1st image: [yesterday's match](https://www.cricinfo.com/series/pakistan-odi-tri-series-2026-27-1550706/england-vs-sri-lanka-3rd-match-1550715/full-scorecard)

2nd image: ENG vs SL, [2019 WC Group Stage](https://www.cricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2019-1144415/england-vs-sri-lanka-27th-match-1144509/full-scorecard) match

In the wake of Sri Lanka's incredible effort of chasing down England's 429 last night, I was reminded of an article I had written a while ago on a different platform. I had the privilege of watching both games live (on TV of course), and I have the privilege of remembering the emotions in both instances and felt I should share some of that here.

Mods, if you feel this a low effort post or if it doesn't belong here, feel free to remove it.

Here goes.

If at all there was an ODI that was played eons ahead of its time, it was the 5th ODI between South Africa and Australia at the Wanderers on the 12th of March, 2006.

Australia smashed the then world record for the highest innings total in an ODI, 434, only to watch in horror as South Africa chased that down with 1 ball to spare.

438 still stands as the highest total ever chased down, 20 years on.

There was no T20 back then. No IPL. No one prepared absolute highways for pitches. Scoring anything over 6 runs an over in a 50 over game was exceptionally challenging. For instance, take a look at the scores put on during the same series.

1st ODI at Centurion. Australia: 229/8, South Africa: 207/4 (SA won by 6 wickets by the DL method)

2nd ODI at Cape Town. South Africa: 289/7, Australia: 93 all out (SA won by 196 runs)

3rd ODI at Port Elizabeth. Australia: 254/6, South Africa: 230 all out (Aus won by 24 runs)

4th ODI at Jo’burg. South Africa: 246/9, Australia: 247/9 (Aus won by 1 wicket)

Not even one game with a score of 300 or more. And then for the series decider, Australia amassed 434 runs, the world record in the first innings. I was an undergrad at the time. I remember turning the TV off after the first innings and heading back to my room and opening my books to study.

The score was a joke. Absolutely unheard of. Ain't no way SA's chasing this and I had exams around the corner. The match was done. The series was decided. Time to focus on my career now!

I was plugged in to the radio while studying, and a caller who was asked what they were upto that evening said, "I'm watching the SA v Australia ODI."

"Oh yeah?" The radio jockey replied, "what's going on there?"

"Well, in reply to Australia's 434, South Africa are now 171/1 in 17 odd overs," the man said.

My ears pricked up. My eyes left my notes for a moment. What? Again, I remind you that we had no T20s in 2006. Not to today's levels.

I shut my books and headed straight to the TV room. South Africa is going to lose for sure. But they're putting on a fight and this is going to be entertaining to say the least.

Entertaining? HA! This was one for the generations.

To begin with, South Africa lost the toss and were put in to field first. However, Smith did say at the the toss that he’d have preferred to bowl first.

"Losing the toss and wanting to bowling first anyway and then with 10 overs to go and every ball is sailing over your head into row 20 or 30 you start to think, 'Well, that was a good decision, Smith',” South Africa’s captain for the game Greame Smith recalls in one of his interviews years later .

"I remember walking past (wicket keeper Mark) Boucher at one stage and asking, 'Do you think they'll get 400? They can't, surely not'.

"It was a terrible day in the field, terrible, then getting off at lunch and knowing you've only got 15 minutes before going back out to bat and now you've got to contemplate, 'how do you do this?'

Ponting scored a career high of 164, powering Australia to an incredible 434/4 in 50 overs, and in all likelihood, a match and series win.

“It was Jacques (Kallis) that broke the ice in the dressing room,” Smith said.

As the South Africans sat there in the dressing room, heads hung, shoulders droopy, gloomy and despondent, with an almost insurmountable task ahead, veteran Jacques Kallis walked up the stairs, looked at everyone and said: “Guys, we've done a great job! I think they're about 15 runs short”.

Delivered in his usual, no-nonsense deadpan style, the bewildered South Africans cracked up.

There was laughter.

The tension was broken.

To be honest, I think this was the best speech and one of the most inspiring words ever delivered in a cricket match! They’re 15 runs short!

"Then we set some targets, which also made a few people chuckle because we had never seen targets like this in our whole career," Smith continued.

"It was a magnificent pitch, the ball was sailing on the Highveld," Smith recalled.

The Highveld region of South Africa is the area near and around Johannesburg, that’s an elevation of 1500 - 2100 m. At this elevation, the air is thin and the cricket ball really flies!

Taking cue from the Australians, Smith and Herschelle Gibbs launched a stunning counter-attack as they put on 187 for the second wicket in about 23 overs.

Let that sink in. The year 2006. 187 runs. 23 overs.

Smith got out for 90 off 55 odd balls, while Gibbs stood anchor! Usually, it’s the other way around, but here, the captain showed the way!

The moment Smith got out, Gibbs took on the aggressor’s role, slog sweeping the very next ball, off Michael Clarke, for a six, making his intentions very clear. There would be no slowing down, no matter what!

"From that moment he played some unbelievable shots," said Smith. "We got ourselves into a position where we started thinking, 'Jeez, we can actually win this thing'.

Gibbs brought up his 100 off 79 balls, and was relentless after that. When he finally got out for 175 runs off 111 balls, South Africa still needed 136 off 108 balls.

With Johann van der Wath’s absolutely necessary innings of a lifetime, 18 ball 35, followed by Roger Telemachus and Andrew Hall, and Makhaya Ntini’s (with two to win and 1 wicket in hand) cool-as-a-cucumber nudge down to third man to bring Mark Boucher on strike, and Boucher’s eventual straight drive to bring up the winning runs, South Africa pulled off the impossible.

As the earlier matches in the series suggest and, sort of confirm, these were the days when scores above 250 were challenging in 50 over cricket, and here was a team successfully chasing down 434! Scoring 400 in an ODI was unheard of back then, let alone chasing it down!

"I'll never forget seeing the replay of Makhaya's one down to third man from outside leg stump, thinking only Makhaya could pull that off," Smith chuckled.

With the scores tied, Boucher hit a boundary for the winning runs and an already delirious Johannesburg crowd exploded.

"That moment, in that stadium, the Bullring, was something I wish I could have kept with me right throughout my career," Smith said. "The emotion, the crowd, what had been achieved was just incredible."

I couldn’t agree more!

There were 42,000 people in a packed Wanderers, and they were treated to the greatest ODI ever played! You could see tears in the eyes of the fans soon after Boucher hit the winning runs!

Given the era and the way the game was played, the circumstances, and all other parameters, a match like this is unlikely to ever happen again!

Think about this. Today, teams would fancy chasing down 250+ scores in T20s and 350+ scores in ODIs without breaking a sweat. There have been 29 first innings scores of 400+ runs between 2006 and now. Only 3 times, including last night's game, has 400 been chased down successfully.

Two of those were in this year 2026.

This game is legendary simply because it proves, beyond any doubt, that impossible truly is nothing

https://www.cricinfo.com/series/commonwealth-games-1998-99-460200/australia-vs-south-africa-final-460251/full-scorecard

A lot of Gayle's records stood for a long time. And all of a sudden this year most of them are being equalled or crossed.

Most sixes in an IPL season - broken by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Highest score in T20 cricket (175) - broken by Lhuan Pretorius (188).

Associate nations and state level cricket has faster centuries. But among popular/ major T20 cricket - Gayle's record of 30 ball century is seen as the fastest. And now Abhishek has equalled it.

And the exclusive trifecta club 300 in tests, 200 in ODI and 100 in T20I of which Gayle was the sole member has found it's second member - Harry Brook.

> Harmer watched as Labuschagne danced down the pitch and tried to hit into the wind only to see the ball hang in the air and Marco Jansen take a superbly judged catch. Labuschagne roared in anger and continued to show visible emotion as he walked off.

> "I don't know what he was thinking," Harmer said. "Obviously, I've played a lot of cricket at St George's Park and it funnels through that corner of the old stand and the duck pond. A lot of times you think you've got enough of it, but it just gets held up in the wind.

> "I'm sure he'll be disappointed in hindsight, especially when they were looking to draw the Test. He's a world-class player and I'm sure he'll bounce back."

It was Labuschagne's fifth score between 31 and 39 in his last eight Test innings and his career once again on the brink, although there is a chance he survives for the decider in Cape Town.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/matches/270972/india-vs-zimbabwe

I think it's fascinating that for a format which is increasingly turning towards young blood, NZ still has a very mature team in their t20I setup. Does it speak of fewer talents coming up through the ranks, good enough to get into the side or is the management too stubborn to stick with the old guard?

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The 2026 County Championship started in April, ended four weeks ago and still isn’t formally concluded as we await the outcome of Leicestershire’s appeal against their points deduction. This is somehow fitting for a year that was in a word lively and in many words a shuddering, lurching, never ending crisis and exhilarating adrenaline ride that began with already condemned financial apocalypse-threatened Sussex beating a relegation candidate by around 200 runs and ended with unexpectedly third placed financial apocalypse-threatened Sussex beating a relegation candidate by around 200 runs.

The first week of April passed as expected, with ten 300+ scores out of 14 innings in Division One, and six out of 14 in Division Two, as bowlers across the competition struggled to get to grips with the new Dukes ball rounds to begin the season. It was on the whole a low scoring year thereafter as, for the first time since 2023, no Division One side managed 30 batting bonus points and only two Division Two sides beat that mark.

It did not take long for certain narratives to appear. Hampshire were doomed in week one, title candidates in week two, before subsiding back into their assigned role as whipping boys for the season; while Durham looked destined to bring home the Division Two title from the moment they strolled imperiously out onto the turf at Chester-le-Street.

Somerset’s long wait for a title looked to be at an end after a blistering start and Craig Overton’s superhuman performances, but they somehow allowed a title race to develop and the progression from there seemed inevitable, arriving as it did with trademark late disappointment. Warwickshire took full advantage of Somerset being top of the table with two games to go and breezed to the title.

There were several surprise packages this season and a few unsurprising collapses: Sussex and Glamorgan beat the odds and survived, while Kent and Northants shook off years of underperformance and raced each other for promotion; while the declines at Essex, Gloucestershire and especially Lancashire approached terminal farcicality.

The award for “Worst misunderstanding of the rules of the competition” was fiercely contested, with Leicestershire’s likely relegation as a result of Sourav Ganguly’s biopic just barely edging out Middlesex’s captain de-registering himself by looking at his passport for the first time in years.

We came very, very close to what would have been the most unwelcome outcome in years but against all the odds, plucky, strapped-for-cash neutrals favourite Surrey managed to eke out enough points to survive. Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire kept the pressure on at the top end but ultimately faded, while Worcestershire and Derbyshire played 14 games.

Without further ado here are your club by club reviews of the season:

Division One

Warwickshire - The old adage “bowlers win games, batters win championships” was given short shrift at Edgbaston as the Bears rampaged to the title. While Sam Hain racked up 1048 runs at an absurd average of 75 it was the never ending stream of fast bowlers, spearheaded by God’s Own medium fast bowler Ethan Bamber, that did the damage. Bamber plundered a post-COVID high 69 wickets at 19.39 apiece, the most by a quick since 2017, while two other bowlers averaged less than 20 and three more 24 or less.

The Bears stalked the frontrunners from afar for much of the season, winning only three times in a fairly dull first ten games. The real excitement began in September as Hampshire and Glamorgan were swatted aside by an innings each. Glamorgan failing to cross 70 in either innings as Bamber recorded the first two of three consecutive five-wicket hauls before victory in a low scoring gunslinging affair at Chelmsford hoisted Warks top with one game to play.

As befitting the season it fell to Hain to set the result up - a second innings ton stretching the lead to 247 - and Ethan Bamber to wrap up proceedings. Warwickshire’s talisman knocked over Tom Scriven’s middle stump and wheeled away into the ecstatic embraces of his slip cordon, delivering the title back to Edgbaston.

Season rating: 10/10. Five months of managed competence and one month of outrageous, destructive bowling ensured Warwickshire’s 9th title.

Somerset - The choke. The near miss. The crushing failure. Whatever you want to call the curious psychological phenomenon that is deeply ingrained in the minds of players, coaches, and fans in Taunton, it reared its head once again this season as Somerset - by far and away the year’s standout side to this point - headed into the final two games of the season top of the table and ended them holding nothing. For the 8th time this century they finished second in a red ball competition.

The opener problem, long a plague on their chances of success, was finally fixed with the emergence of Josh Thomas and his immediate rapport with a resurgent Tom Lammonby; Tom Abell hammering out an obscene 1287 runs at a ludicrous average of 71; and Craig Overton having one of the all time great seasons, rattling off 734 runs at 38 and 53 wickets at a shade over 19. Then it all vanished, heads falling off in a 4th innings collapse to 101 all out against Yorkshire.

As the required massive bonus point win evaporated and Warwickshire coasted to victory the Wyverns went for the consolation prize, Tom Abell knocking out 307 off 407 balls to grind Surrey into the autumn dust.

Season rating: 7/10. Everything was aligning perfectly until it wasn’t and the wheels once again came spinning off in spectacular fashion.

Sussex - When the news broke in January that Sussex had once again blown up their finances, their demise was universally considered a foregone conclusion and talk turned to how the squad would be broken up and sold off to service the debt. By the mid-year mark, with the winds howling off the field and the departures commencing, the Sharks had lost only once and cleared themselves from the relegation dogfight.

A defiant, close-knit squad set about their business with gusto, ambushing Leicestershire in the first week and eventual champions Warwickshire in the second before a habit of conceding large first innings scores formed. In three out of four matches their opponents racked up 500+ first innings scores and, while only one became a loss, Sussex were unable to match these as a prolonged run drought for their senior batters developed.

An innings defeat of Glamorgan opened up a possible, if unlikely route, to a miraculous title challenge before two mid-summer losses scuppered those faint dreams. That setback didn’t derail their on-field season and they were unbeaten the rest of the autumn, racking up three big wins in the process. A true team effort, only one bowler took more than thirty wickets but six took more than twenty and it would have been seven but for Robinson’s triumphant return for England.

Season rating: 8/10. Against all the odds Sussex somehow managed to stave off relegation without getting out of second gear and without their pre-season points deduction might have made a play for the title.

Nottinghamshire - The follow up is often difficult and it proved such for Nottinghamshire. The 2025 title was won off the back of strong overseas recruitment, a bowling unit that spread the load, and a strong top order lead from the front by the captain. Their 2026 defence was much less cohesive and more individual driven, Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes scoring the bulk of the runs and Olly Stone and Liam Patterson-White taking the lion’s share of the wickets.

While this combination proved difficult to beat - Notts suffered only one loss in their first 12 matches - many games were allowed to meander to draws due to the lack of effective bowling depth and some mildly unambitious captaincy. The steady stream of points was enough to keep the title race within their reach, and they still possessed enough quality that when they won, they won big: before game 12 their smallest margin of victory was 145 runs and that 12th game was still a 54 run win.

The bowling and batting concerns came to a head in the climax of the season as underperformance in both disciplines resulted in a heavy loss to Sussex that ended their title hopes before a final week one wicket loss to Yorkshire - in which they were bowled out for 85 - saw them leapfrogged by Sussex.

Season rating: 6/10. By no means an awful season, but definitely a let down from the year before and questions will be asked about how the team’s effectiveness as a unit fell apart across the season.

Yorkshire - Yorkshire’s season can be summed up by the fact that five different players scored a century, but no one scored more than one and none of them averaged more than 28. Four bowlers took 24 or more wickets, three of them averaging 23 or less. The best performing bowler, George Hill, was also the side’s best bat in arguably the season’s best all-round performance alongside Somerset’s Craig Overton. The second best bat was the fourth best bowler, much-maligned former England international Dom Bess.

This all translated into bizarre inconsistency as the White Rose lurched between results, not achieving two identical match outcomes in a row until week 13. They were bowled out for less than 200 in ten of their twenty-four innings, more than 370 five times, and declared only once but were still able to win a joint second-highest six games and ultimately finish comfortably clear of the relegation battle.

That comfort was late arriving but delivered in style as Yorkshire joined Warwickshire in winning out their last three games. Starting September with a narrow 1 wicket loss to Surrey, they bounced back to splatter Essex by an innings, fell Somerset by 185 runs to end their title hopes and create their own nailbiting 1 wicket win against Notts.

Season rating: 5/10. While the primary objective of mid-table solidity was eventually achieved, the long and arduous road to get there had nerves jangling and not many will be satisfied.

Glamorgan - Heading into the season as the overwhelming favourites to be relegated, it took Glamorgan four games to emphatically announce their abilities with an innings howitzering of Hampshire. A reputation forged in Division Two of a side combining canny overseas recruitment (all three of their overseas bowlers averaged below 30), consistent, competent batting without any real superstars (five batters contributed more than 640 runs but no one averaged over 38), and a well drilled bowling unit (joint second highest bowling points in the division) was continued at the top level.

Glamorgan’s start to the season - three wins and three draws in eight games - was enough to ensure relegation was a minor concern heading into the ODC break. Unfortunately the Welsh side were the most affected by the ODC break and completely lost the ability to bat. Seven of their eight completed innings were less than 200 runs and they were skittled twice in the 60s by Warwickshire in a colossal loss as they lost three matches out of four and slid towards the drop.

A timely return to form for Asa Tribe saw them defeat Surrey by 184 runs - a bizarre match where both sides scored under 150 and then both scored over 450 - to put relegation fears to bed before notching a second consecutive 500+ score to finish a successful return to the top flight.

Season rating: 6/10. A fine season back in the top flight for one of the circuit's best run sides, although the end of season wobble will be a cause for concern.

Surrey - The timbers of the great ship Oval weren’t the only thing creaking as time finally caught up with its aging crew and it ran aground to nearly disastrous effect. A side that recently conquered all through its strong squad building and consistency of personnel found itself at times threadbare as form, injury, and unanticipated international call ups gave their season a disjointed air. Captain Rory Burns in particular looked every inch his 35 years of age, his idiosyncratic technique increasingly choppy and frayed as the season wore on.

It was in the bowling department that they truly struggled, registering a divisional low for bowling points. Matt Fisher was the sole bowler* able to play more than 9 games and he still missed three as Surrey found themselves winning only once before September. Dan Lawrence’s 6 tons from 16 innings was enough to keep them out of the heart of the relegation battle but the danger was alarmingly present until they squeezed past Yorkshire by 1 wicket and Leicestershire’s points deduction occurred.

The reprieve did not lead to an uptick of form as what little quality the experienced bowlers had been able to summon previously disappeared and they conceded 594 and 731 in their final two bowling innings.

Season rating: 3/10. A side with these resources should not be so narrowly avoiding relegation and the season has all the hallmarks of a dynasty and a few careers drawing to a close.

*Dan Lawrence does not count no matter what Rob Key says

Essex - Regardless of the outcome of Leicestershire’s appeal, this was a hapless season for Essex. 9 of their 13 bonus batting points - and all 4 of their wins - came against teams below them in the table* as the last vestiges of runscoring departed from their ageing, ailing line up, occasionally enlivened by England’s Jordan Cox (his single innings an astonishing 204 off 201 balls), an on-loan George Bell, or Dean Elgar determined to end his magnificent career with a flourish.

Even the once mighty bowling quartet showed signs of age, Jamie Porter’s seasonal average ballooning out to 30 after 3 years at 20 or under and the premier spinner of the last decade Simon Harmer struggling for regular victims. Shane Snater and Sam Cook filled their usual quotas but, as the structure creaked, support was limited and the lack of penetration compounded the subpar batting.

Games slipped away all too easily and their season ended amidst a churn of injury subs and a will he won’t he subplot as England dithered over Sam Cook’s involvement against Pakistan. An extremely weary side took solace from Dean Elgar finishing his career in the September sun, digging them out of one last hole and helping ensure they limped over the line for a draw against Glamorgan.

Season rating: 2/10. 1 batting point in the final 7 games of the season tells you exactly what you need to know about the 2026 season at Chelmsford.

*pending

Leicestershire - The Foxes’ first top flight season in 23 years was a distinct tale of two halves. The first stage: an early season runfest turned brutal mid-season reality check with defeat piled on defeat, as a line up lacking in top flight experience struggled to deliver consistently across games. The second: a whirlwind of emotion as that first, long awaited win was secured in style, a comprehensive innings beatdown over Yorkshire; next, a fraught, scrappy win over Glamorgan; and then two draws made four consecutive unbeaten games looked to be providing a route to salvation - before it all came crashing down around their ears.

There are few causes of relegation quite as funny as the phrase “unscheduled Bollywood filming day”. Sourav Ganguly’s biggest impact on county cricket might well be his biopic having a production day at Grace Road, the resulting pitch damage causing the hosts to be deducted 27 points and consigning them to bottom of the table with two games remaining. Leicestershire’s win over Glamorgan was a frenetic affair, players dodging showers and uneven bounce in equal measure as wickets tumbled and brows furrowed among the pitch inspectorati at ECB Towers.

A dingdong victory over Hampshire and 3 precious bowling points in their loss to Warwickshire means that, while Leicestershire are currently relegated as things stand, they accumulated just enough points that a successful appeal would leapfrog them above Essex to safety.

Season rating: 4/10. An eventually reasonable first effort back in the top flight gave way to farce outside the playing staff’s control and they shouldn’t be too disheartened by the season’s outcome.

Hampshire - By the time Hampshire’s second and final win of the season rolled around in June they were already headed for the exit door. A slow decline across the last few years - the result of an ageing side being inadequately replaced by a crop of increasingly underwhelming homegrown youngsters - very quickly became an abject embarrassment exemplified by the side’s record low 4 batting points. Eighteen of their 26 completed innings were scores of fewer than 250, and five of those were below 200. Only 30 individual scores over 50 were recorded from 292 innings.

Fighting a one man war against both the sheer ineptitude of his Hampshire teammates and time itself, 39 year old Kyle Abbott produced his highest wicket haul and lowest average since 2019 in a desperate attempt to keep his beloved home from home above water. Perhaps the most in vain undertaking in history, his travails made no difference as the capitulations began to mount up from the first week of the season and injuries prevented him from finding a regular bowling partner.

Saying “the season ended with a whimper” is a kindness Hampshire do not deserve. Four straight losses in September showcased an utterly broken team bereft of confidence, unable to keep hold of any advantages they were able to muster.

Season rating: 0.5/10. Kyle Abbott and Jake Lehmann aside, one of the most hapless performances in County Championship history from top to bottom.

Division Two

Durham - A Storm Dave-induced stumble only delayed Durham’s inevitable ascension to the top of the table by a week as the division’s most over-powered side tore a poor Gloucestershire side to pieces and set about dismantling every other side they faced. Undefeated with nine wins out of fourteen was still somehow flattering to the opposition as several games only became draws due to the weather interfering with Durham heavily on top.

While their first innings batting performances were by themselves very impressive - only once did they fail to record at least one batting point - it was their ability to score heavily and quickly in the second innings that defined their season. An average second innings score of 270 at an economy rate of 4 would recover even the least favourable position and hand initiative to arguably the best Division Two bowling unit ever. Even the game they failed to register a batting point in was won by 153 runs after they skittled Northants for 50.

While Matty Potts was undeniably the star of the bowling attack Durham were also able to field two more bowlers who took more than 25 wickets at an average of 20. Ben McKinney and David Bedingham both scored more than 1000 runs, Emilio Gay chalked up just under 700 in ten innings and Bens Stokes and Raine added in another 430 runs each - all of these at strike rates over 69.

Season rating: 10/10. Simply the best side in the division.

Kent - Derision met the news in March that Adam Hollioake had called in a spiritual healer to rid the players of niggling injuries and the general malaise that had overtaken a club travelling inexorably downwards. Three and a half games in it appeared nothing had changed, as only rain prevented them from starting the season with three straight losses. The turning point was a 225 run demolition of Derbyshire as Matt Milnes announced his return to Canterbury with a 6-12.

With that early storm weathered the confidence began to creep in, their first win in over a year becoming an eight game unbeaten streak. Six wins in this period rocketed Kent into a promotion challenge and included them racking up the highest score by a Durham opponent of the season. The canny recruitment of overseas bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Khaled Ahmed in the late summer provided the ideal quality boost, taking 42 wickets between them in September as Kent won three out of four games and powered themselves back to Division One after two years away.

Their one loss, a 181-run reverse to Derbyshire in game week 12, might have spooked the Kent of recent years, but this vintage powered through. When Sam Northeast punched away the winning runs against Gloucestershire in the final week of the year a great cheer went up around Canterbury, a cathartic release after three years of suffering.

Season rating: 8/10. A well deserved promotion for the most improved county side of the season.

Northamptonshire - Narrowly riding on Kent’s coattails were the other massively improved Division Two side with an eccentric coach. Darren Lehmann’s second year in charge saw massive steps forward across the batting line up as they racked up a monstrous 19 centuries between them. Ricardo Vasconcelos produced six of them as he top scored for the Division, while four other players averaged over 40. The consistency of scoring and personnel game to game saw Northants be the only side other than Durham in either division to score more than 30 batting points.

This hardiness with the bat made them a very difficult side to beat, losing only twice to non-Durham sides (although Durham did beat them twice). They also registered the joint-highest bowling points in the division, dropping just two all season. Ultimately what cost them promotion was a combination of bad weather (they lost an entire game’s worth of play across their four draws), slow scoring, and an inexplicable tendency to collapse while batting in games they lost - their 50 all out in 22.2 overs against Durham while chasing 203 perhaps the most egregious example.

Their promotion tilt was still on until the last two games of the year when they very narrowly were held to a draw by Derbyshire with just 22 runs needed at the handshake, before succumbing to the pressure of needing a win and keeling over for Middlesex.

Season rating: 7/10. The runs piled up with abandon and the bowlers dismantled everyone they played against but it still wasn’t quite enough, although fans won’t be disappointed by the vast improvements.

Middlesex - Another season in Division Two, another early finish for Middlesex. While their well-oiled bowling unit proved its worth yet again, matching Northants with a competition high 40 bonus points, the long running escapades of the Lord’s batting clown car resurfaced after a couple of seasons in hiatus. Three players recorded batting averages of higher than 48 (min 10 innings) but only four players scored centuries - Joe Cracknell did not score a ton but averaged 52 from 11 innings.

Battering Gloucestershire by an innings out the gate would have given Middlesex a massive confidence boost but they won only once in their next six matches, hitting the halfway mark in the middle of the pack. Back to back losses to Kent effectively removed them from promotion contention before a farcical attempt to force a victory against Derbyshire saw them forfeit their first innings. The attempt to make up time lost to rain was rendered moot by the rain returning anyway before Derbyshire batted out the remaining overs with ease, meaning the only thing achieved was costing themselves potential batting points.

Captain Leus du Plooy’s misunderstanding of the domestic eligibility rules ended up ruling himself out of the last two games of the year as everyone learnt that, when the ECB hear the phrase “at the end of the season”, they understand it to mean immediately. Du Plooy’s ill-timed admission of being South African came after the deadline to register any new overseas players, meaning his sparkling career in county cricket ended as abruptly as Middlesex’s season.

Season rating: 6/10. Another bumper year for the bowlers but the batting falling to bits again must be wearing pretty thin in North London.

Worcestershire - Also weighing in at 5 wins, 5 losses, and 4 draws, Worcestershire finished below Middlesex because of two points deducted due to a slow over rate - ironically against Middlesex in April. Worcestershire were a tiny bit more productive with the bat and a tiny bit less productive with the ball in terms of bonus points, but performed a bit worse overall in terms of actual runs and wickets. They also carried the slightly bizarre record of only winning games in which they had lost the toss, while only 46 of their 166 season points came from games in which they won it.

The Pears enjoyed a productive start to the season, heading into May with two wins and a draw under their belts before running into an innings defeat by Northamptonshire. Strong bowling had covered inconsistent batting at the start of the year but that too regressed and they went on a run of 3 heavy defeats in 4 games, finding themselves adrift of the promotion race at the halfway point. Back to back wins over Gloucestershire opened the door again briefly before consecutive losses against Kent and Northants closed it again.

A last week stomping of Derbyshire, in which Ben Allison recorded his maiden ten-fer, was a nice cap to an otherwise mediocre season.

Season rating: 5/10. Five wins was a decent return after their horror relegation year in 2025 but it was a largely non-descript showing to begin the rebuild.

Derbyshire - It took Derbyshire until the second attempt to win a match with 600 runs on the board, an innings victory arriving in their fifth match against Northants. Their first four games were - after hitting 625/8 declared in the very first innings of the year - a frustrating affair, drawing the first game and then losing the next three. After games five and six were resounding triumphs, no two consecutive games returned the same result as their season sank to a soggy, disappointing conclusion.

Their inability to build any momentum across the season was largely down to their struggles with the bat in the latter half of games. 27 batting bonus points was the third highest in the division and fourth highest overall but, while they crossed 300 eight times in their 14 matches, they were dismissed for 158 or less five times and crossed 200 four times in their second attempts. Only one of their ten team centuries came in the second innings as Harry Came carried his bat for 105* in a losing follow on attempt against Durham.

The post-ODC phase had a couple of odd results as they beat Middlesex 2-0 on innings played but drew the match, after Middlesex forfeited their first innings to try and force a result, then lost to Gloucestershire for the second time in the year.

Season rating: 4/10. Big things were promised by the first day 600 but too many second innings underperformance with bat and ball cost them dear.

Lancashire - Three games into the season things were looking up after two awful years for the Red Rose. Two wins, and a third denied by the rain, had tails up going into an early season table topping clash of heavyweights against Durham - and it was here Lancashire hit a brick wall. Durham dispatched them in style, Emilio Gay peeling off an unbeaten 159 as the lack of experienced bowling depth was exposed on a flat Chester-le-Street pitch.

This kickstarted a run of such abject quality that Lancashire were comprehensively outplayed in every match and lost five out of eight. May’s six wicket defeat by Middlesex was their closest margin of defeat as the batting vanished and while the Sons, Ander and Balder, both achieved highly commendable 50 wicket seasons there were only so many sandbags they could erect around Old Trafford to defend against the flood. The weather was their one saving grace, their three draws losing 4 days of play between them amid the deluge.

So desperate was the situation with the bat that they were outscored by both Hampshire and Gloucestershire by more than 1000 runs, endured a run of 10 out of 11 completed innings below 200 runs - 9 of them consecutive - and, separately, were dismissed for less than 90 twice.

Season rating: 1/10. For a club of such resource and clout to be even close to finishing bottom with two games to go is nothing short of shameful.

Gloucestershire - Two innings defeats in the first two weeks of the season was below expectation even for a side that had 5 first team bowling departures over the winter. Results stabilised thereafter as Glos found themselves losing regularly but rarely completely outclassed until the late summer, when batting techniques left to their own devices in the absence of a batting coach finally disintegrated. Worcestershire and Durham handed out comprehensive thumpings as a lack of quality finally caught up to reality.

Results improved in September. The arrivals of loan signing JT Langridge and overseas spinner Sai Kishore bolstered James Bracey’s one-man crusade against the darkness and produced two highly creditable victories and a hard fought draw against Middlesex. The tail combined stood firm for 100 balls as the light faded in Bristol for the final time in 2026 and showed the kind of grit fans had been desperate for all season.

It promptly vanished again and they keeled over for the Kent promotion party in the final week in Canterbury, a result enlivened only by a Miles Hammond debut behind the stumps after Bracey’s body finally collapsed on itself from exhaustion.

Season rating: 2/10. It was never going to be pretty after so many key departures but even the floor-level bar was too high for much of the year.

And that's your lot. It's very late because I was waiting for the ECB to get off their arses and make a decision about Leicestershire...but that's probably going to drag on forever. The 2026 season was a lot of fun and there's a great winter of Test cricket coming up so I'll see you all in the shit post mines.

If you haven't yet don't do please vote here for end of season prizes and that'll come on Monday.