Read part two of our county cricket review...
Saturday 26 September 2015 19:19, UK
MIDDLESEX (Season grade: C)
County Championship: 2nd in Division One
T20 Blast: 9th in South Group
Royal London One-Day Cup: 7th in Group B
Main man: James Harris
Young star: Nick Gubbins
Season synopsis: After a disastrous 2014 in which he was farmed out on loan to Glamorgan, James Harris stole the show with 69 wickets at 25.73 runs a pop. His early season form with the rejuvenated Steven Finn - 27 wickets in his seven matches earning him a Test recall - kick-started Middlesex's long-sustained challenge for the Championship. Opener Nick Compton will also be hopeful of the England selectors reconnecting after notching 1,123 runs in his first season back at the county from Somerset.
In the shorter formats, Middlesex were whipping boys in the Blast once again, even under the stewardship of England's limited-overs leader Eoin Morgan. One positive, though, came in 21-year-old left-hander Nick Gubbins' form in the One-Day Cup, averaging 56.50 with a top score of 141. That came in a dramatic three-run win over Sussex, as he put on a massive 268 with Dawid Malan - whose 2015 form with the bat was another positive - for the second wicket.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (Season grade: C)
County Championship: 5th in Division Two
T20 Blast: RU (lost to Lancashire)
Royal London One-Day Cup: 5th in Group A
Main man: David Willey
Young star: Olly Stone
Season synopsis: The standout moment of the season was undoubtedly David Willey's 100 from 41 balls - including 34 off one Michael Yardy over - in their Blast quarter-final win over Sussex. It helped book a second Finals Day appearance in three years, but defeat in the final to Lancashire and the announcement that Willey is to join Yorkshire next season means the memory is bittersweet.
Willey - although out through injury and away with England for parts of the summer - was the star performer across his five first-class games this summer too, scoring two hundreds and averaging over 50 with the bat. His stats with the ball were not quite so impressive but 21-year-old quick Olly Stone showed great promise with 38 wickets at 30.21 in his 12 games in an otherwise middling season in the second tier for the Steelbacks.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE (Season grade: B)
County Championship: 3rd in Division One
T20 Blast: 5th in North Group
Royal London One-Day Cup: SF (lost to Surrey)
Main man: Alex Hales
Young star: Luke Wood
Season synopsis: Were it not for an awful first half of the season by Notts - four defeats and three draws across their first eight matches - it could well have been them claiming their seventh county crown, as they went undefeated in their next seven, with six wins, until a defeat to Hampshire in the final game of the season. A One-Day Cup semi-final defeat saw them close to, but missing out on, silverware again. At least they did manage to avoid their fifth straight quarter-final defeat in the Blast, although that was down to finishing fifth in the group and missing out altogether.
Alex Hales starred with the bat, hitting 892 runs in his 11 matches, including 236 against champions Yorkshire, and he also lit up the opening night of the Blast with six sixes in six balls against the Birmingham Bears. And there was 20-year-old left-armer Luke Wood who impressed, notching a maiden first-class hundred and 30 Championship wickets at 30.23 apiece. Batting at nine against Sussex, his ton helped the team recover from 98-7 to 255 all out in their first innings and set up another win.
SOMERSET (Season grade: C-)
County Championship: 6th in Division One
T20 Blast: 8th in South Group
Royal London One-Day Cup: 6th in Group A
Main man: James Hildreth
Young star: Tom Abell
Season synopsis: Somerset survived the drop from Division One, just, finishing sixth for the third straight season. A fairly toothless bowling attack had them in trouble, with overseas spinner Abdur Rehman's return of 10 wickets in eight games particularly galling. Craig Overton continued his development, though, with 43 Championship wickets at 21.69 and earned another England call-up - along with his brother Jamie - to the ODI squad against New Zealand.
Another great season for James Hildreth - leading English run-scorer in county cricket - and a strong finish from Marcus Trescothick helped save them, as well as runs from Championship Breakthrough Player of the Year, 21-year-old Tom Abell. But there was very little else to write home about from this campaign. Oh, except for Chris Gayle's astonishing three-game stint in the Blast, where he averaged 328, hit a top score of 151 and fired just the 29 sixes.
SURREY (Season grade: A-)
County Championship: Champions of Division Two
T20 Blast: 7th in South Group
Royal London One-Day Cup: RU (lost to Gloucestershire)
Main man: Tom Curran
Young star: Sam Curran
Season synopsis: It's all about the Curran brothers. Tom took a staggering 76 wickets at an average of 23.07 as Surrey stormed their way to the Division Two title. Sam did not do too bad himself with 22 strikes at 26.13 in his six matches, although arguably his best displays were saved for white-ball cricket as Surrey reached the final of the One-Day Cup. Their collapse in defeat to Gloucestershire at Lord's, though, was the only real sour note in an otherwise terrific season.
Zafar Ansari was another success story, with 44 wickets from his slow-left-arm bowling earning him a place in the England Test squad to play Pakistan in the UAE, although that dream was cruelly ended before it started after he injured his thumb on the day of the call-up. Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara had flashes of brilliance in his first season and will be back again next year. Oh, and does anyone else remember a certain unbeaten 355 by Kevin Pietersen against Leicestershire at the start of the summer? No, me neither.
SUSSEX (Season grade: D)
County Championship: 8th in Division One (relegated)
T20 Blast: QF (lost to Northamptonshire)
Royal London One-Day Cup: 9th in Group B
Main man: Steve Magoffin
Young star: Oliver Robinson
A hugely disappointing season ending with relegation on the final day, especially as Sussex opened their campaign with back-to-back wins. An exciting stable of fast bowlers did the early damage but Ajmal Shahzad (22 wickets at 18.68 in five games) and Chris Jordan (24 wickets at 28.58 in six) missed large chunks of the season through injury. Steve Magoffin's haul of 69 wickets was once again hugely impressive, but he struggled to carry the rest of the team over the summer.
There is enough talent in the team to bounce back. Luke Wright hit 1,210 runs for the season, Matt Machan scored three hundreds and Luke Wells - who struggled in 2015 - is still a top-order batsman of great potential. Oliver Robinson impressed with 46 wickets at 24.71 apiece in his first season after joining from Yorkshire. And another new signing, Tymal Mills from Essex, carried the team to the quarter-finals of the Blast with 19 wickets in 12 games before Willey and Northants dismantled them in their quarter-final.
WARWICKSHIRE (Season grade: C)
County Championship: 5th in Division One
T20 Blast: SF (lost to Northamptonshire)
Royal London One-Day Cup: 6th in Group B
Main man: Rikki Clarke
Young star: Sam Hain
Season synopsis: A lack of consistent runs hampered Warwickshire's chances of a run at another Championship crown. Only Ian Bell - in his two appearances of the summer - averaged over 37, although Laurie Evans seems to finally be delivering on his potential, with a double-hundred against Sussex, albeit on a road at Edgbaston. Plus 20-year-old Sam Hain added two more hundreds to his impressive resume.
The strength of the Bears, though, is in their bowling and Jeetan Patel - leading the way with 58 wickets - Rikki Clarke, Keith Barker and Boyd Rankin all managed 46 plus strikes for the season. That potent attack - and a seven-match cameo from New Zealand star Brendon McCullum in which he hit the highest domestic T20 score of 158 against Derbyshire - again took them close in the Blast. The defending champions fell just short though this year, with defeat to Northamptonshire on Finals Day.
WORCESTERSHIRE (Season grade: D)
County Championship: 9th in Division One (relegated)
T20 Blast: QF (lost to Hampshire)
Royal London One-Day Cup: 8th in Group A
Main man: Tom Fell
Young star: Joe Clarke
Season synopsis: The Rapids were impressive again in the Blast, but exited at the quarter-final stage for the third time in four years to continue to deny them a first Finals Day appearance. And they suffered another disappointing return to the top-flight - this is Worcestershire's fifth relegation since the introduction of the two-tiered Championship, two more than the next best (worst) county. What that also tells you, though, is they have a habit of winning promotion back just as frequently, so they can be hopeful of doing the same again next year.
Having taken an astonishing 63 wickets in his nine matches in Division Two last year, Saeed Ajmal was a disappointment, with just 16 across eight games in this campaign. But the form of seamer Joe Leach was a positive with 59 wickets for the season. Plus a good stable of young batsmen - Tom Fell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Joe Clarke - are reasons for optimism. Fell tallied three hundreds in Division One while the other two hit maiden first-class tons.
YORKSHIRE (Season grade: A-)
County Championship: Champions of Division One
T20 Blast: 8th in North Group
Royal London One-Day Cup: SF (lost to Gloucestershire)
Main man: Jonny Bairstow
Young star: Matt Fisher
Season synopsis: The defending county champions confidently and comfortably secured back-to-back titles, winning 11 of their 16 games, losing just once. Opening bowlers Jack Brooks (65) and Ryan Sidebottom (41) shared over 100 wickets between them, but it was the form of Jonny Bairstow - earning him an England recall - which was the standout, as he scored 1,108 runs at an average of 92.33 in his nine matches. Tim Bresnan is another who deserves a mention having averaged a shade under 50 with the bat and a shade over 30 with the ball in an impressive all-round year.
Yorkshire have not had things all their own way, though, as brilliantly documented in Sky Sports' Cricketing Yorkshire series all summer. A disastrous T20 campaign by their standards saw them win just five from 14. Teenager Matt Fisher was a bright spot, though, with 5-22 on debut, and 16 wickets total in the competition, top for the team.
