County cricket: Crushing Wins for Somerset and Warwickshire

It’s all getting rather exciting in the County Championship title race. Warwickshire were quickest off the mark, slamming Glamorgan by an innings, and bowling them out twice for under seventy! Ethan Bamber took 5-25 in the first innings and Ed Barnard’s 5-13 finished the job inside two days. 

Leicestershire did at least force Somerset into a third day, but the leaders triumphed by a massive 377 runs. Josh Thomas and Henry Nicholls each made exactly 100, and the ever-consistent Craig Overton was the pick of the seamers, with 7-56 for the match. Nonetheless, his long-standing partner in crime, Jack Leach, mopped up the final three wickets to clinch the victory at Grace Road. 

Reigning champions Nottinghamshire did not wilt, and their relatively narrow win over Hampshire kept hem in second place, just four points behind Somerset. Joe Clarke gave them a healthy start with 105 before Jake Lehmann responded with an unbeaten 133. Basingstoke’s 17-year-old Manny Lumsden marked his first-class debut with a fab five-for, leaving Hants a modest target of 178. However, Olly Stone and Dillon Pennington destroyed the top order and, despite a 43-run stand for the tenth wicket (Currie and that lad Lumsden again), Notts took the honours by 54 runs, leaving Hampshire rock bottom. 

At Headingley, Yorkshire rocketed out of the relegation mire at the expense of Essex. Dom Bess delivered an excellent all-round performance, top-scoring with 80 not out and nabbing five wickets. Jonny Bairstow favoured his spin attack in the second innings, too, and it was Kuldeep Yadav whose 6-50 took his match tally of victims to ten and Yorkshire to glory by an innings and a hundred. 

On the South Coast, a day one washout spoiled what unrolled as a close encounter between Sussex and Surrey. Charlie Tear top-scored for the hosts, with 89 out of 398, then fifties from Patel, Foakes and Mahipal Lomror limited Surrey’s deficit to 72 and pretty much ensured the draw. 

In the penultimate round of fixtures, Somerset seem to have the toughest task, heading north to Leeds, although Warwickshire’s visit to Essex and Notts at Sussex have no guarantees. 

Durham’s stranglehold on Division Two was maintained, and promotion was sealed with a 93-run defeat of Middlesex at Chester-le-Street. Ben McKinney’s towering 184 placed the home side firmly in the driving seat, while Brendon Carse stayed out of the local nightclubs long enough to pick up nine – expensive - wickets. Harry Duke resisted long enough to reach three figures but Carse and Callum Parkinson dismissed the tail with ease. 

Kent’s promotion ambitions took a hit at Derby, losing heavily. The clamour to restore Zak Crawley to the England opener slot was muted as he contributed scores of 6 and 4. The county’s batting has let them down this season, and Martin Andersson showed them how to do it, aggregating 179 for once out. Kent had no chance of hitting the 434-run target, and Ben Aitchison (5-44) and Brett Randell (3-39) combined to kill them off. 

Northamptonshire leapfrogged Kent by scratching out a six-wicket victory at Worcestershire. Saif Zaib’s ton, a Procter five-for and Chahal’s 4-46 did much of the damage. At the other end, the battle of the basement at Old Trafford went the way of Gloucestershire who nonetheless still prop up the whole Championship. It was a low-scoring affair. George Balderson starred for the home county with eight wickets but Will Williams (6-24) shone against his former employers in the first innings and James Langridge, in only his second appearance, took 5-51 in the decider. 

Northants and Kent next host Derbyshire and Lancashire, respectively. Whatever happens, the second promotion place will surely be up for grabs in the concluding set of fixtures. Kent will welcome Gloucestershire, so Northants will look to grasp maximum points from this week’s encounter. 

Team of the Week: Thomas (Som), McKinney (Dur), Clarke (Not), Lehmann (Ham), Andersson (Der), Barnard (War), Duke (Mid +), Balderson (Lan), Bess (Yor), Overton (Som), Kuldeep Yadav (Yor)

County Cricket: Durham Shine amidst the Rain

The week’s rain may have benefitted the parched pitches, but did nothing for cricket as a spectator sport. The players must have been bored to tears, too, with whole days washed out entirely. Only six centuries were made, and each of those who scored them went straight in to my Team of the Week. No-brainers, the lot of ‘em! 

Only one result was possible, and inevitably it was Durham who took advantage of slightly better weather at Chester-le-Street to notch win number seven against bottom county Gloucestershire. In his final game of the season, David Bedingham struck 122 and, as part of a star-studded English seam attack, it was the unsung Kasey Aldridge who again stole the show with match stats of 9-63. If Durham beat Northamptonshire next weekend, promotion will be secured with three games in hand. 

This week, Northants and Kent shared the spoils with Kent, and stand on equal points behind Durham. Zak Crawley and Ben Compton put on 162 for the first Kent wicket, then in reply, Ricardo Vasconcelos and Nathan McSweeney each maintained their consistent summer form by reaching three figures. At Worcester, the home side’s Beyers Swanepoel combined a swift 63 not out and 4-37 against Lancashire, while at Derby, only 87 overs were possible across all four days. 

In Division One, five draws made little impact on the table. Nottinghamshire extended their lead to four points over Somerset thanks to Joe Clarke’s 150 and Olly Stone’s 5-49 against third-placed Warwickshire. Somerset struggled against Sussex on the first few days, but a strong second innings ensured there could be no defeat, even had the sun shone on day four. 

At Chelmsford, Essex had the upper hand over Surrey. Having announced his imminent retirement, Dean Elgar demonstrated his trademark grit to register his 56^th first-class hundred, and the visitors were staring down the barrel at 92-6. Luckily, Ben Foakes improved on his first-innings three-ball duck and clung on for almost five hours in eking out an unbeaten 120. There was another stalemate at Cardiff, where Hampshire seamers Abbott and Baker held sway over the Glamorgan openers, and the Bank Holiday seasiders at Scarborough saw very little action for Leicestershire’s trip to meet Yorkshire. 

In the next round of fixtures, Notts and Warwicks have on paper the easiest opposition (Leicestershire and Hampshire, respectively) but Somerset require a home victory against Glamorgan to remain in the hunt for that elusive maiden title. The winners of the Essex-Sussex clash will also be in the running, but a draw won’t help either of them. Let’s hope the showers stay away. 

Team of the Week: Elgar (Ess), Vasconcelos (Nor), McSweeney (Nor), Bedingham (Dur), Clarke (Not), Foakes (Sur +), T Clark (Sur), Swanepoel (Wor), Aldridge (Dur), Rahul Chahar (Sur), Stone (War)

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: Upside Down Championship!

With England and Wales sinking beneath an evil heat dome sucking the blood, sweat and brain cells of their citizens, the latest round of Championship fixtures produced some humdinger results. In just four days, Last week’s Division One leaders Essex dropped to sixth, title favourites sank to seventh and the bottom two each registered rare victories. 

I can’t recall the top tier table being so tightly bunched. Only sixteen points connect first with seventh. After last week’s thumping at the hands of Somerset, Nottinghamshire bounced back to the top in style, snatching the pole position back with an innings defeat of Essex at Chelmsford. Liam Patterson-White got the party started with 6-43, Jack Haynes struck an unbeaten 137 and Fergus O’Neill polished things off with 5-39. Twenty-two points in the bank, thanks very much. 

Sussex slipped down the pecking order, losing at home to Hampshire by 118 runs. It was all about the bowlers; the highest individual score was just 55. Hampshire’s veteran Kyle Abbott starred, scooping 6-49 and (from nearly thirteen overs) 3-6. Despite tearing Yorkshire apart at Grace Road to register their first success of the first-class season, Leicestershire remain rooted to the bottom, albeit on the same points tally as Hampshire. Rehan Ahmed and Nick Kelly each reached three figures and shared a stand of 160, leaving Jonny Bairstow’s side 263 just to make their hosts bat again. The skipper suffered a three-ball duck, and the trio of Josh Davey, Alex Green and Ajaz Patel snuffed out a late-order rally. 

Amazingly, Surrey also has only one win to their name, and Glamorgan dealt them a first loss of the campaign in Cardiff. Mason Crane hit a maiden ton, putting on 165 with Chris Cooke for the seventh wicket before picking up a few tailenders. Teenage seamer Tom Norto fared even better, taking 5-50, forcing Surrey to follow on. With runs from Rory Burns (115), Ollie Pope and the lower order, they did push Glamorgan into a fourth day only for Ingram and Carlson to make sixty-plus and steer their side to a seven-wicket victory margin. 

Meanwhile, Somerset and Warwickshire occupy second and third spots having played out a draw in Taunton. The first few days belonged largely to the Warwickshire all-rounder Beau Webster (64, 4-23) but a familiar pair came together to deliver a courageous rescue act. Thomas Rew matched his brother with another century while, more remarkably, bowler Craig Overton notched his third of the year. With no time to challenge the 314-run target, and Yates and Hain at their most resolute, a draw was agreed. 

In Division Two, Durham completed their fifth win of 2026 in the top-two clash at Chester-le-Street. Wicket-keeper Ricardo Vasconcelos gave Northamptonshire a promising start but naughty boy Ben (Stokes) helped ensure Durham stayed in touch. Potts, Raine and Parkinson limited Northants’ second innings to 250. Stokes had been recalled by England but his substitute Colin Ackermann and his South African compatriot David Bedingham kept her heads and the scoreboard ticking over en route to a sixth-wicket success. 

Kent leapfrogged Northants into second after overcoming Middlesex in an even contest at Canterbury. Both sides’ first innings topped 400, the London visitors relying heavily on Max Holden’s 182. Four wickets apiece for Sharma and Helm restricted Kent to 257 but even a modest chase of 231 was too much for Middlesex. Zafar Gohar was left high and dry on 66 as Matt Milnes and Keith Dudgeon claimed eight cheap wickets between them. 

Lancashire’s struggles continued at Chesterfield, succumbing to Derbyshire by nine wickets. Captain James Anderson didn’t hide in the field but was unable to prevent a considerable first-innings deficit, Ben Aitchison whacked 75 before picking up a decisive 5-49 to leave the Red Roses in tatters. Worcestershire were the latest county to beat Gloucestershire, despite a defiant 139 not out by Miles Hammond. Worcestershire established a lead, albeit at a snail’s pace. Graeme van Buuren toiled for forty-nine overs to take 4-96 then opened the bowling second time around to give Worcester a few heart flutters before stumbling over the line. 

Now comes a lengthy hiatus in favour of the white-ball stuff. Oh, well Just as things were getting so interesting….. 

Team of the Week; Vasconcelos (Nor +), Burns (Sur), Holden (Mid), Hammond (Glo), T Rew (Som), Haynes (Not), Van Buuren (Glo), C Overton (Som), Abbott (Ham), Aitchinson (Der), Patterson-White (Not)

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: Gay Day for Durham, Gloucester find Form

It was a strange week, results-wise. All four Division One fixtures were drawn, but all three in Division Two had a positive outcome – apart from the losers, of course! 

In the higher echelon, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire met at Trent Bridge for the chance to displace Somerset from the top spot. As elsewhere, batters were largely in the ascendancy. Ed Barnard (165) and Chris Woakes (64, 3-44) ensured Notts had to follow on, but the home side managed to bat out almost two days for the draw meaning Warwickshire leapfrogged Somerset by a single point. Haseeb Hameed followed his first-innings duck with a ton, Kyle Verreynne made 115, and both Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke added their second half-centuries of the match. 

There were five centuries at The Oval, and Essex opener Dean Elgar almost scored two. Surrey’s Dan Lawrence contributed 125 and three tail-enders in seven balls but Elgar and Westley spent almost fifty overs together on the final day. Batting was so easy that even wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was given a couple of overs, conceding just seven. 

At Headingley, both Yorkshire and Sussex racked up 500+ totals, including 136 for John Simpson and a 182 partnership between the Tykes’ Finlay Bean and Doncaster-born Aussie Sam Whiteman. A Simpson catch curtailed Joe Root’s innings four short of three figures but he then spent hours spinning his way to 3-67 although the draw was nailed on.  The same was true at Cardiff. In the battle of the new arrivals, Glamorgan racked up a decent 440 only for Leicestershire to establish a lead of 146, with the aid of centuries by Jonathan Tattersall and Jake Weatherald, who retired hurt on 104. 

They host Notts later this week, and Hampshire welcome Glamorgan, with neither yet to register a victory. Surrey are also winless so far and meet Sussex, while Somerset take on second-bottom Yorkshire. 

There may haven been little to satisfy the purists, or bowlers, in the top tier but it was totally different lower down. After being tonked three times already, Gloucestershire not only earned their first bonus points of the campaign but also proceeded to defeat Derbyshire by ten wickets. Miles Hammond top-scored with 145 but much of the damage was inflicted by Gloucester’s numbers nine and ten, Henry Brookes and Will Williams. Both narrowly missed out on hundreds but their 191-run ninth-wicket partnership very nearly knocked WG Grace off the records. Williams chipped in with five wickets, too. 

For the first three days, it was an exciting contest at Chester-le-Street, where leaders Lancashire were looking good for a third win of the season. Marcus Harris struck 146 on Friday, and James Anderson delayed his second innings declaration until ex-Durham all-rounder Paul Coughlin reached three figures by stumps on Sunday. It wouldn’t have mattered. Second time around, Emilio Gay and David Bedingham found batting a breeze, putting on 290 for the third wicket at a cracking pace. There’s now talk of Gay being called up for England this summer, which is probably the kiss of death to his career. 

Worcestershire made short work of Kent at New Road, where Garth Roderick took nine catches behind the stumps and seamer Tom Taylor claimed 5-56 to hasten Kent’s demise. The latter now encounter Derbyshire, and Durham will cement their position in the promotion hunt by beating Middlesex. 

Team of the Week:- Elgar (Ess), Gay (Dur), Hammond (Glo), Harris (Lan), Clarke (Not), Lawrence (Sur), Barnard (War), Simpson (Sus +), Raine (Dur), Willliams (Glo), T Taylor (Glo)

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: Nottinghamshire End the Summer in Style

At the start of the domestic cricket season, I feared another summer of Surrey dominance and Somerset near-misses. Well, with regard to the latter, we did finish third in the Championship and were beaten semi-finalists in the One-Day Cup but proved triumphant in the T20 Blast. Not a bad 2025 at all. 

As for Surrey, they looked all set to retain the four-day crown only for Nottinghamshire to blow the whole thing wide open with that memorable twenty-run victory at The Oval. In the final round of fixtures, all they effectively needed to do was outperform Surrey in first innings bonus points and the pennant would be on the way from London to the East Midlands. 

It may have been late September but all nine matches produced results; not a single draw. Notts welcomed Warwickshire to Trent Bridge while Surrey popped down the M3 to meet Hampshire, desperately fighting for top tier survival. Mohammad Abbas and Brett Hutton did their bit with the ball but at the Rose Bowl, Sibley, Burns et all came unstuck in the face of wily Kyle Abbott, James Fuller and new recruit Washington Sundar. Zero batting points, game over.  Another Haseeb Hameed century set up his side’s seventh win of the campaign to take the crown in style. By the time, Raful Chahar ripped through the second Hampshire innings with 8-51, it was too late for Surrey. 

At one stage, Somerset had an outside chance of nicking the runners-up position. Against relegation-threatened Essex, Lewis Goldsworthy’s even ton helped them to 438 all out, only for a 277-run opening stand by Elgar and Walter to scupper any hopes of victory. A draw looked certain until Jamie Porter (4-18) and co skittled the visitors for 99, leaving Allison to conclude matters with a six off Jake Ball on the final morning. 

Worcestershire were already down and out, and Sussex merely rubbed their noses in it. Centuries from James Coles and John Simpson, plus eleven wickets for Ollie Robinson set up win number four, although seamer Tom Taylor, a rare bright light in Worcester’s dismal Championship season, almost sparked a sensational comeback. Never mind, at least they have the 50-over trophy in their New Road cabinet. 

Going into the final afternoon, the other relegation slot was still uncertain. Hampshire looked doomed, but it all rested on the outcome of Durham’s clash with Yorkshire at Headingley. Both sides had begun the week in deep trouble but the home team had a six-point advantage. With Hampshire beaten, a draw would suit both counties. Ben Raine clubbed 101 for Durham, then took 5-76, although Mayank Agarwal’s 175 anchored Yorkshire’s superior total of 475. On the South Coast, tears must have been shed and cats kicked, only for Dom Bess and George Hill to orchestrate a horrendous batting humiliation on day four. Durham lost, and were relegated by a single point. Across the season, their bonus point tally was extremely respectable but they had failed to cash in, losing six games to Hampshire’s three, and that cost them dearly. 

Leicestershire and Glamorgan were already assured of replacing them in Division One. I am so glad that these less-prosperous and relatively unfancied counties had beaten the big boys of Middlesex and Lancashire to promotion. Leicestershire maintained their impressive form, defeating Northants by 167 runs. Rehan Ahmed was absent but on-loan Steve Eskinazi weighed in with 155. Liam Trevaskis closed his campaign with 6-85. 

Glamorgan didn’t sign off with a win, but they didn’t need to. Instead, they handed Lancashire a consolation prize at Cardiff, Tom Bailey and George Balderson sharing thirteen wickets. Middlesex captain Leus du Plooy struck the highest score of the week, a hefty 263 not out, en route for an innings win over Gloucestershire but Derbyshire clinched third place with their own crushing victory over bottom side Kent. Experienced batsmen Luis Reece (211) and Wayne Madsen (198) put on 358 for the third wicket, out of 698-6 declared, and Reece’s 5-63 made him only the 51^st player ever in world first-class cricket to strike a double-hundred and claim a five-for. That’s some achievement! 

Watch out for my season review and 2025 all-format Team of the Year. 

Team of the Week:- Reece (Der), Walter (Ess), Agarwal (Yor), Du Plooy (Mid), Madsen (Der), Eskinazi (Lei), Simpson (Sus +), Hill (Yor), Robinson (|Sus), Hutton (Not), Raful Chahar (Sur)

County Cricket: Leicestershire Promoted at Last

The latest report covers both ends of the county cricket spectrum. The week began with the Vitality Blast quarter-finals, Serial Finals Day participants Somerset and Hampshire progressed again. Hampshire easily outscored Durham but it took a scintillating unbeaten 71 from 26 balls by soon-to-depart Sean Dickson to swing the tie against the Bears with one delivery to spare. 

Liam Livingstone delivered a fine all-round performance for Lancashire to defeat Kent by three wickets. With Tom Hartley, he kept the lid on the opposition batting before crunching 85 not out. Surrey fielded a stellar line-up of internationals but, surprisingly, were undone by a 40-year-old blast from the past. In a game reduced to fourteen overs, Northamptonshire lost both openers in the first over, only for Ravi Bopara to produce only his third T20 century in almost five hundred matches. Pope and Sam Curran did their best but Surrey fell seven runs short and so miss out on another trophy. 

In the County Championship, Surrey’s seemingly smooth route to the title hit an unexpected barrier. With nationwide rain preventing results almost everywhere, second-placed Nottinghamshire scrambled their way to a three-wicket win at Worcestershire. Lyndon James (5-35) and Josh Tongue (4-52) left their side a target of only 136. Haseeb Hameed bagged a pair and wickets fell regularly but James and Tongue combined again to complete the victory which narrows the gap behind Surrey to a single point. 

After the first innings, at The Oval, there was barely a bail’s width between the leaders and Warwickshire, then Sibley and Pope steered the home team to 391-8 declared. On day four, Alex Davies’ team safely negotiated the final afternoon. Somerset clung on to third spot in their draw versus Yorkshire. Their first innings spanned almost three days, during which Tom Abell compiled a patient 130. A draw seemed inevitable but, when Yorkshire crumbled to 60-7, an extraordinary result was on the cards. However, Jordan Thompson blasted a rapid half-century to prevent an embarrassment. 

At Chelmsford, Essex had the better of their encounter with Durham, with Elgar and Critchley striking tons, but at Hove the bowlers were in control. Day three was washed out but there was no time for Hampshire to bowl Sussex out a second time. Hampshire’s week ended with another setback when they were docked eight points for preparing a substandard pitch back in May against the same opposition. To make matters worse, they lost that game! 

The ECB verdict pulls Hampshire down to within six points of Durham who occupy one of the relegation places with Worcestershire who are all but doomed. None of the bottom six are safe. Next week, the bottom two face up, as do the top pair. Should Surrey defeat Notts, the Championship pennant will continue to flutter over The Oval for yet another year. 

The big news from Division Two was Leicestershire gaining enough bonus points to ensure their first promotion to the top division since the two-tier structure was introduced. Having been wooden-spooners so often, their avoidance of defeat to Gloucestershire put them out of reach of the chasing pack. Glamorgan could yet displace them as top dogs but it would require something miraculous but with young Asa Tribe in such sensational form – 206 in his first outing against Northants following three List A centuries in four innings – who knows?! 

At Lord’s, rain ruined the contest between Middlesex and Derbyshire, in which Toby Roland-Jones took 6-77, while Lancashire and Kent were evenly matched at Canterbury. In only his second first-class appearance, Lancashire seamer Mitchell Stanley claimed an impressive eleven wickets. 

Next week’s Division Two highlight should be Glamorgan v Derbyshire, but the weather forecast doesn’t look great. The same goes for the T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston. No seven-over thrashes, please! 

Team of the Week:- Elgar (Ess), Tribe (Gla), McKinney (Dur), Bopara (Nor), Livingstone (Lan), Abell (Som), Roderick (Wor +), Saif Zaib (Nor), James (Not), Roland-Jones (Mid), Stanley (Lan)

County Cricket: Somerset are Abell but Surrey seem the more willing

Just over ten years ago my blog celebrated the 501-run partnership involving Alviro Petersen and Ashwell Prince in Lancashire’s Championship fixture at Colwyn Bay. There was nothing quite as massive this week, but one of Ian Botham’s records was eclipsed when James Rew and Tom Abell put on a new Somerset fourth-wicket record of 313 at Trent Bridge. All the more remarkable was the fact it followed a devastating opening spell by Muhammad Abbas, and the second-best stand was just 41. It counted for little, because Haseeb Hameed’s 208 anchored a superior Nottinghamshire reply which pretty much guaranteed the draw. 

The stalemate also played into Surrey’s hands. The leaders extended the gap over their nearest rivals to nine points courtesy of a five-wicket defeat of Durham at Chester-le-Street, where runs proved harder to come by. There were no centuries although Emilio Gay was dismissed one short. Ben Raine and Sai Kishore went home with five-fors, but the champs took the sixteen points for the win. 

Yorkshire stole the seaside show at Scarborough, thumping Sussex by an innings and leaping out of the relegation spots. Tons from Lyth and, for the second game in succession, Matt Revis, elevated the home side’s total to an unassailable 545-9 declared. Sussex were always struggling to save the game and, despite dogged late resistance by Hudson-Prentice and Carson, the experienced seamer Matt Milnes sealed the triumph with figures of 5-31. 

Warwickshire are only a point behind Somerset despite a run-heavy draw against Essex at Chelmsford. The hosts dominated the first few days, as Tom Westley, Charlie Allison and Michael Pepper all reached three figures. The Midlanders made a decent fist of their response, led by Ed Barnard and Ethan Bamber’s maiden hundred in his 72^nd first-class match. 

Not for the first time this season, Worcestershire were frustrated on the final afternoon when in sight of a much-needed success. Hampshire set them a challenging target of 358 on the final afternoon and, to skipper D’Oliveira’s credit, they accepted the gauntlet with no little enterprise. Jake Libby carried his bat for a round 100 in the first innings and reached 106 in the second before being bowled by Fuller. The run rate continued at more than six an over, but wickets fell regularly and, at 303-8, time was called with neither side quite doing enough. 

In Division Two, the combination of inclement weather and dominant batsmen prevented a result in three of the four fixtures. The exception occurred at Old Trafford, where Glamorgan cemented their second place by beating Lancashire by 154 runs. Chris Green (6-83) had limited the Welsh county to 261 on day one, but Mason Crane’s six-wicket blitz left Lancashire 124 adrift. Centuries by Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast consolidated the lead and, despite Luke Wells’ 102, the Red Roses fell way short of the 473 target. 

Leicestershire are still comfortably clear of the rest following a tame draw at Canterbury. Rehan Ahmed scored another century and Tom Scriven’s unlikely 99 advanced the total to 471. However, day three was almost totally washed out, so Kent’s Ben Compton batted virtually to the end, amassing 221. Ahmed was the most successful of the ten bowlers used by ‘keeper-captain Handscomb, who kept his gloves on throughout! 

Northamptonshire had Derbyshire on the back foot for the final few days, courtesy of a 208-run seventh-wicket stand shared by Justin Broad and Rob Keogh. On the fourth day, only rain and Luis Reece’s defiance saved Derby’s bacon. The Cheltenham crowd had little to relish either, especially thse who turned up on Thursday with hope and well-used umbrellas. At least there were excellent innings from the bats of Middlesex’s Kane Williamson (153) and Gloucestershire’s 21-year-old Joe Phillips (136). 

Now comes the interminable hiatus for The Hundred and the neutered Metro One-Day Cup. As ever, I’ll be focussing on the latter, which opens the door for the less-lauded white-ballers to show what they’re made of in fifty-over competition. Glamorgan handed Somerset their traditional runners-up medals last season and must be in with a decent shout this summer, too. 

Team of the Week:- Hameed (Not), Libby (Wor), B Compton (Ken), Westley (Ess), Abell (Som), Carlson (Gla), Rew (Som +), Revis (Yor), Crane (Gla), Milnes (Yor), T Taylor (Wor)

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: Notts and Leicester extend their leads

Unlike last week, runs were harder to come by, and wicketkeepers struggled with the bat. Somerset and Glamorgan each notched their third wins in succession, while Division One is looking very tight. 

Following their reverse against Durham, Nottinghamshire bounced back with a 163-run triumph against Yorkshire, their first at Headingley for fourteen years. They didn’t have it all their own way. New Lions recruit George Hill took 5-40 for the home side, before Mohammad Abbas swung things back with a commanding 6-45. Joe Clarke’s second half-century of the match helped Notts set a difficult target of 464 which they rarely looked like approaching. Five wickets from Dillon Pennington and six catches by ‘keeper Kyle Verryenne ended the resistance to deliver nineteen points to the leaders. 

Surrey remain in second place despite failing to beat Essex at The Oval. In fact, rain on the final day may well have saved them from defeat. Centuries by Paul Walter and Charlie Allison had left Surrey chasing over 400 to win on the last day. Michael Pepper stumped both openers off Harmer’s spin, then Jamie Porter claimed five more wickets, including that of Sam Curran, whose return from the IPL yielded two 70+ scores. Another England white-ball specialist, Jason Roy, bagged a sorry pair but the match ended with three Surrey wickets intact. 

Sussex are third, defeating Hampshire by nine wickets inside three days. The only batting partnership of note was the 173 shared by Sussex skipper John Simpson (106 not out) and Fynn Hudson-Prentice, while the off-spinner Jack Carson inflicted much of the damage to Hampshire’s second innings, ending on 5-26. Bowlers were also on top at Durham, where Somerset’s third win on the bounce came against the odds. Mitchell Killeen’s 5-38 on debut placed Durham on the driving seat then, although the visiting seamers restored some balance, Somerset still faced a tricky chase of 265. Thanks to Tom Lammonby and Tom Abell, they succeeded, making runs look almost easy. 

Despite this winning streak, Somerset are only fifth, one point adrift of Warwickshire, whose bid to go second was wrecked by the Worcester rain. Sam Hain found some form at last, twice passing eighty, but it was a welcome return, too, for Chris Woakes and Chris Rushworth. The latter claimed 4-37 and 3-30 as Warwickshire pushed to bowl out their neighbours. However, Waite, Brooks and Taylor proved stubborn, and the weather ended proceedings with Worcestershire on 181-8. 

Leicestershire maintained their unexpected grip on Division Two, thumping Lancashire by an innings and reaching the halfway stage fifty-one points clear at the summit. Test spinner Rehan Ahmed is still only twenty and is now making his mark in the county game as an all-rounder. Batting at three, he compiled an assured 136, putting on 256 with Lewis Hill, then dismissed the Lancs tail-enders to polish off the second innings. Keaton Jennings’ 112 was his side’s only score above 40 and not even Marcus Harris could lift them. 

They are not the basement county, though. Kent’s appalling run has dropped them to an ignominious eighth after a crushing loss to Derbyshire. At least Ben Compton could hold his head high, adding 205 runs to his season’s tally, but Derbyshire’s total of 587-5 declared proved insurmountable. 41-year-old Wayne Madsen notched another ton, but star of the show was opener, Caleb Jewell. The Tasmanian left-hander struck a career-best 232 spanning almost nine hours. 

Like Somerset, Glamorgan made it three in a row, advancing to third in the table by taking Middlesex to the Cardiff cleaners. Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson each achieved three figures before their attack took twenty wickets, something they rarely managed last year. No Kellaway this week, but left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann popped up from Australia to win the match with 6-53. 

At Northampton, another classy Aussie, Cameron Green, struck his third hundred in five matches for Gloucestershire in a more old-fashioned contest between bat and ball at Wantage Road. Northamptonshire, for whom Saif Zaib accumulated 215 runs, tended to dominate and were putting severe pressure on their visitors until rain took control on the fourth afternoon. With Bracey, Green and Hammond back in the pavilion, Gloucestershire would have been the most relieved. 

So that is it for the County Championship for four weeks. It hands over the spotlight to the Vitality Blast, in which anything can happen. No doubt some big overseas names will dip in and out with mixed results, while homegrown stars will shake things up. Champions Gloucestershire begin their defence at home to Kent while runners-up (grrr) Somerset face former nemesis county Surrey. 

Team of the Week:- Compton (Ken), Jewell (Der), Rehan Ahmed (Lei), Lammonby (Som), Hain (War), Saif Zaib (Nor), Verreynne (Not +), Carson (Sus), Mohammad Abbas (Not), Kuhnemann (Gla), Rushworth (War)  

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: Surrey off the mark and Leicester leave it late

There were only five Championship matches this week. There were few outstanding individual displays. No 14-year-old prodigies, as in the IPL. Indeed, despite four of the fixtures producing results, there was, amazingly, just one century scored. Stand up, Derbyshire’s Martin Andersson, who made 107 against his old county, Middlesex. At 28, he is twice the age of Rajastani Royal Vaibhav Suryavanshi! 

In Division One, Nottinghamshire easily beat their nearest rivals at the top, Sussex, by nine wickets. Josh Tongue’s first-innings 5-44 signalled his readiness for an England recall, while Haseeb Hameed accumulated a total of 147 runs. 

Surrey finally notched their first win of the campaign against – it pains me to say it – their old rivals Somerset. It wasn’t even close, done and dusted inside three days. The losing skipper Lewis Gregory did his best but his opposite number, Rory Burns kept his head with the bat and Jordan Clark was the pick of his talented attack, taking eight wickets. 

Ironically, two bowlers released by Somerset enjoyed excellent weeks. Jake Ball took 5-47 and 2-27 on his Durham debut as his side swept Worcestershire aside by six wickets with two days to spare. Ben Raine and Codi Yusuf also made hay on a seam-friendly wicket by the Severn. Poor Worcester have yet to register a single batting bonus point. 

Leicestershire continued their bright start to 2025, but Gloucestershire pushed them very close at Bristol. Their ‘keeper James Bracey was the only man to exceed 60 (93 not out) and it was a battle of the bowlers to determine the outcome. The home side’s Dominic Goodman claimed match figures of 9-87 but Ian Holland and Somerset loanee Ben Green were integral to Leicestershire’s two-wicket triumph. With time and wickets running out, it was also Green who struck the winning boundary. 

Derbyshire moved to second despite drawing at home to Middlesex. The aforementioned Andersson, Lloyd, Reece and Came all passed fifty and Zak Chappell weighed in with 4-55 before enforcing the follow-on. Batting again, Middlesex lost Fernandes first ball but Eskinazi (61)and Holden (94) put on 169 for the second wicket and Derbyshire were unable to bowl out their visitors a second time. 

Next up for Derbyshire are bottom side Glamorgan, while Leicestershire welcome Northamptonshire to Grace Road. In Division One, the Bank Holiday weekend fixtures include another tricky one for Somerset, who face Essex at Taunton. The leaders have a blank week, so Durham and Warwickshire can close the gap considerably by defeating Hampshire and Warwickshire, respectively. 

Team of the Week:-  Hameed (Not), Burns (Sur), Holden (Mid), Holland (Lei), Bracey (Glo +), Andersson (Der), Gregory (Som), J Clark (Sur), Goodman (Glo), B Green (Lei), Ball (Dur)

Tom Banton Triple Start in Vain

It’s April 2025, the sun is shining and even in Worcester the Severn isn’t in flood. Surely the domestic cricket season can’t be starting? Yep. Sure is. We may as well hand the Championship to Surrey right now, and the Division Two title to Lancashire but for the rest there should be plenty to play for. 

In the four-day event, Somerset’s one-day specialist Tom Banton showed he knows how to play the long game, too. After Kasey Aldridge and Craig Overton despatched Worcestershire for only 154, the 26-year-old spent almost nine hours stroking his way to 374, almost three times his previous best. He surpassed the previous highest score buy a Somerset player and with James Rew (152) broke the county’s 5^th wicket partnership record for good measure. However, despite a first-innings lead of more than 500, they narrowly failed to seal the first victory of the season, thanks largely to Brett d’Oliveira’s 121 and a dogged unbeaten 87 by Matt Waite, spanning almost the entire final day. 

Surrey may be the hot favourites to keep the Championship pennant flying for yet another season but they, too, had to battle to avoid an unexpected defeat at Chelmsford. Three Essex batsmen, Cox, Critchley and Pepper, achieved centuries and Surrey were made to follow on. Fortunately for them, the likes of Dom Sibley and Ben Foakes are dab hands at dropping anchor and they duly blocked their way to 219-6 and safety. 

At Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire did claim a win, eight wickets. Durham ‘s Colin Ackermann can feel hard done by as he scored a ton in each innings. Josh Tongue and Aussie, Fergus O’Neill, did most f the damage with the ball. Runs were harder to come by at Southampton. Adam Lyth’s 106 was easily the highest individual score but Hampshire’s attack, even without Abbas and Barker, did for Yorkshire. Sonny Baker, the latest young speed merchant touted for an England debut, took a modest three wickets but two of them were Jonny Bairstow’s. 

At Edgbaston, skipper John Simpson continued his great 2024 form with promoted Sussex with an unbeaten 181 as part of an opening innings of 528. Warwickshire opener Rob Yates responded with 115 and there was no time for Sussex to set a realistic last-day target, hence the draw. 

In Division Two, Middlesex and Lancashire fought an exciting four-dayer at Lord’s that went right to the wire with the result always uncertain. The visitors’ Marcus Harris notched 138 to hand his side a lead of 99, but a splendid 184 by Max Holden swung the match back in Middlesex’s favour. The Red Roses kept their heads and went for the win but as wickets fell steadily, Balderson and Williams had to shore up the innings with just two in hand. 

Leicestershire made a convincing start to the season, topping Glamorgan by ten wickets at Cardiff. Ian Holland opened both batting and bowling but it was the latter which proved crucial, earning match figures of 7-86. At Derby, Wayne Madsen marked his return to the Derbyshire captaincy with a century and nine-wicket success. All-rounder Luis Reece claimed ten wickets. Finally, at Northampton, Kent clinched a low-scoring encounter inside three days. South African Keith Dudgeon, on his county debut, polished off the Northants tail to end on 7-36, the best bowling stats of the week. 

Next up for Kent are Middlesex and Lancashire host Northamptonshire. In the top tier, Surrey host Hampshire in another tricky fixture, Nottinghamshire aim for two in two against Essex and Tom Banton brings his top form down to Sussex. More, please, Tom! 

Team of the Week:-  T Clark (Sus), Yates )War), Ackermann (Dur), Holden (Mid), Banton (Som), Simpson (Sus +), Critchley (Ess), Reece (Der), Dudgeon (Ken), O’Neill (Not), Aldridge (Som)