Review of the past week's county cricket

So I'm back and a fair amount of county action has happened, both in the Championship and the CB40 competitions. The tables are really shaping up as we reach the business end of the year and you can see them below.


County Championship

Division 1

Warwickshire remain on top after holding off Warwickshire today (just); they're clear by 12 points and have a game in hand over second placed Sussex who could also drew today with Somerset, despite being in a great position overnight. Nottinghamshire remain in third having lost their first game of the season in this competition, while Somerset are in fourth.
     Durham have been the surprise team of the past couple of weeks winning thier last four matches and more than doubling their tally. That included two wins in the past 6 days, which has lifted them clear of the relegation zone and in with a chance of some prize money (which goes to the top three teams).
     Middlesex are level with Durham on points, but the bottom three are Surrey, Lancashire and Worcestershire and it seems very likely that it will be two of those who will face the drop. Lancashire remember won the competition last year, which shows you can never predict who will win.

Division 2

Derbyshire are almost there now, sitting 17 points clear of second placed Hamshire (who lost today to Leicestershire). They also have a game in hand and three draws should see them hold on to the top spot and a return to Division 1.
     Second place could still go to any of Hampshire, Yorkshire or Kent, which should make for an interesting last few weeks. The latter two have both drawn in the past week, but will be inspired by Hampshire's loss today and feel they can still catch the southerners.
     Northamptonshire lie in 5th place with an outside chance, but only have two games left and would almost certainly need to win both. Essex do have that extra game but are currently 28 points behind second place and would also need to do something special to catch those ahead.
     Playing for pride are Leicestershire, who pulled off only their second win of the season today; Gloucestershire and Glamorgan.

Championship Tables

Divison 1

	Team	Played	Points
1	Warwickshire	13	171
2	Sussex	14	159
3	Nottinghamshire	13	144
4	Somerset	13	137
5	Durham	14	127
6	Middlesex	14	127
7	Surrey	13	102
8	Lancashire	13	87
9	Worcestershire	13	87

Division 2

	Team	Played	Points
1	Derbyshire	13	161
2	Hampshire	14	144
3	Yorkshire	13	131
4	Kent	13	125
5	Northamptonshire	14	121
6	Essex	13	116
7	Leicestershire	14	107
8	Gloucestershire	13	101
9	Glamorgan	13	95

CB40 Competition

Now as always happens in the current format of the 40 over competition, when we reach the final games only a few teams are still in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals. Still, there has been some excitement.

Essex have made the highest score during the past week (314-8) against the Netherlands, who had been flying earlier in the season but now, having played all of their matches sit in 4th place. That total is the second highest for the any side this season, after Middlesex's 350-6 in June. Perhaps surprisingly no player made more than 80 in the innings, but there were seven 6s struck. Essex were then well beaten in their next match by Lancashire, who are easily the best team so far this year and are already clean through to the next round.
     Nottinghamshire made their highest ever 40 over score on 294-8, with Lumb hitting 84 off 51 balls, which possibly led to his inclusion in the England World Twenty20 squad. Nottinghamshire cannot make the semi-finals but Somerset, Surrey and Hampshire are all still vying for top spot in that group.
     Kent, Sussex and Warwickshire, who have all won in the past week, are the teams competing for first place in the final group.

CB40 Tables

Group A

	Team	Played	Points
1	Lancashire	11	18
2	Middlesex	11	13
3	Gloucestershire	11	11
4	Netherlands	12	11
5	Essex	11	10
6	Leicestershire	11	8
7	Worcestershire	11	7

Group B

	Team	Played	Points
1	Hampshire	11	15
2	Surrey	11	14
3	Somerset	11	13
4	Nottinghamshire	11	12
5	Durham	11	11
6	Glamorgan	11	8
7	Scotland	12	5

Group C

	Team	Played	Points
1	Kent	11	17
2	Sussex	11	16
3	Warwickshire	11	15
4	Derbyshire	11	10
5	Yorkshire	11	9
6	Northamptonshire	11	6
7	Unicorns	12	5

Tomorrow is Finals day in the Twenty20 competiton, we hope (the weather doesn't look great, in which case play might be suspended until Sunday). The plan is for Sussex to play Yorkshire at 11am, and Hampshire to face Somerset at 2.30pm, with the winners meeting in the final 6.45pm. It's always one of the highlights of the season (remember last year when both Semi-finals were tied and Leicestershire went on to win the final against the odds). Hopefully this year will live up the standard and there will be three brilliant matches.