Given the points totals going into the final round of County Championship games, the Division One title always looked to be heading to Trent Bridge. Notts beating Surrey at the Oval had put them in a commanding position with one match left, but they still needed to get the job done, especially given Surrey’s eminently winnable trip to Hampshire.
But Nottinghamshire were unfazed. Despite a reasonable total of 258 for opponents Warwickshire, Notts cleaned up the tail quickly thanks to Mohammed Abbas, and took that momentum into their response with the bat. Built around a fantastic 122 from captain Haseeb Hameed, Notts posted 374, with a six from Kyle Verreyne securing the requisite bonus points to secure the title. Even though the rest of the proceedings were a mere formality, Notts cleaned up Warwickshire for 133, with the brilliant Abbas taking 3-18.
Meanwhile, Surrey were engaged in a dogfight with Hampshire, which had potential ramifications at both ends of the table. Hampshire needed something to avoid relegation, sitting just a point above Durham at the start of the match, and would have been encouraged by early proceedings, dismissing Surrey for 147 en route to building a 101-run first innings lead. However, after a shaky start in their third innings, Surrey rallied through their middle-order, posting a competitive 281, leaving Hampshire a tricky 180-run chase in the fourth innings. Hampshire could only stumble their way to a dismal 160 all out.
This defeat all but confirmed Hampshire’s relegation. They needed Yorkshire to snatch victory from a game plodding tediously to a draw against Durham. For Durham, the equation was simple: avoid defeat in the fourth innings and stay in Division One. Even when the third wicket fell with 57 runs on the board, a Yorkshire win was still miles away, and then, in a passage of play which reminds us why First-Class cricket is the inherently superior form of the game, the game exploded into life. Durham lost their last eight wickets for just 28 runs, and the last four for just two runs. This was Kamikaze cricket, and instantly ruined Durham’s entire campaign. Months of graft and grit to stay in the top flight were thrown away at the last hurdle.
Replacing Durham and fellow relegated team Worcestershire in the top-flight next year will be Leicestershire, who enjoyed a dominant campaign, and Glamorgan, whose gifted young batsman Asa Tribe will be looking to continue this year’s form in Division One.
As ever, both divisions of the County Championship were unpredictable to the last, with the awful cliché of the ‘ebb and flow’ of the longer format being as relevant as ever. And with Notts breaking Surrey’s three-year grip on the title, other sides will be encouraged that 2026 could be their year.
Image credits: “Trent Bridge Test” by It’s No Game is licensed under CC BY 2.0.