A thrilling week of Rothesay County Championship action has been and gone, throwing up some crucial results in the race for trophies, promotion and relegation. Somerset’s whirlwind win over Durham caught the attention, ending after just 157.2 overs, while Warwickshire chased down a target just shy of 400 to beat local rivals Worcestershire at Edgbaston. Somerset and Warwickshire have an outside shot of joining Surrey and Nottinghamshire in the title race, while the Pears look all but confirmed to return to Division Two.
In the second division, Leicestershire claimed a huge home victory over Derbyshire to move closer to claiming the title, while the visitors’ faltering form has saw them drop out of the promotion places. Glamorgan are the beneficiaries who have moved into second place after a five-wicket win over Kent. The Cardiff-based side have won four and drawn two of their last six matches. Derbyshire, Lancashire and Middlesex are separated by just five points in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
1. Max Holden – Middlesex (151)
Max Holden’s third century of the season came up as Middlesex recorded a dominant victory over Northamptonshire at Northwood Cricket Club, winning by an innings and 107 runs. Holden’s efforts came as an opener – as opposed to his favoured number three slot – to accommodate marquee overseas signing Kane Williamson. The kiwi star also reached three figures with 114, along with captain Leus du Plooy’s unbeaten 105.
It was Holden’s fourth century of the season all together – also scoring a century for England Lions against India A in May. 2025 has proved to be the 27-year-old’s most fruitful season since his debut in 2017, averaging 49.60. The knock was Middlesex’s high score in their 625-8d, before bowling out their visitors for 261 and 257 in the follow-on. The win has moved the county into fifth in the Division Two table, 22 points behind second-placed Glamorgan.
2. Ben Charlesworth – Gloucestershire (160 & 71) (2-62)
In a pretty bleak outing for Gloucestershire, Ben Charlesworth provided a rare glimpse of light with 231 runs in the match. The men from Bristol fell to a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Lancashire at their Cheltenham-based out-ground. In response to the visitors’ mammoth 557 first innings total, Charlesworth put on a 171-run second wicket partnership with Joe Phillips before the number three fell for 64. The middle order all got starts but fell before posting significant totals, before the opener was stumped off the bowling of Tom Hartley trying to advance the scoreboard.
Following on and still trailing by 176 runs, Charlesworth and fellow opener Cameron Bancroft feel two runs short of a century stand before the Australian was dismissed, with the 24-year-old following his captain back into the pavilion 10 overs later. It was undoubtedly Charlesworth’s most impressive batting performance of the season with 35.9% of his 2025 runs coming this week. With the ball in hand, the Gloucestershire man claimed the wickets of centurions Hartley and Chris Green to round out the Lancashire first innings, but did go at north of six runs per over.
3. Rehan Ahmed – Leicestershire (115 & 26) (6-51 & 7-93)
A standout performance from one of England’s brightest young talents, Rehan Ahmed turned up with bat and ball in Leicestershire’s 189 run victory over East Midlands rivals Derbyshire. Openers Rishi Patel and Sol Budinger fell for three and two-ball ducks respectively, leaving Ahmed and Lewis Hill together at 0-2 after 1.2 overs. The England man struck at 82.7 to record his fourth century of the Championship season, departing with his side 169-3. The youngster is now rapidly closing in on reaching 2,000 career First Class runs.
With the ball, Ahmed enjoyed a phenomenal performance. He took a career-best 13-144 in the match, decimating the Derbyshire top order in both innings. The dangerous trio of Caleb Jewell, Harry Came and Wayne Madsen fell victim to the leg-spinner in both innings, with Madsen particularly struggling by posting five and six in his two innings. Despite Leicestershire’s dominant seam attack limiting opportunities for Ahmed to bowl in 2025, the 20-year-old now has 20 wickets at an average of 15.15 in the County Championship, alongside his 641 runs at 45.78.
4. Jordan Cox (WK) – Essex (132)
Rather unsurprisingly at this point, Jordan Cox once again impressed with the bat for Essex. After an outstanding effort from the bowling unit, Sussex were skittled for 204, and a strong start from the top order allowed Cox to arrive at the crease with his side 114-2. Cox batted in trademark fashion, striking at 76 to notch his third century of the red-ball season. Cox – who appears to be one of England’s unluckiest cricketers in recent memory – is now averaging 61.6 from 11 innings this season.
Essex posted 504 – holding a lead of exactly 300 runs early on day three. Despite solid efforts from Tom Alsop (72) and James Coles (108), the Chelmsford outfit made lightwork of a usually resolute Sussex batting lineup, dismissing them for 261 to claim victory by an innings and 39 runs. Claiming the full allocation of 24 points, the win has not only moved Essex out of the relegation zone at the expense of Yorkshire, but also above Durham into seventh. A much-needed sign of promise for a county who have recorded just their second red-ball win of the season.
5. Zen Malik – Warwickshire (12 & 142)
Zen Malik made his First Class debut in May, but in only his sixth game, the 27-year-old already played an innings that many can only dream of. Chasing a target of 393 with just over a day’s play left at Edgbaston, Warwickshire lost openers Rob Yates and Alex Davies early, leaving them starring in the face of defeat at 12-2. Malik joined Dan Mousley at the crease and proceeded to put on a 114-run stand to take the game towards lunch on day four.
Australia international Beau Webster joined Malik at the crease as the duo were able to take time out of the game alongside ticking the scoreboard over to drag their side towards the unlikeliest of wins. Worcestershire’s bowlers became tired on a scorching day in the second city as the batsmen both reached triple figures, with Mailk posting a career-best score of 142 before departing with 105 left to get. Webster guided the Bears home with the help of Ed Barnard and Kai Smith, but Malik’s efforts cannot be understated in a crucial win for Warwickshire.
6. Matt Critchley – Essex (123) (4-41)
Alongside the aforementioned innings from Cox, Matt Critchley scored his second County Championship ton of the season in the win at Hove. Nightwatchman Sam Cook was dismissed in the penultimate over of day one, leaving Critchley exposed to a late-night Sussex onslaught, but both himself and Cox survived to live another day. The all-rounder scored 123 before being run out by Fynn Hudson-Prentice as he and Michael Pepper looked to provide some quick runs.
In the third innings of the match, the 28-year-old took his best bowling figures of the season to round out a flailing Sussex effort. He broke the 141-run partnership between Alsop and Coles by trapping the former LBW, before returning to claim the tail-end wickets of Hudson-Prentice, Jack Carson and Henry Crocombe. In a sub-par Essex side in 2025, Critchley is still averaging a more than honourable 38.5 with the bat and has 23 wickets at 25.4 with the ball.
7. Ethan Brookes – Worcestershire (140 & 87) (0-3 & 1-22)
On the subject of a rare shining light, Ethan Brookes has been in stellar form for Worcestershire in July. In the Pears’ final T20 Blast match of the season, Brookes destructively worked his way to an 18-ball half-century against Nottinghamshire, finishing with 57 from 20. He has transferred that form to the red-ball arena, securing a career-best high score of 140 against former employers Warwickshire.
After a start to their second innings that seemed to lack a sense of direction, Brookes again arrived at the crease with his side 124-4 after 49.4 overs. The 24-year-old added some much-needed impetus to the innings, scoring 87 from 137 balls while the tail-end faltered around him. Adam Finch’s 41-ball four allowed Brookes to attack and post a target of 393 for Warwickshire to chase, a target they would ultimately succeed in reaching.
8. Lyndon James – Nottinghamshire (203*) (1-36)
The highest score of the week came at the Utilita Bowl as Lyndon James scored an unbeaten 203. After losing early wickets, Freddie McCann and Jack Haynes stabilised the innings with 79 and 103 respectively, along with minor contributions from Joe Clarke and Kyle Verreynne. James was able to come to the crease with Notts sitting pretty on 232-5.
The knock was the highest of James’ professional career so far. A century stand with Haynes set the platform for the innings before prolonged batting efforts from Liam Patterson-White and Brett Hutton gave the all-rounder time to attack a flagging Hampshire bowling unit, scoring his runs from 236 deliveries. The 26-year-old surpassed 3,000 First Class runs in the process – while his 95 career wickets prove his all-round value to the men from Trent Bridge.
9. Dom Bess – Yorkshire (45* & 7*) (7-162)
Yorkshire’s match with Surrey was played at their out-ground in Scarborough, a club that produced a very friendly wicket for batting. Adam Lyth – who scored 47 – was the only member of Yorkshire’s top six to score below 50 as they declared on 517-6 after 130 overs. Dom Bess and Matthew Revis were at the crease at the time, finishing not out on 45 and 110 respectively.
Surrey responded in kind with 537 from 120 overs as every batsman scored between 18 and 92 runs. Bess was the only White Rose bowler who enjoyed sustained success on a flat wicket, claiming seven of the ten wickets that fell, including a caught and bowled to dismiss Sai Kishore. If that wasn’t enough, Bess took two catches to take his direct involvement in wickets to nine for the innings, with only wicketkeeper Josh Blake leaving the field without Bess’ influence.
10. Tom Hartley – Lancashire (130) (6-116 & 5-99)
Along with Ahmed, Tom Hartley has joined an elite group of players to score a century and take five-wicket hauls in both innings in a County Championship game. Only Liam Dawson (twice) and Sir Richard Hadlee has achieved the feat before this week. Harley came to the crease with Lancashire 302-8 before he posted a 212-run partnership with fellow centurion Chris Green. His runs came at a strike rate just shy of 85 as their time together in the middle was 39.5 overs.
Hartley dismantled the Gloucestershire middle order in their first batting innings and was on a hat trick at one point after taking the wickets of Miles Hammond and Graeme van Buuren in consecutive balls from his end, spanning two overs. His 6-116 haul are his best figures in a Lancashire shirt, only bettered by his 7-62 on England Test debut. He would take a fourth career five-wicket haul in the next innings, dismissing Gloucestershire for 285 and setting up a comfortable target of 110 for his batters.
11. Craig Overton – Somerset (19) (6-23 & 0-22)
It’s not often you would see Craig Overton at number 11, but the depth of this side has saw the Somerset veteran slide down the order. The wicket at Taunton this week has caught the eye of the national media – and the ECB after it was marked as ‘below average’ by match referee Simon Hinks. The pitch itself was almost indistinguishable from the square surrounding it as 22 wickets fell on day one alone.
The pitch was very conducive to spin, which makes it slightly remarkable that Craig Overton took six wickets in a 10 over spell in the first session of day one. Colin Ackermann, Graham Clark and Ollie Robinson all fell for ducks to Overton’s bowling, with the former two being golden ducks. In a low-scoring affair that saw just 674 runs scored across four innings, Somerset got home by five-wickets, a result that looks much more convincing on paper than it did on grass.