Good morning and welcome to the penultimate round of the 2018 County Championship. We already have our winners, and worthy champions, Surrey – who beat Worcestershire in that final-day thriller at New Road to clinch the pennant. Now the rest (minus Notts and Lancashire who sit this round out) battle for relegation and promotion places and one last chance to impress the selectors ahead of the announcement of the tour party later this week:
In Division One:
Yorkshire v Hampshire One to keep an eye on as Yorkshire press for a win and Division One safety. A last chance for James Vince to show what he can do
Somerset v Surrey What was was primed to be the pivotal match of the season now means nothing, but Somerset are playing for pride and Champs Surrey want to extend their run of consecutive wins to ten.
Essex v Worcestershire the just-crowned Vitality Blast Champions take on third-placed Essex. Worcestershire can avoid relegation by a mathematical miracle – and need a win.
In Division Two:
Sussex v Warwickshire A draw will be enough for Warwickshire to ensure promotion and an immediate bounce-back to Division One, but they have a tough fight against third-placed Sussex. Chris Woakes is unavailable for Warwickshire; Jonathan Trott plays his penultimate match. Losing Blast finalists Sussex have to win their last two games to secure promotion – and are unbeaten at Hove this season
Middlesex v Derbyshire The final Lord’s match of the season and it’s cloudy and overcast. Dawid Malan has mentioned the strangeness of the pitches this year (see below). Middlesex fans still await the announcement of a new head coach. It will be Derbyshire’s first visit to Lord’s since 2013 as they aim for their third consecutive CC win.
Leicestershire v Durham Paul Collingwood’s penultimate game might (?) draw the crowds into Grace Road. The club has just announced that Paul Horton has extended his contract by another two years.
Kent v Glamorgan Second-placed Kent are still in the thick of battle for promotion; bottom-of-the-table Glamorgan, who only have one win all season, look fragile, with pressure on head coach Robert Croft.
Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire It has been a disappointing season for Northants after the promise of last year, they travel to Bristol where a win for Gloucestershire could push them towards the foothills of respectability.
In other news, Durham director of cricket Geoff Cook will leave at the end of the season, Kent’s James Tredwell and Northants’ Steven Crook are hanging up their boots and Middlesex have released spinner Ravi Patel. David Malan has spoken of his disappointment over how the summer has panned out and the weirdness of this year’s Lord’s pitches.
“I think Lord’s has the 16th or 17th lowest average score in county cricket this year, which doesn’t make the stats look very good at all.
“That hasn’t been ideal when you have to go back to county cricket and score runs. It has been pretty tough – at the moment, 30 at Lord’s seems to be a very good score on both sides!”
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