365 Sporting Days

The last week in September certainly wasn’t like the first! Rain by the bucketful meant as I write this at the end of Day 2 meant a total of around 378 overs had been bowled across the country and across both divisions. Promotion and relegation weren’t;t decided before this round so Days 3 and 4 were going to be key. I’ll start with the games that had some cricket first.

Division 1

Essex v Surrey – The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford. Tom Westley won the toss for Essex and elected to bat. Match Drawn.

Essex 508 for 8 dec , Surrey 267 for 7

I’d arranged a theatre trip on the other side of London on Day 1 so missed the 28.3 overs bowled, in that time Essex lost Robin Das and Dean Elgar was made 54* and Tom Westley 52*, Elgar reached the 1000 runs mark as he went. Day 2 had seen no cricket, after torrential rain overnight and plenty more in the morning. Day 3 was a day for Essex fans as we saw 3 centuries reached, Westley reached his first after accelerating at one point, he scored 135 from 190 ball, including 25 Fours and a Six, as he and Elgar put on 153 for the 2nd wicket, an Essex record for the 2nd wicket. Elgar and Matt Critchley put on 168 for the 3rd wicket as Elgar went on to score 182 from 284 balls, he was clearly struggling with an injury, but was also clearly so disappointed to be out, he was so close to his double century with 182 from 284 balls. Elgar hit 21 Fours. Critchley went on to score 112 from 171 balls as Essex first passed 450 in the 110 overs needed for the full bonus points, then 500. They eventually declared on 508 for 8 leaving very few overs in the day.

Surrey lost Rory Burns in the few overs left on Day 3, Day 4 was in many ways a bit odd. Yet Dom Sibley scored a hard worked century, making 125 from 189 balls. The day petered out and saw Critchley, a spinner, bowling seam with the new ball as well as Simon Harmer at the other end. The 2 new ball bowlers Jamie Porter and Sam Cook were in the slips, something else I’ve never seen! Harmer took 3 for 88 with his usual Bowling as Surrey made their way to 267 for 7 in 84 overs. The players shook hands at just gone 4 and Surrey were presented with the County Championship trophy for the third year in a row. Some feat and a nice send off for Director of Cricket Alec Stewart.

Somerset v Hampshire – The Cooper Associates County Ground., Taunton. Lewis Gregory won the toss for Somerset and elected to bat. Hampshire won by 5 wickets.

Somerset 136 All Out & 180 All Out, Hampshire 196 All Out & 121 for 5

Second place was up for grabs win this match. Tom Kohler-Cadmore top scored for Somerset with 63 from 135 balls as they were bowled out in 53.5 overs. Kyle Abbot and Liam Dawson took 4 wickets each.

Hants Opener Toby Albert watched all fall around him, before he and Keeper Ben Brown put on 73 for the 7th wicket. Albert scored 77 from 162 balls. With 3 spinners in their team it was Jack Leach who took 5 for 52 in his 20 overs. The innings lasted 60.4 overs.

Somerset batted for 22 overs by the end of Day 2 and were 60 for 4, taking the scores to equal. Abbot had added another 3 for 11 to his tally. Somerset faced another 31 overs and scored a total of 180. Kyle Abbot took 5 for 37 in his 37 overs.

Hants had this game won on Day 3, they required just 27 overs to do so. They were 0 fro 2, them 21 for 3, before James Vince scored 54 from 68 balls, he and Liam Dawson with 44, out on 57 for the 5th wicket. The win guaranteed a second place for Hampshire.

Worcestershire v Lancashire – Visit Worcestershire New Road, Worcester. Keaton Jennings won the toss for Lancs and put Worcs in to bat. Match Drawn.

Worcestershire 180 All Out & 223 for 9, Lancashire 177 All Out

There were 26 overs bowled on Day 1 in Worcester and none on Day 2, in those 26 overs Worcs scored 119 runs and Lancs took 7 wickets. Matthew Waite and Logan van Beek put on 84 for the 8th wicket, with Waite making 60 from 58 balls and van Beek 48. But Worcs were bowled out in 45 overs for 180.

Lancashire were staring relegation in the face and were bowled out in 55.1 overs for 177. Luke Wells and George Balderson both scored 38. `The 5 bowlers shared the wickets.

Worcs batted for 56 overs befit the game was declared a draw. van Beek was the top scorer with 44 as Worcs made 223 for 9. Anderson Philip took 4 wickets.

Lancashire swap places with their big rivals Yorkshire for 2025 having amassed just 134 points, they won 3 games across the season.

Durham v Kent – Seat Unique Riverside, Chester le-Street. Jack Leaning won the toss for Kent and put Durham in to bat. Match Drawn.

Durham 360 All Out, Kent 353 for 8

There was no play for the first 2 days.

Durham put on 80 for the 1st wicket before Alex Lees and Emilio Gay put on 110 for the 2nd wicket, that bodes well for their 2025. Gay scored 52 from 96 balls. Lees then shared a partnership of 99 with David Bedingham for the 3rd wicket. Bedingham scored 66 from 38 balls, he hit 3 Fours and 6 Sixes. Lees made 144 from 180 balls. Matt Parkinson took 6 for 109, his 6 included the wicket of his twin brother, caught and bowled!

Kent fell to 96 for 4 before Joe Denly and Jack Leaning put on 124 for the 5th wicket. Denly made 63 from 106 balls and Leaning 84 from 168 balls. Joey Evison in at 7 made 77 from 100 balls. Kent batted for 100 balls and scored 353 for 8. Kent will play their cricket in Division 1 in 2025 having reached just 99 points and won just 1 game.

Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire – Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Alex Davies won the toss for Warwicks and put Notts in to bat. Match Drawn.

Nottinghamshire 487 All Out, Warwickshire 373 for 7

There was no play for the first 2 days.

Notts were 55 for 3 before Freddie McCann and Jack Haynes put on 127 for the 4th wicket, Haynes scored 47, McCann then put on 98 for the 6th wicket with Keeper Kyle Verreynne. McCann scored 130 from 223 balls Verreyenne went on to score 148 from 167 balls. Notts scored 487 in 125.3 overs. 8 bowlers were used and they all took at least 1 wicket.

Warwicks fell to 6 for 2 in the 6th over as they lost both openers. Will Rhodes and Sam Hain then put on 99 for the 3rd wicket. Rhodes made 37. Hain and Ed Barnard then put on 150 for the 5th wicket. Barnard made 81 from 148 balls. Hain then shared a partnership of 99 with Keeper Michael Burgess. Burgess made 56 from 71 balls Hain finished the day on 153* from 309 balls as the game was declared a draw.

Division 2

Glamorgan v Gloucestershire – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Graeme van Buuren won the toss for Gloucs and put Glamorgan in to bat. Glamorgan won by 192 runs.

Glamorgan 381 for 4, Gloucestershire 189 All Out

There were 65.2 overs bowled across the 2 days. The Glamorgan openers put on 69 for the first wicket, before Asa Tribe and Colin Ingram put on 129 for the 2nd. Tribe scored 70 from 133 balls and Ingram went on to score 84 from 96 balls. Glamorgan were 283 for 4 when play was called off on Day 2. Sam Northeast and Keeper Chris Cooke put on 171 before Northeast declared, he scored 64* from 94 balls and Cooke made 101* from 121 balls.

I believe Northeast declared his 2nd innings and Graeme van Buuren his 1st, which gave the room for a positive conclusion in Cardiff.

Gloucestershire were bowled out in 63.5 overs. Opener Joe Phillips top scored with 64 from 115 balls and James V=Bracey contributed 49. 4 of the 5 bowlers used took wickets.

Yorkshire v Northamptonshire – Headingley, Leeds. Jonathan Tattersall won the toss for Yorkshire and put Northants in to bat. Match Drawn.

Northants 147 All Out & 71 for 2, Yorkshire 716 for 7!!

Yorkshire needed 10 points from this match to guarantee promotion. They took 6 wickets in the 40 overs they were able to bowl on Day , after no play on Day 1. That means they’ll be playing in Division 1 in 2025 unless they somehow lose this match! Northants faced a further 13.3 overs and scored 147 in total. George Bartlett scored 64 from 92 balls.

Yorkshire were 15 for 1, then, Adam Lyth and James Wharton put on 260 for the 2nd wicket, Lyth scored 147 from 163 balls, Wharton then shared a partnership of 117 with Will Luxton who scored 49, Then came Jonny Bairstow, he and Wharton made 194 for the 4th wicket, Wharton was finally out for a huge 285 from 319 balls! Bairstow made 78 from 84 balls as Yorkshire batted on and on. George Hill scored 54 from 66 balls and Jordan Thompson 56 from 49 balls. Yorkshire batted for 141 overs and scored 726 runs before declaring.

The Yorkshire innings left just 13 overs left for Northants to face, the lost 2 wickets for 71 runs. Yorkshire finished din 2nd place with 217 points and will play in Division 1 in 2025.

Leicestershire v Derbyshire – Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester. David Lloyd won the toss for Derbyshire and put Leicestershire in to bat. Match Drawn

Leicestershire 280 All Out, Derbyshire 252 for 3

There was no play for the first 2 days.

Leics put on 120 for the 1st wicket, Sol Budinger scored 87 from 67 balls, including 15 Fours. Liam Trevaskis made 57 from 107 balls. Leics were bowled out in 87.1 overs for 280. 7 bowlers were used and 5 of them shared the wickets.

Derbyshire Captain and Opener scored 73 from 87 balls, Wayne Madsen and Keeper Brooke Guest put on 132 before the game was declared a draw. Madsen made 105 from 123 balls. Leics used 9 bowlers! Derbyshire finished the season at the bottom of Division 2 on 122 points, having won 1 game

Sussex v Middlesex – The 1st Central County Ground, Hove. John Simpson won the toss for Sussex and put Middlesex in to bat. Match Drawn.

Middlesex 271 All Out, Sussex 459 for 4

There was no play for the first 2 days.

Sussex were already promoted before this game started, Middlesex were in with an outside chance of promotion. Opener Sam Robson helped the Middlesex cause with century, he scored 113 from 103 balls, including 15 Fours. But Middlesex were bowled out in 44.3 overs for 271, just the 1 batting point tipped things much further towards Yorkshire. James Coles took 4 wickets.

Opener Tom Haines and Tom Alsop put on 123 for the 3rd wicket. Alsop scored 66 from 131 balls, Haines went on to score 105 from 168 balls. James Coles and John Simpson scored 226 before the game was declared a draw. Simpson scored 87* from 147 balls and Coles made 132* from 150 balls.

Century Makers and 5 Wicket Takers

• Alex Lees – Durham – 144 from 180 Balls
• Freddie McCann – Notts – 130 from 223 Balls
• Kyle Verreynne 146 from 167 Balls
• Sam Hain – Warwicks – 153 from 309 Balls
• Dean Elgar – Essex – 182 from 284 Balls
• Tom Westley – Essex – 135 from 190 Balls
• Matt Critchley – Essex – 112 from 171 Balls
• Dom Sibley – Surrey – 125 from 189 Balls
• Wayne Madsen – Derbyshire – 105 from 123 Balls
• Sam Robson – Middlesex – 113 from 103 Balls
• Tom Haines – Sussex – 105 from 168 Balls
• James Coles – Sussex – 132 from 150 Balls
• Adam Lyth – Yorkshire – 147 from 163 Balls
• James Wharton – Yorkshire – 285 from 319 Balls
• Chris Cooke – Glamorgan – 101 from 121 Balls

• Jack Leach – Somerset – 5 for 52 in 20 Overs
• Kyle Abbot – Hampshire – 5 for 37 in 18 Overs
• Anderson Phillip – Lancs – 5 for 65 in 13 Overs