: Sat Sep 19, 2009 4:33 am
GT wrote:
Sussex won the Second XI Championship after Lancashire got into a great position and then imploded. Seems some things run right through the club...
It was actually Surrey, not Sussex, who won the Second XI Championship! Although as Tom Smith, on loan from Sussex, made 86 not out and took five wickets for Surrey perhaps that was a Freudian slip.
Just for the record, Surrey secured a "winning draw" by bowling out Lancs for a smaller first innngs total of 438 in what was theoretically a two innings match. If Lancs had neither overhauled Surrey's first innings score of 500/8 dec. nor been bowled out in their first innings the championship would have been shared.
It seems a bit strange that Jon Batty, who has played in every Championship match for the 1st XI and scored a century in the most recent one, was Surrey captain for this game. I assume there are eligibility rules for a game like this to stop anyone packing their team with first team players? The rest of the Surrey team for this game have played very little 1st XI cricket this year and a couple of 2nd team regulars including captain Laurie Evans were missing.