After two weeks of clear skies and warm sunshine across England, the cricketing summer got underway without any rain delays across all nine Rothesay County Championship games. In contrast to the 2024 opening weekend, there were only four draws across the two divisions this week, with games at Taunton and Lords finishing in nail-biting circumstances.
With individual records tumbling, batsmen defying time to salvage a draw and players putting their name into the conversation for England’s Test side, lets have a look at the first Team of the Week of the 2025 summer.
1. Adam Lyth – Yorkshire (13 & 106)
Yorkshire’s return to Division One got off to a less than ideal start, being rolled for 121 inside 35 overs by Hampshire – after winning the toss and electing to bat. Going into the second innings, the White Rose trailed their hosts by 128, a task made harder after two Brad Wheal wickets in consecutive deliveries had them faltering at 4-2 after 1.3 overs.
Adam Lyth had to tame his attacking instincts, instead playing a classic opener’s knock to score 106 from 275 balls. The former England man weathered the Hampshire storm in a way of which his teammates could not follow. Lyth was the last man to fall in an innings that fell one delivery short of the 100 over mark, steering the ship with seven of Yorkshire’s men falling for single figure scores. Despite heading back to Leeds with a five-wicket loss on the board, Lyth’s knock set the hosts a tricky target of 147 in a low-scoring affair.
2. Caleb Jewell – Derbyshire (61 & 51*)
Shortly after signing a one-year contract extension at the Incora County Ground, Derbyshire’s Australian head coach Mickey Arthur made the swoop to sign fellow Aussie, Caleb Jewell. The Tasmanian opener was mooted as a potential David Warner replacement over the winter, but it always felt like he was never seriously in the conversation.
If the 27-year-old is to make a claim to earn his Baggy Green, his Derbyshire debut was certainly an impressive audition. Jewell recorded a duo of half centuries at the top of the order – coming off 37 and 48 balls respectively – finishing on 51 not out in the second innings to steer the East Midlands outfit home for a nine-wicket win.
3. Max Holden – Middlesex (69 & 184)
Max Holden’s opening day 69 – alongside Sam Robson’s 70 – held together a Middlesex innings that failed to get going elsewhere. A deficit of 99 awaited Holden and his men, before three wickets from Lancashire veteran Tom Bailey had Middlesex sat perilously at 7-3.
A 106-run partnership with all-rounder Ryan Higgins followed by a 163-run stand with new signing Ben Geddes steadied an innings that looked in grave danger of collapsing in dramatic fashion. Batting at three, Holden was finally dismissed by First Class debutant Ollie Sutton for 184, setting up a target of 308, making the hosts unlikely favourites. Lancashire’s 93-run opening partnership quickly dissipated as they fell to 119-4, eventually blocking out for a draw – while trailing by 45 – with two wickets in hand.
4. Tom Banton – Somerset (371)
The story of the week came from Taunton as Tom Banton broke Justin Langer’s 19-year-old record to become Somerset’s highest individual run scorer in an innings. The England man notched up an astonishing 371 from 403 balls, including 58 boundaries, recording his fourth First Class century in style.
After dismissing Worcestershire for a below-par 154, Somerset’s top order faltered to 39-3, with Banton arriving at the crease late on day one with the game in a crucial phase. Alongside James Rew – who contributed 152 himself – Banton put a sword to the throat of the Worcestershire bowlers, who were eventually put out of their misery when Banton was caught behind off the bowling of Tom Hinley. Somerset declared immediately as Banton departed the field, giving their bowlers just over two days to bowl at the visitors.
5. Brett D’Oliveira – Worcestershire (5 & 121) (1-114)
In a stark contrast to the aforementioned innings, Brett D’Oliveira put in a captain’s display to soak up 340 deliveries in Worcestershire’s 200 over block-a-thon. The Three Pears skipper scored 121 along the way, but as shown with his subdued celebrations, batting out time was the order of the day.
D’Oliveira was eventually sent on his way after padding away Archie Vaughan’s right-arm off-break, before the umpire raised his finger. Perhaps the use of the word ‘adjudged’ on Somerset’s official X account best described a controversial dismissal that got social media talking. Ultimately, the decision did not decide the match due to the batting efforts of the Worcestershire lower order salvaging a draw from a game that looked dead and buried after 100 overs.
6. John Simpson (WK) – Sussex (181* & 22) (1 catch)
In the only game that had little to no drama on day four, Sussex marked their long-awaited return to Division One with a competitive performance against Warwickshire. Sussex piled on the runs in their first innings, batting halfway into day two before their last wicket fell. In similar fashion to their 2024 Division Two title-winning campaign, it was captain John Simpson who led the way with the bat. The experienced wicketkeeper amassed an unbeaten 181, including a 200-run partnership with fellow south coast centurion, Tom Clark.
On a placid Edgbaston wicket, bowlers from both sides enjoyed little success in finding the outside edge, with Simpson finishing the game with just the single catch behind the stumps, claiming the wicket of Rob Yates off the bowling of a classic Ollie Robinson delivery.
7. Luis Reece – Derbyshire (3) (6-52 & 4-45)
Derbyshire all-rounder Luis Reece took career best match figures of 10-97 as his side recorded victory over Gloucestershire in the afternoon session of day three. Reece took the new ball on day one, with his opening spell returning figures of 7-5-17-2, dismissing Gloucestershire openers Chris Dent and Ben Charlesworth. Reece came back for his third spell of the day in the evening session, racking up figures of 6.4-1-14-4 to blow away the lower order.
Reece would enjoy another economical performance second time out, finishing with second innings figures of 19.1-5-45-4. After getting the wicket of centurion Charlesworth for the second time in the match, Reece would return to take the wickets of Matt Taylor and Ajeet Singh Dale to leave Derbyshire’s batsmen with a double-digit fourth innings target.
8. Kasey Aldridge – Somerset (13) (5-36 & 2-64)
Before Banton’s record-breaking day at Taunton, all-rounder Kasey Aldridge looked a certainty to claim the Man of the Match award. Worcestershire were looking comfortable on 102-1, with Gareth Roderick and Kashif Ali at the crease, before Aldridge’s magic spell changed the game. The right-arm seamer bowled figures of 8-2-36-5 in his opening spell, with all five wickets coming in the space of 27 balls, reducing the visitors from 102-1 to 130-6.
Aldridge’s work with the ball was done, bowling just the one – yet elongated – spell in the first innings. He would contribute 13 with the bat, coming in directly after Banton and Rew’s 371-run partnership, before taking two wickets for 64 runs in the second innings.
9. Lyndon James – Nottinghamshire (125) (0-64 & 0-46)
Selecting a bowler who took no wickets in a Team of the Week would normally be a rogue selection – verging on insanity for the sake of attention. In Lyndon James’ sake, his efforts with the bat overshadowed his bowling performance.
The 26-year-old came to the crease at Nottinghamshire sat on 319-6, still trailing Durham’s first innings effort by 59 runs. Aided by half centuries from Matthew Montgomery and Josh Tongue, James was able to score 125, taking the hosts to a mammoth total of 579, a 201-run lead. With the ball in hand, James failed to take a wicket, although did dislodge Colin Ackermann’s bail with what can only be described as a jaffa, but the bail fell back into place and Durham’s number four lived to fight another day.
10. Keith Dudgeon – Kent (26 &14) (1-33 & 7-36)
Kent’s South African seamer Keith Dudgeon had a debut to remember as the Canterbury outfit got their Division Two campaign underway with a home win against Northamptonshire. Dudgeon took a single wicket in the first innings, conceding a modest 33 runs, and contributed 40 runs with the bat across two innings – in a game where three innings were concluded for below 200.
It was Northamptonshire’s second innings where Dudgeon earned his money, finishing with standout figures of 10.4-0-36-7 as the visitors were rolled for 114. The South African’s presence in the Kent seam attack could play a crucial role in their promotion challenge this season, with Dudgeon expected to take the new ball alongside Nathan Gilchrist while youngster Jas Singh waits in the wings.
11. Josh Tongue – Nottinghamshire (55) (2-92 & 5-66)
On the day that Harry Brook was unveiled as England’s new White Ball captain, a member of the 2023 Ashes squad staked his claim to be a part of the new look England setup – as well as Ben Stokes’ Test side. Josh Tongue’s day four assault on the Durham middle-order was exactly what fast bowlers dream about. With the first ball of the 80th over, Graham Clark’s off-stump was sent flying, before George Drissell was trapped on the pads with the sixth ball, taking Durham from 268-5 with two set batsmen, to 270-7 with the tail exposed.
Tongue returned in the 82nd over – and it was rinse and repeat. Ben Raine was clean bowled with ball one, while Ackermann – on 124 at the time – was clean bowled with ball six. Fergus O’Neill quickly took the wicket of Matthew Potts to call time on the Durham innings for 289, the final five wickets falling for 21 runs, setting up a 89-run chase which the hosts gracefully accepted.