So the domestic cricket season has run its full course and come to a thrilling conclusion during a surprisingly warm September. Congratulations must go to Durham who clinched the title on Saturday with a comprehensive innings defeat of Kent who will be playing their Championship cricket in Division Two next season.
Wet Wet Wet
Despite an exciting climax to the season this has by no means been a vintage year on the county circuit. With the English weather being largely dreadful through much of July and the whole of August, the season turned into a bit of an endurance for many county sides. With the elements being the opposite of those needed to conduce exciting, aggressive cricket we have witnessed a higher than average number of draws in the Championship and numerous games decisively affected by rain.
Durham’s Dynamism
When we look back at the season I think the team that played the most fearless cricket came away with the honours. Durham, their bowling attack led by a fired-up Steve Harmison (60 wickets at 22.35) were the most consistently threatening side over the season on wickets that were far from conducive for fast bowling.
Not only did Durham’s bowling attack take the game to their opponents, the team’s batsmen also impressed on a regular basis. Skipper Michael Di Venuto led from the front with his gloriously swashbuckling style of batting scoring 1058 runs in 27 innings at an average of 46. He was ably assisted - and sometimes eclipsed - by young stroke maker Will Smith (no, not that Will Smith) who scored an impressive 925 runs at an average of 51.38.
In some ways the depth of the batting order can be seen as Durham’s greatest strength with Liam Plunkett and Steve Harmison scoring valuable runs down at 9 and 10. We can look forward to more of Durham's electrifying brand of cricket next season.
Nottinghamshire’s Challenge
It would be unfair however, to write a summary of the County Championship season without mentioning Nottinghamshire who, under the leadership of Chris Read excelled themselves and played some truly attractive cricket and so narrowly missed out on claiming the title for themselves.
A perfect blend of youth (Stuart Broad, Bilal Shafayat, Samit Patel) and experience (Mark Ealham, Chris Read, Mark Wagh) saw them dominate the Championship in the first half of the season before fading slightly and finishing in an agonizing second place on the final day of the campaign with a heavy defeat at the hands of third-placed Hampshire.
On The Up
As we all know, Championship cricket is not all about Division One. Darren Maddy’s Warwickshire will be hoping to establish themselves as a force in the top tier again after winning Division Two in emphatic style. Worcestershire’s good form saw Graeme Hick finish his career on a high with promotion, a fitting end for one of the true greats of our domestic game.
Perennial strugglers Derbyshire were much improved this term and - despite trouble with the form of captain Rikki Clarke - finished the season in sixth place, a marked improvement on the club’s form in recent years. The story was not quite so rosy for Glamorgan though, the club finishing second from bottom and failing to make progress despite the large investments being made in the club.
Competition Breeds Success
Although the rain may have spoiled the domestic campaign this season it has been a good year for English cricket and with the County Championship getting stronger and more competitive we can look forward to seeing the positive results of this in the international arena in the not too distant future. Roll on April!