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)

Lawes in Fine order for Surrey

The Oval faithful were rewarded with a second successive home success for Surrey, extending their lead in Division One to twenty-five points. This week it was Kent who were rolled over, by ten wickets. They bat all the way down and have no star bowlers, yet get the job done. The 20-year-old paceman Tom Lawes picked up eight wickets, including a decisive 5-22 in the second innings. The two counties meet in their next Championship fixture, too, but Kent have three weeks to get their act together. 

Hampshire picked up win number three, crushing Northamptonshire at the Rose Bowl, assisted by Liam Dawson’s 6-61. I was pleasantly surprised by Somerset’s maiden victory of 2023, a smash-and-grab raid at Lord’s. Yet again, Middlesex failed to secure a batting bonus point, while Somerset’s George Bartlett, another off the Millfield School production line, contributed 121 out of 404, and Craig Overton finished things off with a long-overdue five-for. 

There were plenty of runs at Trent Bridge but neither side could take the requisite twenty wickets. Cook and Westley shared two century partnerships for Essex but the sole individual centurion was Nottinghamshire’s young Matthew Montgomery, who compiled an assured 177. 

In Division Two, Durham are staking a clear claim on promotion, defeating Gloucestershire at Bristol by 125 runs. A Michael Jones ton and a whirlwind 67 from Ollie Robinson helped set the home team an improbable 425 target but a second consecutive five-wicket haul for spinner Ajaz Patel and Matthew Potts’ 3-53 negated Marcus Harris carrying his bat for 122. Just up the M5, Worcestershire overcame Leicestershire courtesy of excellent owlig by Leach and Waite.

Last year, Glamorgan broke all sorts of run records at Grace Road and another, rather extraordinary one, was achieved at Hove. England’s Ollie Robinson took 4-29, then Steve Smith and James Coles led a strong response to secure a massive first-innings lead. Then things changed….. In that remarkable 795-5 in 2022, Sam Northeast topped 400, but this week he was out first ball! No problem. Captain Kiran Carlson’s career-best 192 and centuries from Aussies Labuschagne and Neser as the total soared beyond 700 once more. A declaration was hardly a serious option and Glamorgan posted a world record difference between their first and second innings of 614 runs! To add to Sussex woes, Robinson suffered an ankle injury which may also put a spanner in the works for the Ashes squad. 

But that’s several weeks away. For now, we have to make do with some T20 Blast action. Who will win this year? Not a clue. Do I care? Not a bit.

Team of the Week:- Harris (Glo), Cook (Ess), Montgomery (Not), Bartlett (Som), Carlson (Gla), Robinson (Dur +), Coles (Sus), Leach (Wor), Arjaz Patel (Dur), Waite (Wor), Lawes (Sur)