Lancashire’s wait finally comes to an end for the Championship Title!

So after months of waiting, hard work, and pure dedication on behalf of every county team, it was finally decided that Lancashire were to be crowned County Championship Winners!

After 77 years of waiting it was Lancashire’s turn to claim victory over Somerset to cement their place at the top of the table. It was left to the openers Stephen Moore and Paul Horton who led aggressively from the beginning of their 210 run chase, which could have been considerably lower if it weren’t for Somerset’s lower-order batsmen. Peter Trego registered a match-saving 120 along with a great 65 from number 10 Murali Kartik taking Somerset’s score from 130-7 to 310 all out!

So as the Lancashire openers took to the crease their boundary hitting was sublime with two 6’s and eleven 4’s between them. As they looked set to go all the way Meschede and Trego got in the way leaving it up to Croft and Brown to continue the boundary barrage. As soon as Croft smashed the hitting runs the supporters were no longer the other side of the barrier. No doubt the celebrations will be long and hard!

In other county news we now know the other counties fates. So it was finally decided after a win over Leicester that Middlesex were crowned Division 2 Champions, and with Surrey in tow will be having a happy trip up into Division 1. However for Yorkshire and Hampshire their trip down into the bottom division will be less of a celebration, and probably more of a brainstorm to see how they can propel themselves back up next year.

So with just the CB40 left it is fair to say the summer is well and truly over, with just Somerset and Leicester competing in the Champions League Trophy in the next couple of weeks in India so good luck to them. An overview or more precisely my overview of the summer will appear once the CB40 is done and dusted to give you one final look back over an amazing English summer.

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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The quarter-finals are complete…

So the quarter-finals have come to an end and we now know the finals day line up, I love finals day just watching on screen makes you feel a part of the whole atmosphere… of course I would love to be there in person but if I had it my way I would go to every cricket game going! Who doesn’t love the whole finals day shenanigans? I mean come on everyone loves the mascot race, accompanied obviously with the humour and sheer hilarity of David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd… the man who has made television commentary well worth a listen.

But who has actually made it to finals days, I’m sure you’ll already know but if you have been cut off from all communication then I can understand:

Leicestershire Foxes v Kent Spitfires – Winners Foxes – *Cheers* As you may know I try and remain bias but I am overjoyed that the Foxes are through to finals day. A very high scoring game the Foxes chased 203 to win the game in superb style after everyone had dismissed them (and still are) as underdogs in the competition. It was also fitting for Nico (Paul Nixon) as his last home game at Grace Road before retiring was completed in style… the scenes after the win was achieved was astonishing, the crowds leaked onto the field, the players nowhere to be seen. Nixon was soon lifted onto the shoulders of supporters and hailed as the great player he has been not only for England but Leicestershire also through a career spanning across four decades.

Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Somerset CCC – Winners Somerset – What a contest this was, but somewhat I thought slightly low on runs considering the calibre of the teams we had on show. Somerset chased 169 but they were seen to be struggling towards the end… welcome to the crease overseas player Kieron Pollard (47 from 32) and the young power-hitter Jos Buttler (34 from 18). These two were phenomenal at middling the ball, with the two hitting 6 sixes between them; the ground was just ablaze with boundaries as they eased over the line to get themselves into another finals day. But can they reproduce their fireworks at Trent Bridge to rid themselves of the ‘bridesmaids’ tag after becoming runners-up in each competition last year.

Hampshire Royals v Durham Dynamos – Winners Royals – The third quarter-final of the week and Durham were completely outplayed after being pounded for a mere 99 runs! This was mainly all down to the handiwork of spinner Danny Briggs, who I want to point out now, he is one to definitely watch (you heard it here first). Taking 5-19 off his four overs, Briggs helped the Royals claim a comprehensive 55 run win over the Dynamos, along with a innings-saving 56 from Neil McKenzie. Durham were facing a difficult bowling attack and only four batsmen achieved double figures, it wasn’t really a hard task for Hampshire once they claimed their first few wickets… and they know look forward to retaining their esteemed crown.

Lancashire Lightning v Sussex Sharks – Winners Lightning – The last quarter final saw Lancashire fly through to finals day by 20 runs. The game saw a reasonable innings form Lancashire as they achieved 152 with Brown and Horton the key players taking their score to respectability… there was no fireworks from either side but both fought for their place, with only one team coming out on top. An injury to Murray Goodwin before the start of Sussex’s batting innings dampened supporters’ spirits and doubted their team’s chances of winning, especially after they lost 3 early wickets scoring only 9 runs between them. Nash, Yardy and Hasan all gave mediocre performances with the only 2 sixes coming off the number 6 batsmen Hasan. Lancashire’s bowling proved too much for the Sharks and that was that for the quarter-finals.

So the draw for finals day was soon made and is as follows: Leicestershire Foxes v Lancashire Lightning and Hampshire Royals v Somerset CCC… let the battle commence, and who do you think will be this year’s champions?! Bring on finals day.!

Photo Credit: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

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