Middlesex while in the top flight, Surrey welcome Durham to The Oval and Notts visit Somerset requiring a victory to keep Surrey at bay.

Team of the Week:- Bancroft (Glo), Bean (Yor), Came (Der), Lammonby (Som), Coles (Sus), Ingram (Gla), Pepper (Ess +), Van Buuren (Glo), Abbott (Ham), N Smith (Sur), Guthrie (Nor)

County Cricket: Gregory’s Boys Still Unbeaten

Just as England’s men and women were making mincemeat of the poor West Indies in every format going, the county T20 fixtures offered surprisingly few close encounters. The exception was Surrey’s last-ball victory over Kent. Having dismissed four batsmen with the ball, Chris Jordan proceeded to crunch Parkinson’s final delivery for the winning boundary. 

Northamptonshire maintained their unbeaten star to the Vitality Blast beating closest rivals Lancashire and the Bears, only for Durham to spoil the party at Wantage Road. Hamed Neesham was inspired, cracking an unbeaten fifty and taking 4-29. They remain eight points clear in the North group, with Lancashire trying to cling on. That 24-run defeat to Northants, for whom England’s forgotten seamer, George Scrimshaw claimed 4-19, cost them dear. However, the forever-remembered James Anderson took three wickets in each of his matches this week. 

Somerset are now the sole county with a 100% record, after chasing down targets set by Gloucestershire and Middlesex. The latter made things tough, compiling a formidable 229-5. Max Holden (87*) and Ben Geddes (69) put on 131 in only 63 balls. Somerset were 45-3 but a sensational stand of 104 from 43 balls by Sean Dickson (76) and skipper Lewis Gregory (58 not out) put the home side back in the driving seat. Gregory clinched the victory with his sixth six. Hampshire sit six points behind Somerset, after a tie against Middlesex. With rain invoking Duckworth-Lewis, Middlesex had to outscore their hosts by 13 and not lose a wicket. Holden and Geddes did their best but missed out by a single. 

Gloucestershire have no points to their name at all, but played just a single fixture this week. Sussex stand third after thrashing Glamorgan by 78 runs, including an impressive 5-19 for Nathan McAndrew. Best figures of the week, though, were Hasan Ali’s 6-23 for the Bears against Derbyshire. The Pakistan paceman had only been in the country for a few days. He picked up a further five scalps later in the week only at greater expense. 

His team-mate Dan Mousley was probably the most consistent all-rounder of the week, Dawid Malan belted three half-centuries for Yorkshire and the highest individual innings was Adam Hose’s 95 off 51 deliveries in Worcestershire’s defeat of Derbyshire. Where will the season’s first century come from? 

In the South group, Somerset face Kent, Hampshire and Glamorgan, while Northants have only Notts to beat if they want to top the North table throughout the mid-competition break. 

Team of the Week:- Bell-Drummond (Ken), Malan (Yor), Holden (Mid), Hose (Worg), Cox (Ess +), Mousley (War), Gregory (Som), Hasan Ali (War), Jordan (Sur), Scrimshaw (Nor), Anderson (Lan)

County Cricket: Northants Blast Off!

 The Vitality Blast was launched last week with seemingly muted fanfare. 2025 sees relatively few overseas superstars joining the counties for an occasional batting cameo or a couple of wickets. The New Zealand trio of Williamson, Neesham and Santner didn’t exactly set the game alight this week, and the one outstanding performance came from an English regular of the county circuit. 

Twenty20 in this county tends to be a completely unpredictable affair, with unlikely stars and even more unlikely winners. In the North division, it is Northamptonshire enjoying the success of a 4-game 100|% record and a red-ball specialist, Keaton Jennings, the highest scorer to date. His 95 for Lancashire against Nottinghamshire is the highest individual mark so far, coming from only 49 balls. In that match, he shared an opening stand of 177 with Luke Wells, for whom the Blast was surely made.

 Other all-rounders fared quite well. Dvid Willey has returned to Northamptonshire, contributing eight wickets and 133 runs. Sam Curran had his moments for Surrey, young James Coles (Sussex) biffed some useful boundaries while Hampshire’s Liam Dawson may well have added to his four wickets had he not been swiped by England. Veterans Samit Patel and Ravi Bopara each crunched an unbeaten eighty-something and Jimmy Anderson proved that a class bowler can succeed in any format, even in his forties. 

The Bears’ Sam Hain maintained his Championship batting form at a super rate of knots, and his fellow Bear – neither Warwickshire nor Birmingham – Alex Davies was the ‘keeper-batsman of the week. Jason Roy seemed happier in his T20 domain. Having bagged a pair for Surrey last week, he opened his 2025 Vitality account with a 92. 

However, the ace performer must be 36-year-old seamer Ben Sanderson. Before Friday, he already had a 4-15 to his name, against Leicestershire, but he managed to snatch four wickets in ONE OVER! Worcestershire were by this stage already beaten but he polished things off with a hat-trick from the very last ball of the innings.

Behind them, Lancashire and Leicestershire each have three victories, but the latter defeated the former by five wickets when they met at Old Trafford. At the other end of the table, Derbyshire and Yorkshire have yet to get off the mark. The most prolific runfest was witnessed at Trent Bridge where Jack Haynes’ magnificent 89 not out helped chase down the Bears’ target of 227 with five balls to spare. 

In the South, Somerset and Hampshire have the only 100% records to date. Matt Henry and Riley Meredith have been the pick of a useful attack, and the top order, even without Banton, has done enough to win all three games batting second. Hampshire’s most decisive performance was their 106-run battering of Essex, featuring excellent bowling by Scott Currie and Dawson. 

Next week, Northants face Lancashire, Durham and the Bears, and one of the highlights must be Somerset’s trip up the A38 to Bristol for the West Country derby.

Team of the Week:- Jennings (Lan), Roy (Sur), Davies (War +), Hain (War), Haynes (Not), S Curran (Sur), Coles (Sus), Willey (Nor), Bess (Yor), Currie (Ham), Sanderson (Nor)  

County Cricket: Notts hit the heights, Lancashire rock bottom

The record dry and sunny Spring continued to lend cricket grounds a real summery atmosphere. Trent Bridge was also the scene for Nottinghamshire dealing Hampshire a hefty 366-run blow and consolidating their position at the top of Division One. Young Freddie McCann returned to their middle-order with a century, then the second innings was dominated by a 238-run partnership between Jack Haynes and Liam Patterson-White. Mohammad Abbas took 5-31 against his old mates but in the end it was Lyndon James (5-21) and Brett Hutton who instigated Hampshire’s second-innings crumble. 

On the South Coast, Worcestershire lost again, making little headway against the bowling of Sussex’s Finn Hudson-Prentice and Ollie Robinson. John Simpson took eight catches behind the stumps and off-spinner Jack Carson struck his maiden hundred but the bowling of Tom Taylor kept Worcestershire in the game. While Jake Libby was at the crease, they were even threatening to win it but when he was eighth out for 167, the remaining target pf 75 was just too stiff for the tail. 

Sussex advanced to third, but Warwickshire remain above them after a tame draw against Surrey. Only fifteen wickets fell on a placid Edgbaston featherbed, enabling Tom Latham (184 in his first game of the season), Ed Barnard (177 not out) and Surrey ‘keeper Ben Foakes (a career-best 174 not out) to fill their boots. 

Contrast that with the tense finish at Chelmsford where Yorkshire had Essex on the rack throughout. The bowling of George Hill and Ben Coad, followed by Adam Lyth’s 185 and a typical Bairstow blast, left Essex facing four sessions and a massive victory target of 510. At 45-4, the home team looked dead and buried but a slow but solid partnership between Critchley and Pepper, plus dogged defence by the tail (the last wicket survived for 14 overs) saved the draw. 

In the second tier, only two fixtures were played but the results were significant. At Canterbury, Kent’s hopes of bouncing back into the promotion places were dashed ruthlessly by bottom-side Glamorgan. Last week, spinner Ben Kellaway hit his record score of 74. This week, he extended that to a whopping 181 as the Welsh side racked up a total of 549-9 declared. They endeavoured to back this up by bowling out Kent twice inside two days. The wickets were shred out generously but Timm van der Gugten was the pick of the attack. 

The result elevated Glamorgan to sixth, but Lancashire’s 70-run defeat by Northamptonshire consigned them to the basement. Keaton Jennings promptly quit the captaincy but the primary problem seems to be the batting, with the notable exception of his successor, Marcus Harris. The Aussie’s prolific start was maintained with another 164 runs, but the Northants seamers and leggie Calvin Harrison (4-32) were too strong overall, earning then their opening victory account for 2025. 

Next up, they play Glamorgan and leaders Leicestershire travel to Middlesex. In the next rung up, all counties are in action, including Notts at Durham and Warwickshire at home to Hampshire. Worcestershire’s ambitions of taking at least one batting bonus point lie in the hands of Essex’s useful attack. 

Team of the Week:- Lyth (Yor), Libby (Wor), Latham (War), Harris (Lan), Foakes (Sur +), Barnard (War), Kellaway (Gla), Hill (Yor), James (Not), Van der Gugten (Gla), Hudson-Prentice (Sus)

County Cricket: Bears Sharpen their Claws for Final Eight

The final week of Vitality Blast group fixtures was a fine advert for the chaotic and unpredictable Twenty20 format. With quarter-final places up for grabs, few counties enjoyed a clean sweep, but the Birmingham Bears and Surrey ensured progress with early victories against Derbyshire and Essex, respectively. 

Despite losing to Northamptonshire, the Bears sealed first place in the North thanks largely to Moeen Ali. His previous golden duck was forgotten as the opener reeled back the years at Edgbaston to slam nine sixes against Leicestershire in an innings of 103. That also ended the visitors’ hopes of qualification, the fourth spot snapped up by Durham courtesy of an eight-wicket drubbing of Derbyshire. 

Also on Friday, Northants met Lancashire at Old Trafford to determine which of them secured home advantage in the knockouts. New recruit George Dockrell was the surprise top-scorer as the home team racked up a formidable 201-9, but a searing 76 from Matthew Breetzke set Northants on their way to a four-wicket win to cap an all-conquering conclusion to the groups. 

A special mention to Northants ‘keeper, Lewis Mc Manus. He wasn’t the most prolific batsman of the week but, in an eight-over thrash at Chester-le-Street, he won the game by striking the only two deliveries he faced for six. That’s what I call decisive! 

Worcestershire were never really in the hunt, and lost their last two games, both right at the death. Yorkshire pipped them with three balls remaining, while Derbyshire duo Whitely and Thomson struck seventeen from Tom Taylor’s concluding over, including a scrambled single from the very last delivery. 

Reigning champions Somerset recovered some composure to roll over both Hampshire and second-place rivals Sussex, the latter with the aid of Ben Green’s 4-17. However, a home quarter-final was denied them on Friday by a barnstorming Glamorgan performance at Cardiff. Captain Kiran Carlson blitzed the county’s highest individual score, 135, more than a century of them in boundaries. Somerset proceeded to be skittled for a paltry 123 as Marnus Labuschagne, of all people, captured the final five wickets. Five days earlier, Glamorgan had been on the receiving end of a similar massacre. A Cheltenham Sunday crowd watched Jack Taylor whack an unbeaten 80 from 35 balls out if a total of 206-6, followed by a top-class bowling attack. The ever-reliable left-arm seam of David Payne starred with 3-7 from three overs. 

Elsewhere, there were centuries by Surrey’s Sam Curran against Hampshire and Michael Pepper’s 120 not out for Essex against Sussex. Pepper is the third-highest run-maker so far but his total won’t be added to. Gloucestershire’s defeat of Middlesex and Essex’s loss to Hampshire handed Jack Taylor’s outfit the fourth slot in the quarters, and a daunting trip to Edgbaston, whose spinner Danny Briggs and batsman Sam Hain were amongst the tournament’s group stage stars. 

But that’s six weeks away. In the mean-time, the school holidays will host the Hundred and Metro One Day Cup, which begin next week. As usual, I shall putr my feet up, ignore the franchise competition and focus on the county contest. 

Team of the Week:- Moeen Ali (Bir), Carlson (Gla), Hughes (Sus), Pepper (Ess), Hain (Bir), Labuschagne (Gla), McManus (Nor +), Briggs (Bir), P Brown (Der), Robinson (Sus), Payne (Glo)

County Championship: Surrey Lose - but Retain the Title

Two of the three crucial Championship issues were settled on the penultimate day of the season, but the second relegation position was still in doubt with just a few overs remaining on the final afternoon. At Canterbury, Kent had the better of Lancashire, thanks in part to Joe Denly’s first ton of the year, while a Luke Wells century ensured the draw. That meant Middlesex needed to beat Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge to avoid the drop, and they gave it everything to the bitter end. 

The two sides were close all the way through. Ryan Higgins and Ben Slater swapped first-innings hundreds, leaving then visitors just a day and a bit to manufacture a result. Sam Robson produced another unbeaten second-innings century before Toby Roland-Jones declared, leaving his bowlers an ample sixty-odd overs to take ten wickets. At the same time, Notts had the incentive of requiring only 207 to win themselves. At 106-1 and 151-4, they had the upper hand but three wickets in four overs altered the complexion completely. Robson was at the heart of it again, this time with his part-time leg breaks, and the Notts tail-enders Hutton and Ball struggled with the dilemma of whether to swing the bat or play for the handful of singles needed to achieve the target. Safety-first won the day, and Middlesex were down and out. 

At the other end, Surrey’s simple ambition of four bonus points to retain the title was looking far from straightforward. Against Hampshire, they failed to notch a single batting point, thanks to Liam Dawson’s 5-44, but young Tom Lawes also strangled Hants with his 5-27. Essex were also making a pig’s ear of their game against Northants. Already relegated, Luke Procter’s side ended the summer facing both front-runners but played their best cricket so far. Rob Keogh’s 172 was the difference on day one, but when Ben Sanderson and Procter deprived Essex of any batting points, Surrey clinched the title. For the record, both Surrey and Essex lost, but the top of Division One looked the same as last week. 

The remaining fixture at Edgbaston fizzled out into a rain-affected draw. Warwickshire edged the play over Somerset and it was Chris Rushworth, not Hannon-Dalby, who picked up a five-for. Ed Barnard also ended a fine season with his new county with 73 and four cheapish wickets. 

Durham consolidated their Division Two dominance with an innings defeat of Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street. For a change, Alex Lees failed, but yet another five-point batting bonus haul was achieved thanks to David Bedingham and Graham Clark reaching three figures. Durham picked up an amazing 54 batting bonuses from their fourteen matches. In comparison, Middlesex collected a paltry two! Ben Raine and Vishwa Fernando destroyed the visitors’ batting and hopes of an unlikely promotion. 

Worcestershire will join Durham in the top tier next year, despite losing an exciting encounter with Yorkshire. After Bean and Wharton served up a tasty dish of ‘declaration bowling’ to Libby and Haynes, the White Roses were set a near-record second-innings target of 360 at more than five an over. They made it, too, courtesy of Wharton’s 89, skipper Shan Masood’s 123 and a fine fifth-wicket partnership of 84 in under eleven overs between Hill and Tattersall. 

Sussex advanced to third after hammering Gloucestershire by 339 runs at Hove. After four sessions, it was honours even, but when James Coles led a formidable charge to a second-innings total of 505-7, the game was up for winless Gloucester. In only his sixth first-class appearance, left-arm seamer Bradley Currie took an excellent 3-27 to polish things off. In South Wales, Glamorgan and Derbyshire signed off after disappointing campaigns with another draw. However, end-of-season hats off to Derby opener Luis Reece, who completed his third and fourth hundreds against Glamorgan in a single summer. I think this created a new record for the County Championship. His 119 not out also meant he struck seven successive first-class 50s for the second time. In doing so, he joined a very select band of cricketing legends such as Fry, Hammond, Hutton and Bradman. Not bad company for this unsung 33-year-old all-rounder. 

Unfortunately, the season finale came too soon but it’s almost October now. Only six months to go before county cricket all starts again. But not for the likes of Simon Kerrigan, Gareth Berg, Tim Murtagh, Steven Davies and, if the rumours are true, Sir Alastair Cook, who endured a rather scratchy season. At almost 39, he can retire with a glorious career with England and Essex; 33,000 runs, 86 centuries and a knighthood to boot. He will be missed. 

Team of the Week:- Reece (Der), Slater (Not), Robson (Mid), Bedingham (Dur), Bohannon (Lan), Keogh (Nor), Dawson (Ham), Currie (Sus), Lawes (Sur), Sanderson (Nor)

Leicestershire clinch the Cup, Northants lose again

The 50-over One-Day Cup Final is criminally under-reported these days, but Leicestershire and Hampshire served up a thriller worthy of a big back-page headline. Lewis Hill won the toss and elected to bat, but at 18-4 and 89-6, it looked like Leicestershire’s 38-year wait for another List A trophy would continue. However, local academy products Harry Swindells (117 not out) and Sam Evans (60) rescued the innings, setting Hants a testing target of 268. In reply, Hampshire played it steady, while Mulder, Wright and Scriven bowled tightly. When in Josh Hull’s concluding over, Liam Dawson misjudged a ramp shot to fine leg, it was down to Keith Barker to strike a boundary off the last ball to win. He failed, and Hill’s unfancied side were champions at last. 

A few days earlier, the county’s Championship line-up – without Swindells – narrowly failed to prevent Sussex from moving closer to Worcestershire in the second promotion place. All looked lost for them at Hove, too. Jaydev Unadkat and Aristides Karvelas ripped them apart in the first innings and they faced an Everest-esque target of 499 in almost two days to avoid defeat. That they came within 15 runs is a credit to the batsmen’s professionalism and skill. Not for the first time, Colin Ackermann led the way with 135 but Unadkat mopped up the tail and all that effort proved in vain. 

Also in Division Two, Gloucestershire remain winless, thwarted by the weather and Derbyshire’s spirited performance, notably Anuj Dal’s first-innings 6-69. At Cardiff, Shan Masood plundered 192 for Yorkshire and Glamorgan were forced to follow on after Ben Coad and Matthew Revis claimed eight cheap wickets. Fortunately for the home crowd, Eddie Byrom and Sam Northeast each scored centuries to see out the match. One win from thirteen surely hastened Matthew Maynard’s decision to resign as coach. 

The Division One fixtures focussed mainly on relegation issues. In the wake of lengthy rain delays, cordial declarations created a meaningful climax at Edgbaston. Olive Hannon-Dalby’s 7-46 put Warwickshire in charge against Northamptonshire, but on day four, Ben Sanderson gave his relegation-threatened side real hope, reducing the home county to 24-5. However, Michael Burgess’s unbeaten 78 saw Warwickshire home by two wickets. 

At Canterbury, Zak Crawley got Kent off to a promising start with 158 but, with Joe Clarke in rare good form for Nottinghamshire, it was Kent who ended up relieved to avoid defeat, educed to 86-6 at stumps. The Manchester weather wasn’t kind to cricket last week and Lancashire, for whom Dane Vilas struck 124, were unable to press home their first-innings advantage against Middlesex. 

This week, if Surrey beat Northants at The Oval and Hampshire restrict Essex at Chelmsford, the County Championship belongs once again to Surrey and the South Midlanders are relegated. Kent visit Somerset and Middlesex host Warwickshire hoping to maximise their points return in the battle to avoid joining them. 

Team of the Week:- Crawley (Ken), Masood (Yor), Northeast (Gla), Clarke (Not), Ackermann (Lei), Swindells (Lei), Burgess (War +), Anuj Dal (Der), Unadkat (Sus), Hogan (Ken), Hannon-Dalby (War)

Hannon-Dalby Hoists 100% Warwickshire

It’s not often you find Leicestershire and Northamptonshire near the top of a county table but both are looking good in the One-Day Cup qualifiers. Leicester lead Group A after having a fruitful week, beating Essex, Hampshire and Lancashire at Old Trafford, where Rishi Patel and Colin Ackermann each scored centuries and Sol Budinger came close in a total of 411-6. 

Group B also witnessed a few totals of 400+, both scored against Somerset, whose attack in this tournament is heavily depleted. Only Andrew Umeed showed any consistency amidst the carnage, passing fifty in all three fixtures, and striking 119 against Sussex, for whom Cheteshwar Pujara once again showed his class. Somerset were taken for 415-8 by Northants, who have a new name to chant. Indian opener Prithin Shaw crashed 39 boundaries to all corners in a blistering 244. This is the second-highest List A innings ever seen on these shores, then he notched another terrific ton against Durham. 

The highest innings of all came at Bristol, where Gloucestershire helped themselves to 454-3 against their old West Country rivals. James Bracey thumped an unbeaten 224 from 151 deliveries, by far a county record. In only his second senior game, poor James Langridge saw 95 runs stuck off his eight overs. 

However, it is Warwickshire who top the table, maintaining a five-out-of-five start. Victories over Glamorgan and Derbyshire were not always straightforward but they crushed Worcestershire by nine wickets. Ed Barnard continued his all-round form, while Oliver Hannon-Dalby notched thirteen wickets in the week, including 5-31 at Worcester. 

There were other big wins for Lancashire over Kent at Blackpool and Middlesex against Notts at Radlett, although Middlesex were on the receiving end of a last-over thriller against Essex at Chelmsford. Hampshire sit second in Group A, assisted by Nick Gubbins’ runs at the top, and some decisive bowling feats by Mason Crane and Brad Wheal. 

The group stages are completed in the next seven days. Warwickshire require only one, maybe two wins from their three fixtures, which include a crucial encounter with Northants. Leicestershire will also be home and dry from Group A should they defeat Middlesex and Yorkshire, with Hampshire favourites to join them in the knockouts. The other two places are up for grabs, with several counties in the mix. Somerset are not one of them. They will be pleased just to avoid another 400-run hammering. 

Team of the Week:- Shaw (Nor), Bracey (Glo +), Gubbins (Ham), Umeed (Som), Barnard (War), Pujara (Sus), Ackermann (Lei), Higgins (Mid), Bess (Yor), Wheal (Ham), Hannon-Dalby (War)