With England’s rise to the top of the Test rankings and another nail-biting FL t20 Finals Day grabbing the headlines, it may have escaped your attention that there’s a Championship title race coming nicely to the boil. Ed Kemp reports on a four-way tussle for the title.
The Championship, still the centrepiece of the domestic game, is currently a four-horse title race with leaders Lancashire trailed by Warwickshire, Durham and Somerset as realistic challengers for the 2011 crown. And with all four sides beginning matches on Wednesday, there is real pressure to stay in the hunt.
Lancashire – 1st place, 198 pts
Lancashire will be hoping to claim a second win of the season against Worcestershire following their 98-run win at Blackpool over the Royals in August as they look to strengthen their position at the top of the table. The Red Rose don’t have the star-studded line-up that their rivals possess but are a tight unit that bowl with discipline, bat deep and have performed above expectations to such an extent that they now have a real shot at claiming their first Championship title for 77 years.
Warwickshire – 2nd place, 195 pts
Warwickshire boosted their title hopes with an innings victory in their last fixture against lowly Yorkshire and moved into second place, just three points behind Lancashire. Chris Woakes and Boyd Rankin were both involved in the England v Ireland ODI in Dublin and missed the match, leaving Keith Barker and Essex loanee Chris Wright to take the wickets that sealed a priceless win. But Bears skipper Jim Troughton will be delighted to welcome back Woakes – who has claimed 48 wickets at 18 this season – for the return clash against the White Rose at Edgbaston.
Durham – 3rd place, 188 pts
The third of the contenders is Durham, and having lost their last fixture to Nottinghamshire and with one game less to play than their rivals, Phil Mustard’s side need to win a tricky game at Hove against Sussex if they are to have any chance of lifting their third title in four years. Durham’s cause has not been helped by injury and lack of availability and their bowling attack was depleted against Notts, with Graham Onions watching the England v Ireland ODI from the sidelines as an unused squad member.
Somerset – 4th place, 177 pts
Fourth-placed Somerset are taking on basement boys Hampshire, the side they beat in the semi-finals of the FL t20, and will expect to close the gap with a positive result at Taunton. The Cidermen will need to bounce back quickly from yet another near miss after their defeat to Leicestershire in the FL t20 final at Edgbaston but will be without the services of keeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter, who is on England duty, and their talismanic skipper Marcus Trescothick, who is ruled out with an ankle injury.
With just two weeks of the season remaining there is still all to play for and with Somerset scheduled to host Lancashire in the final round of matches, we could be in for a second successive year of last day drama following Notts’ thrilling victory in 2010.
