The Rothesay County Championship returned after nearly a month on the sidelines as all 18 counties took to the field. It was the first of four rounds in 2025 that will see the Kookaburra balls in use, resulting in a rather unsurprising seven draws in nine matches. The trial of the ball that is used in Australia has been moved into the summer block of county cricket in an attempt to encourage reverse swing. The trial was used in the opening rounds of the 2024 campaign, with wickets at a premium and batsmen cashing in.
Nottinghamshire remain top of Division One after a high-scoring home draw with Yorkshire, although Surrey have closed the gap to just two points with a nine-wicket win away at Worcestershire. The only other result came at Wantage Road as Northamptonshire chased down 311 inside 63 overs on day four to secure a four-wicket win over Middlesex. Runaway leaders Leicestershire were held at home by Glamorgan while Kent showed guile to bat out for a draw against Lancashire.
1. Finlay Bean – Yorkshire (224)
Opening the batting is Yorkshire’s Finaly Bean. The 23-year-old had featured in six of Yorkshire’s opening seven games this season, but was yet to make a half-century before his Trent Bridge heroics. After hosts Nottinghamshire had posted 487, fellow opener Adam Lyth was dismissed for a golden duck by the ever-reliable Mohammad Abbas.
Bean stuck around as Yorkshire’s middle order all got starts, yet departed before making a significant impact on the scoreboard. Young all-rounder Matthew Revis offered Bean a stable partnership as the pair put on 130-runs for the sixth wicket. The knock comes at a crucial time for Bean who was starting to face competition for his spot at the top of the order. At the beginning of May, Dom Bess filled in as opener as Bean missed out.
2. Cameron Bancroft – Gloucestershire (58 & 176)
Rather topically after Australia’s exploits in the World Test Championship final and their first test against the Windies in Barbados, Cameron Bancroft is in the runs again. The Gloucestershire captain scored 58 in a first innings that amassed to 187 – with only three other batsmen scoring more than 10.
As we have come to expect from Bancroft in First Class cricket, the Western Australian became a nuisance for the bowlers in the second innings, scoring 176 from 366 deliveries. Facing an innings break deficit of 212 runs, Bancroft was eventually dismissed with his side 169 runs in the ascendency before Graeme van Buuren took on the responsibility of extending the lead. The Ashes start in 146 days and Australia look no closer to settling on a batting lineup, perhaps the door isn’t closed just yet for the 32-year-old.
3. Tom Lammonby – Somerset (133 & 33) (0-8)
Somerset have raised eyebrows this season with their selections at the top of the order. The duo of Sean Dickson and Archie Vaughan were replaced at the top by all-rounder Lewis Gregory and tail-ender Josh Davey. Davey opened the batting with Tom Kohler-Cadmore this week, but Tom Lammonby’s ever presence at number three provided the Cidermen with some sense of stability.
Lammonby scored his second century of the season against Warwickshire, the first time he had scored multiple tons in a season since his debut year of 2020. His knock came against an impressive attack that included Ethan Bamber, Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Australian leg-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli. Along with Kohler-Cadmore, Lammoby’s runs set up a 147-run lead at the innings break, a margin that looked likely to see Somerset pick up victory before Warwickshire calmly batted out for a draw.
4. James Coles – Sussex (148* & 53) (0-29)
Sussex youngster James Coles notched his first competitive century of the season, with his only other triple figure score in 2025 coming in pre-season. His unbeaten 148 against Durham was the foundation for Sussex’s first innings score of 361 as six south coast batsmen failed to reach double digits. In his second innings – and at a time of the game where the draw was all but confirmed – Coles scored 53 before being bowled by Ben Raine.
Chester-le-Street was the epicentre of the English cricketing world last weekend as a certain fast bowler made his return to red ball action. Impatient groans could be heard across the country as the Hove outfit won the toss and elected to bat, but the 21-year-old put on a show for the spectators, successfully navigating an attack that included international calibre players in Matthew Potts and Bas de Leede.
5. Ashton Turner – Lancashire (154) (0-12)
After Marcus Harris’ exploits in the County Championship so far this season, you’d be forgiven for thinking Lancashire fans may be keeping a keen eye on Australian cricket. Harris returned to Australia this week in a pre-arranged deal with the club, meaning Jimmy Anderson took over as captain and fellow Aussie Ashton Turner took his place in the middle order following a promising start to his Vitality Blast campaign.
On a flat wicket at Blackpool, Lancashire posted 639-9 and declared overnight before day four. Luke Wells opened the batting with 152 while Josh Bohannon notched 124, but Turner just took the honours for highest individual score with his 154. The score came from just 148 balls – including 11 fours and six maximums – to push the hosts into a commanding position. Despite Lancashire’s lead of 265 runs, Kent batted sensibly to end the match on 328-8, denying the hosts a maiden win of the season. Without Turner’s blistering innings, they would not have had the chance in the first place.
6. Graeme van Buuren – Gloucestershire (6 & 175) (2-91 & 4-64)
Graeme van Buuren had somewhat underperformed with the bat in 2025, scoring just two half centuries, well below the level of someone with a First Class career average in excess of 40. The South African-born Englishman turned his fortunes around against Derbyshire, posting a third-highest career score of 175 to move Gloucestershire into pole position for an unlikely win.
Following on from Bancroft’s opening performance, van Buuren was able to form a fast-paced partnership with wicketkeeper James Bracey, combining for 106 runs in under 20 overs. With the ball, van Buuren took a flurry of four wickets across a tense day four, leaving the visitors teetering on 283-8, chasing 316. Unfortunately for both sides – and fans – the game simply ran out of time to see a winner decided with Gloucestershire two wickets and Derbyshire 20 runs away from much needed victories.
7. Michael Pepper (WK) – Essex (3 & 140) (3 catches)
After seeing Hampshire’s lead of 157 runs heading into the third innings of the game, Essex fans would have the right to be pessimistic after some of their sides batting collapses this season. Five of the top six were dismissed for scores between 10 and 20 in their second innings, leaving captain Tom Westley and wicketkeeper Michael Pepper to salvage a draw from the jaws of defeat. Joining the action at 131-5, Pepper attacked a Hampshire lineup that included Kyle Abbott and Liam Dawson to race to 140 from 154.
Pepper’s innings was a stark contrast to Westley’s – who also brought up three figures – with the captain finishing the match unbeaten on 130 from 322 balls. It was the ‘keepers first century since the opening weekend of the season against Surrey, although this one was arguably much more important in the context of the game. Frustratingly for Pepper, he was eventually dismissed by part-timer Tom Prest – just his fifth First Class wicket in 26 matches.
8. Grant Stewart – Kent (2 & 130) (0-49)
Two games ago, Grant Stewart scored his first century in seven years. Six weeks later he has another. Insert something about London buses here. Stewart strolled to the crease with Kent sat on 116-7, staring down the barrel of a fifth defeat of the season as Lancashire still held a 149-run advantage. The order of the day had been to sit tight and defend – probably the reason Matt Parkinson opened the batting in the fourth innings – but the Italian all-rounder had other ideas.
Instead of respecting the Red Rose bowling, Stewart played with the long handle as he struck 130 from 122 deliveries, allowing Kent to hold a 33-run lead by the time he was dismissed. Joey Evison’s unbeaten 77 combined with Wes Agar’s quick runs at number 10 meant Kent had done enough on the final day to take a draw back down south. With the ball, Stewart did not enjoy such success, going wicketless from 13 overs on a pitch that offered little for the seamers.
9. Nathan Smith – Surrey (6) (1-27 & 6-38)
Returning to face his old county, Nathan Smith reminded Worcestershire fans why they appreciated him so much last year. On day one, Surrey rolled their hosts for just 214 as Matthew Fisher and Jordan Clark took three wickets a piece, but it was in Worcestershire’s second innings where Smith earned his money.
The New Zealand man picked up the wicket of Gareth Roderick in the first over before dismissing fellow Kiwi Henry Nicholls for a two-ball duck. The following morning, he would grab the wickets of overnight batsmen Ben Allison and Adam Hose and would round off his efforts by seeing off tailenders Fateh Singh and Jacob Duffy. It was Smith’s maiden red-ball five-wicket haul on English shores and his first all together since his career best 6-36 for Wellington against Canterbury in February 2024.
10. Jack Morley – Derbyshire (18) (6-55 & 1-178)
The aforementioned match between Gloucestershire and Derbyshire went down to the wire and both sides will feel that the win just evaded their reach, although without Jack Morley’s efforts, Derbyshire could have been blown away. Morley took career best figures of 6-55 in the first innings, assaulting the top order as he dismissed Joe Phillips, Ollie Price and Miles Hammond after a promising Gloucestershire start.
He would return to take another flurry of wickets late in the piece, reducing the hosts from 178-7 to 187 all out in just 11 balls from his end. Since leaving Lancashire permanently over the winter, Morley has settled well in the East Midlands, currently on the longest run of County Championship cricket he has had in his career to date. With 22 wickets to his name at an average of 39.5, the 24-year-old is by no means the finished article, but with consistent bowling now a part of his game, there are reasons to be cheerful for Derbyshire fans.
11. Liam Guthrie – Northamptonshire (0) (7-94 & 2-60)
Game of the week came at Wantage Road as Northamptonshire chased down 311 in 62.3 overs on day four to claim an important win over Middlesex. With all the drama coming at the end of the game, you’d need to cast your mind back to remember the most important contribution with the ball. Australian seamer Liam Guthrie claimed career best figures of 7-94 – and match figures of 9-154 – to skittle the Middlesex top order.
The left-armer’s charge was put on hold by a fantastic century from wicketkeeper Joe Cracknell, but the paceman would dismiss Cracknell early on day two. Guthrie would claim two of Middlesex’s top three again in the second innings, but did receive more support from his teammates this time. Perhaps without a declaration while eight down, he could have claimed a maiden First Class 10-wicket match. Disappointingly for Guthrie, his efforts with the bat were short lived as he departed for a golden duck and was the crowning wicket in Ryan Higgins’ hat-trick.