The 12th week of Rothesay County Championship action has passed as both divisions begin to take shape ahead of the September run-in. Surrey have opened up a nine-point lead at the summit of Division One after a five-wicket win away at Durham, while Nottinghamshire sit second after a home draw with Somerset, making it four draws on the bounce for the early pace setters. Yorkshire’s strong run of form continued with a 128-run win over Sussex, moving them out of the relegation zone at the expense of Durham.
In Division Two, Leicestershire’s high scoring draw with Kent means the side from Grace Road need 31 points from their last three matches to confirm a return to the top table. Second-placed Glamorgan claimed a statement 154-run victory away at Lancashire, creating a 24-point gap between themselves and faltering Derbyshire. The Cardiff outfit are now unbeaten in eight games, a run stretching back to mid-April.
1. Haseeb Hameed – Nottinghamshire (208)
Haseeb Hameed has returned to the top of the Division One run scoring charts after a third career double century. The Nottinghamshire opener has now scored 1,108 runs in the 2025 edition of the championship, averaging a staggering 79.1 in the process. Hameed scored 208 against Somerset in a run-soaked affair at Trent Bridge, staying at the crease for 466 minutes and facing 388 balls.
It is the third century of Hameed’s stellar season – and the second that he has converted into a double. The Nottinghamshire captain forged 100-plus run partnerships with Freddie McCann, Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes, taking the score to 406-5 when he was eventually ran out by Tom Lammonby, just 30 runs shy of the visitors first innings total.
2. Jake Libby – Worcestershire (100* & 106)
For the first time in Jake Libby’s career, the opener has scored twin centuries in a First Class match. The knocks came as Worcestershire draw at home to fifth-placed Hampshire – who themselves will be looking over their shoulder – in a match that went down to the wire. His first ton was clinched in the nick of time before the Pears tail was demolished by the south coast outfit, carrying his bat in a team total of 249. Adam Hose stuck around to post 82, while Gareth Roderick and Matthew Waite were the only other batsmen to reach double figures.
Libby’s second triple figure score of the match came in a strangely proactive Worcestershire innings in which they attempted to chase down 358 in 53 overs. The former Nottinghamshire man scored 106 from 122 balls, a stark contrast to how you envisage a Libby century. He was dismissed with the score at 213-5, requiring 145 from 13.3 overs. The lower order tried but were ultimately saved by time, confirming the draw while 50 runs shy of their target with only two wickets in hand.
3. Ben Compton – Kent (221)
The top run scorer in the country after his feast for Kent, Ben Compton has returned to the form that saw him quietly mooted for an England call-up three years ago. The Kent man scored his fifth century of the season with 221 against seemingly runaway leaders Leicestershire to take his 2025 tally to 1,198 runs. Since his stellar year in 2022 that saw a return of eight centuries across the English and South African summers, Compton had only added a further three to his career total before the start of the 2025 campaign.
In a rain affected game at Canterbury, Kent were tasked with responding to the visitors 471 against a threatening pace attack that consisted of Ian Holland, Logan van Beek and Josh Hull. Compton put in a classic knock to hold together an innings that saw multiple batsmen get starts and get out. Only wicketkeeper Harry Finch scored north of 50 as Compton motored on to a new career high score.
4. Tom Westley – Essex (148 & 51*)
Coming to the crease after the opening batsmen had fended off the new ball, Tom Westley was handed a strong platform to build an innings. The Essex captain bagged his 32nd First Class hundred in a high-scoring affair against Warwickshire, marshalling the middle order in the process. The knock was brought to an end by Australia international Beau Webster, with Westley departing shortly after pushing his side past the 400-run mark.
Westley’s calming presence at the crease stabilised the innings after Jordan Cox and Matt Critchley were dismissed for relatively low scores. The captain partnered with youngster Charlie Allison – who himself scored his third century since moving down to the middle order – before Michael Pepper came in and quickly fired his own triple figure score to take the Essex total to 602-6d.
5. Tom Abell – Somerset (156 & 51)
Despite averaging 43 in the County Championship in 2025, it has taken Tom Abell until his 20th innings in the competition to score his first century of the season. The former Somerset captain had previously notched five-half centuries without converting one into a triple figure score – most notably falling short with a 96 against Sussex during the second match of the season.
His 18th First Class century was his highest to date with an important 156 against Nottinghamshire. Coming to the crease at 25-3, Somerset were in danger of collapsing on a batting friendly pitch before he put on a 313-run partnership with James Rew to more than steady a sinking ship. The 31-year-old was dismissed by Dillon Pennington in the final over of the first day’s play, with his efforts going a long way to taking an away defeat out of the equation.
6. James Rew (WK) – Somerset (166 & 27) (1 catch)
Abell’s partner in crime at the other end was James Rew, one of the country’s most exciting young batting talents. At six in this lineup, Rew’s score came at number four for Somerset, the first of his 11 career First Class tons to come so high in the batting order. Compared to Abell’s early entry to the fold at 25-3, the wicketkeeper was sent to the crease after three overs with the score 0-2 thanks to some Mohammad Abbas magic.
It is hard to say things about James Rew that have not been said before. The 21-year-old now has 11 centuries and 10 half-centuries to his name in 89 red-ball innings, made even more impressive when you consider a large chunk of his time as a professional has been spent batting with the lower order. With 166 runs to his name to drag his side away from such a precarious position, it is comfortably Rew’s most impressive ton to date – and one that certainly will have caught the eye of the national selectors.
7. Matthew Revis – Yorkshire (152*) (1-27 & 0-22)
Yorkshire’s Matthew Revis has arguably been the most in-form player across England and Wales over the last month. In his last four County Championship matches, Revis has batted in five innings, scoring 93*, 150, 110*, 15 and 152* in a remarkable show of batting ability. The 23-year-old is averaging 79.1 with the bat in 2025, boosting his career average to a more than useful 43.5.
For the second time in consecutive weeks, Sussex collapsed in their first innings, this time posting 222 in 99.5 overs. After an early ton from opening batsman Adam Lyth, Revis entered the fray at 250-4, already holding a lead of 28 runs with a fiery lower order yet to come. His innings perfectly encapsulated the essence of progressing the scoreboard while still remaining present at the crease, scoring his 152 runs from 188 deliveries. The lower order added a valuable 109 runs between them while Revis finished not out with the score 545-9d, providing a lead of 323 runs at the innings break.
8. Mason Crane – Glamorgan (9 & 1) (6-19 & 3-107)
After a shaky start to the season, Glamorgan have been on a spectacular run of form to position themselves into second in the Division Two table. Leg spinner Mason Crane has often been outshone by spinning counterpart Ben Kellaway in 2025, but the former England man took centre stage to bowl the Welsh side to victory at Old Trafford. Crane launched an attack on the Lancashire middle order to take outstanding figures of 10.4-4-19-6. His wickets included the dangerous Australian duo of Marcus Harris and Chris Green, as well as the destructive Phil Salt.
The second innings was a more attritional affair for Crane, taking his three wickets for 107 runs as the hosts attempted to chase down a mammoth 473 target. The 28-year-old partnered with Kellaway – who took two second innings wickets – to take the bulk of the workload away from a seam attack that was leaking quick runs to a firing top order. Fittingly, Crane took the final wicket of James Anderson to seal a crucial win, taking Glamorgan one step closer to Division One.
9. Matt Milnes – Yorkshire (19) (2-62 & 5-31)
After Yorkshire’s fantastic display with bat and ball in the first half of their clash with Sussex, a statement victory was there for the taking. The south coast side were sent back in to bat, requiring 323 runs purely to make their northern opponents go to the crease for a second time. After quick early wickets, Sussex were sat on 20-3, thanks in part to Matt Milnes taking the wicket of the in-form James Coles for a golden duck.
Milnes returned later in the innings, claiming the wickets of opener Daniel Hughes and middle order batsman Daniel Ibrahim. Milnes prized the duo of wickets within seven balls from his end, sending both men back to the pavilion shortly after scoring half-centuries, firmly shifting the momentum back in the hosts’ favour. A combination of bowlers joined forces to work their way through the Sussex middle order before Milnes wrapped up an innings and 128-run victory with the final two wickets in the match. His fifth career five-wicket haul came for just 31 runs from 16.4 overs.
10. Yuzvendra Chahal – Northamptonshire (6-118 & 2-79)
Having played 152 international white-ball matches, Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is primarily known for his ability to take wickets at crucial times in limited overs cricket. His performance for Northamptonshire this week was exactly what those involved with the county would have hoped for when they resigned him for another stint in 2025.
Chahal took consistent wickets on a favourable batting track against Derbyshire, moving Northants into a position to claim a home victory. Chahal’s 6-188 was the contributing factor in Derbyshire’s 377 total, with his batsmen backing up his performance to post 550-9d. The 35-year-old claimed two early wickets in the second innings to help reduce the visitors to 54-5, still trailing by 119 runs, before Luis Reece and Brooke Guest batted time to steer the game towards a draw.
11. Sonny Baker – Hampshire (0) (5-72 & 3-82)
Playing just his seventh First Class game – with his debut coming against Australia A over the winter – Sonny Baker has already secured his second red-ball fifer after taking first innings figures of 20.1-2-72-5 against Worcestershire. Baker’s efforts helped to rein in an innings that threatened to put Hampshire under pressure. He claimed the vital wicket of Adam Hose before dismissing captain Brett D’Oliveira and form man Ethan Brookes. His spell took the Pears score from 187-2 to 189-5 in the space of 4.3 overs. He wrapped up his five-wicket haul with the tail-end, handing Hampshire a 34-run lead.
In Worcester’s innings that resembled a One Day Cup chase rather than a County Championship fourth innings, Baker went at 6.83 an over, figures that can look ghastly on paper before realising only the experienced Kyle Abbott managed to go at under five’s – even that was 4.19. The 22-year-old adopted a policy of ‘you miss, I hit’ trapping Kashif Ali and D’Oliveira on the pads before rearranging Tom Taylor’s stumps to take his match figures to 8-154.