The Rothesay County Championship is ready up for an exhilarating finale subsequent month, however till then The Hundred and the less-publicised Metro Financial institution One-Day Cup take centre stage for August.
Within the ultimate Kookaburra spherical of the season, Surrey and Yorkshire have been the large winners in Division One, while the seemingly-doomed Worcestershire have been joined within the backside two by Durham with three video games to play.
In the meantime, Glamorgan strengthened their grip on a top-two end by beating a resurgent Lancashire to make the most of three attracts throughout the remaining Division Two matches.
Jake Libby’s twin tons of for Division One’s backside facet was a standout effort however who else joined the Worcestershire opener as a star performer within the newest spherical of motion?
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Jake Libby (Worcestershire)
The Worcestershire opener struck not one, however two centuries in opposition to Hampshire, although the hosts have been unable to earn a a lot wanted win and needed to accept a draw after abandoning a probably memorable ultimate day chase at New Highway.
The 32-year-old, who had solely beforehand made three figures as soon as within the County Championship this season, carried his bat within the first innings for precisely 100 however may solely watch wickets tumble from the opposite finish because the Division One backside facet squandered a promising place by shedding eight wickets for 62 runs.
Set an imposing 358 in 53 overs, Libby then led a courageous Worcestershire pursuit alongside Kashif Ali (65), with the pair displaying actual intent in a 134-run partnership for the second wicket.
A composed Libby timed the ball sweetly and rotated the strike in a commanding method, reaching his thirteenth Worcestershire hundred earlier than falling shortly after for 106 off 122 balls with the rating on 213, with common wickets thereafter persevering with to peg again the relegation-threatened Pears, regardless of some aggressive center order cameos, with the 2 groups shaking fingers at 303-8.
Ben Compton (Kent)
Left-handed opener Compton handed 1,000 runs for the marketing campaign with a career-best double century as Division Two basement facet Kent performed out a rain-affected draw with leaders Leicestershire at Canterbury.
After the hosts have been annoyed by a tenth-wicket stand price 108 which propelled the promotion-bound Foxes to 471, Compton anchored the reply with an impressive 221 off 380 balls which noticed the 31-year-old climb to the highest of the run-scoring charts throughout each divisions.
His eight-hour knock, together with 20 fours and one six, was unfold over three days because the rain solely allowed for 9.5 overs to be bowled on day three, which means any possibilities of a constructive outcome have been slim and as soon as Compton finally guided his facet previous the follow-on goal, the draw was inevitable.
Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire)
Nottinghamshire skipper Hameed is having fun with a superb season with the bat, now main the Division One run-scoring charts with 1,108 runs at a mean of 79.14.
His very good 208 in opposition to Somerset at Trent Bridge was additionally his second double century of the marketing campaign, spearheading his facet’s unlikely title cost which did take a dent after they misplaced floor on Surrey following their fourth consecutive draw with the Kookaburra ball.
Hameed constructed three century partnerships with Freddie McCann, Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes, earlier than the previous England Check opener was run out within the a hundred and twenty fifth over with Notts amassing 544 on a dull pitch evident by Somerset’s Lewis Gregory determination to decide in opposition to utilizing the second new ball.
Tom Westley (Essex)
Skilled in-form batter Westley was considered one of three Essex centurions as they remained simply above the relegation locations following their draw with Warwickshire at Chelmsford.
The five-time England Check participant notched a 3rd century in 4 matches, showcasing usually elegant stroke play on his strategy to 148 – passing 14,000 First-Class runs within the course of – because the hosts racked up a mammoth 602-6d on a benign pitch.
A mix of Warwickshire resistance and the climate worn out any hopes of Essex incomes a second successive win however there was time for Westley to register one other half-century as he remained unbeaten on 51 when the rain arrived to convey an sooner than scheduled finish to day 4.
Tom Abell (Somerset)
Somerset’s Abell made a career-best 156 on day one in opposition to Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in a record-breaking partnership with wicketkeeper James Rew.
After a difficult first hour by which they discovered themselves 0-2 and 25-3, having been put into bat, the pair dominated proceedings to take the higher hand with a exceptional fourth-wicket stand price 313 – overtaking Peter Denning and Ian Botham’s 310 in opposition to Gloucestershire in 1980 as Somerset’s largest ever.
Alongside Rew (166), the assured Abell struck 19 fours in what was his first century of the season, finally falling to the quick ball simply moments earlier than unhealthy gentle compelled the gamers off the sphere close to the shut of day one.
Following a protracted stint within the area, the guests abruptly discovered themselves in an unlikely place of jeopardy at 4 wickets down and nonetheless in a deficit however Abell (51) and Tom Banton (43*) placed on a significant 87 runs to make sure what had appeared an inevitable draw.
Matthew Revis (Yorkshire)
Native lad Revis is without doubt one of the type gamers in county cricket for the time being, changing into the primary Yorkshire participant to publish three centuries in as many Championship matches since Gary Ballance in 2019, this time with a career-best 152 unbeaten to assist the White Rose increase their survival probabilities with a cushty innings victory over Sussex to leap out of the underside two.
The 23-year-old all-rounder, who’s certain to be on the England Lions radar within the close to future, walked out to the center along with his facet already forward of Sussex’s 222 due to the platform laid by Adam Lyth’s century however set about constructing a commanding lead in entertaining vogue.
With sturdy assist from George Hill (75 off 93) particularly, Revis’ 188-ball innings contained 14 fours and two sixes which guided the hosts to 545-9d at Scarborough and finally condemned the guests to back-to-back innings defeats which has dragged them firmly into the relegation scrap.
Northamptonshire all-rounder Broad adopted up his 157 in opposition to Kent earlier within the month with an attention grabbing career-best effort of 171 of their draw at dwelling to Derbyshire.
Responding to the guests’ 377, the sport was within the stability at 154-5 till Broad added 127 with George Bartlett (66) and 208 with fellow centurion Rob Keogh (125) – the best ever sixth and seventh-wicket partnerships for Northants in opposition to Derbyshire.
Broad’s knock was additionally the best rating by any quantity seven in opposition to Derbyshire, coming off 273 balls with 18 fours and one six, grinding down an more and more lacklustre bowling assault as Northants racked up 550-9d.
Chris Inexperienced (Lancashire)
Not for the primary time Australian abroad Inexperienced – a T20 specialist by nature – has featured within the collection of standout performers this season for Lancashire however after his current exploits with the bat, this week it was his bowling which did the harm, albeit in a shedding trigger in opposition to Glamorgan as their hopes of constructing a right away return to Division One took a serious hit.
It began effectively for the in-form Purple Rose as Glamorgan slumped from 199-3 to 261 all out on a spin-heavy first day at Outdated Trafford, with Inexperienced sending down 34 overs and eradicating the entire prime 5 batters on his strategy to career-best figures of 6-82.
Lancashire struggled with the bat to depart them up in opposition to it, with the guests happening to construct an unassailable second innings lead of 472, although Inexperienced was in a position to pinch an extra three wickets to his tally simply earlier than the declaration.
Mason Crane (Glamorgan)
Staying in Manchester, the place one other spinner Crane performed a star function as Glamorgan took a serious step in the direction of promotion to Division One with their first Championship win at Outdated Trafford since 1993.
The 28-year-old leg-spinner ran via the Lancashire batting order in a loopy afternoon session on day two, with the hosts shedding their final seven wickets for 30 runs, claiming career-best figures of 6-19 from simply 10.3 overs which included the scalps of Marcus Harris and Phil Salt.
Lancashire made a greater battle of it second time round in a determined try to shut the hole on their opponents in second place however ultimately fell means in need of their unlikely 473 goal, with Crane, who was a contact on the costly facet, extra importantly eradicating the harmful Keaton Jennings and Harris, earlier than bowling James Anderson for his ninth of the match to seal the 154-run win.
Sai Kishore (Surrey)
Indian left-arm spinner Kishore’s transient two-game stint within the County Championship resulted in success with a five-wicket haul to assist Surrey beat Durham and strengthen their place forward of Notts on the prime of the Division One desk.
Kishore claimed two wickets for the third innings working in a Surrey shirt, although it was the seamers who did a lot of the harm as Durham have been dismissed for simply 153 on day one.
It was within the second innings the place the short-term abroad import got here to the fore, recording figures of 5-72 off 41.4 overs to bowl the hosts out for 344 and depart a process of 176 for a fourth win of the marketing campaign which they accomplished with little alarm on day three.
Matt Milnes (Yorkshire)
In a spherical dominated by the spinners, right-arm seamer Milnes produced an excellent efficiency within the second innings to safe Yorkshire’s emphatic victory over Sussex.
Following his two wickets within the first innings, Milnes marked his first pink ball look of the season with a 5-fer on day 4 as Sussex have been dismissed for 195, nonetheless 128 runs away from making the hosts bat once more.
His figures of 5-31, a primary 5-fer within the County Championship since 2021 following quite a lot of harm setbacks, included the massive wicket of James Coles for a first-ball duck and Dan Ibrahim on 51, earlier than ending the sport in successive deliveries after some decrease order resistance.
It was introduced shortly after the match that the 31-year-old can be returning to his former facet Kent in 2026, although he should have a key function to play for Yorkshire with simply three factors separating a bunch of 4 groups nervously trying over their shoulders forward of ninth-placed Durham.
Honourable Mentions
In whole, there have been 21 completely different centurions through the newest spherical of motion.
Rehan Ahmed (119) as soon as once more put the England selectors on excessive alert along with his fifth of the marketing campaign for Leicestershire, while New Zealand nice Kane Williamson’s 153 was his second Championship ton in as many matches for Middlesex.
Twenty-year-old Charlie Allison (133) impressively made his third hundred of the season for Essex, in the identical match Warwickshire’s Ethan Bamber (107) memorably surpassed his earlier excessive rating of 46 because the nominated nightwatchman.
Michael Pepper (107*) and Ed Barnard (108*) each additionally reached three figures within the high-scoring draw at Chelmsford.
Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth (115) handed 1,000 runs for the third successive marketing campaign along with his fifth Scarborough ton.
Somerset’s James Rew (166), Derbyshire’s Martin Andersson (105), Lancashire’s Luke Wells (102), in addition to Glamorgan duo Sam Northeast (132) and Kiran Carlson (108) all made their third centuries of the season, while there have been firsts of the marketing campaign for Gloucestershire’s Joe Phillips (136) and Northamptonshire’s Rob Keogh (125).
From a bowling perspective, Kent’s Matt Parkinson claimed 7-137 in opposition to Leicestershire to make it 15 wickets over the past two rounds and India’s Yuzvendra Chahal took eight wickets within the match for Northamptonshire – together with 6-118 within the first innings – although it was not fairly sufficient to see off Derbyshire.
Elsewhere, there have been additionally five-wicket hauls for Durham’s Ben Raine, Essex’s Matt Critchley, Worcestershire’s Tom Taylor and England prospect Sonny Baker for Hampshire.
By Dom Harris
