Durham the shining light for counties in a world darkened by agents and money

The longest county season on record has finally ended with dramatically increased prize money making some teams substantially better off.

Durham won £500,000 for their second successive championship success, and by sneaking ahead of Somerset, Nottinghamshire claimed £225,000 for second place.

It may not sound like much for a season’s work, but the winners’ cheque is 10 times what it was when Middlesex team won the championship in 1990. Professional players’ salaries, too, have doubled in recent times. And Ashes wins are good for future business.

But winning the Ashes camouflages the ills within the domestic game. Confusion reigns in the shires. The changing England and Wales Cricket Board pay structure and the increasing role of players’ agents have created instability and uncertainty.

The annual handout from the ECB of £1.3 million to each county is now conditional on the number of players that a county fields who are under 26 and qualified for England (if they are under 22 it is even more beneficial).

The idea, of course, is to penalise clubs who fail to nurture home-grown cricketers and instead buy in players from overseas. In theory this makes sense: England generate the lion’s share of the money which the counties survive on, therefore those counties who supply England players should be best rewarded.

The looming presence of agents, however, is making this approach counter-productive. With more money swilling around young players are increasingly being lured away from the club that nurtured them to join the highest bidder.

With less and less player loyalty, agents sniffing a quick buck and player remuneration going through the roof, the situation is volatile. Top cricketers have always had agents, of course.

What has changed is that everyone is represented now, from the most celebrated Test player to the 20 year-old who marches into the club office on the back of a maiden hundred demanding a rise. If they do not get what they want, they angle for a move.

The huge problem for the smaller clubs is the lack of compensation for any player who leaves, unless they go on to play for England. Middlesex’s promising opening batsman Billy Godleman, for instance, is moving to Essex. Middlesex receive nothing for nursing him through the ranks.

This puts counties in a dilemma. Do they continue to indulge in the expensive business of rearing young players, generating more income from the ECB, but risking having their team decimated by predators? Or do they sacrifice the income and assemble a more stable team from elsewhere?

The two London clubs, both rooted near the bottom of Division Two, seem to be heading in opposite directions. Surrey, with a celebrity coaching staff and an ambitious director of cricket, Chris Adams, are waving around a chequebook and luring in players from far and wide.

Kent’s Robert Key is being tempted with a six-figure package that would deter any MP from tinkering with his expenses, and others have been similarly enticed. Surrey are fast being seen as the Manchester City of cricket.

Middlesex, on the other hand, have less financial clout because they don’t own Lord’s, and are attempting to grow their own talent. But increasingly they need to employ a gamekeeper to keep the poachers at bay.

The club have the added handicap of no permanent home (they are tenants of MCC) which leads to sought-after players fed up with a nomadic existence wanting to leave. They are attempting to redress this by establishing a new base at Radlett, Hertfordshire, while still playing most of their cricket at Lord’s.

A definite divide is forming in domestic cricket. The larger, richer clubs – Durham, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire – mainly occupy the higher positions in the championship first division. Meanwhile the poorer, smaller ones – Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and Glamorgan – remain chiefly marooned in the lower reaches of Division Two.

With their players vulnerable and no easy way of increasing their revenue, this is likely to remain the case, despite the trial of a salary cap of £1.8 million. There are always ways round such arrangements.

With a meticulous 15-year plan, Durham have got their system right. They have a superb home facility at Riverside and a thriving academy, through which they have produced a barrage of fast bowlers, guaranteeing that they do not rely on imports.

It is much harder finding good, available fast bowlers from overseas than it is batsmen. Vitally, their thoughtful, family-orientated environment ensures that few players leave.

It will be necessary for other counties to find equally binding arrangements or the domestic scene will degenerate into a free for all.

Essex secure promotion to division one

Essex pipped Northamptonshire to the second promotion place by chasing down a target of 359 in 65 overs with five overs to spare against Derbyshire at Derby.

An unbeaten 108 from 59 balls by Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate swept Essex to victory and £70,000 in prize money.

Ten Doeschate shared a sixth-wicket stand of 156 in just 17 overs with his captain, Mark Pettini, who hit the winning run.

Unbeaten champions: Durham became the first side since Warwickshire in 2004 to go through a First Division campaign unbeaten after they drew with Worcestershire at New Road. But the home side completed their worst campaign since 1928, the only other season they failed to win a championship game.

Steve Davies, who was due to fly to South Africa last night as a standby for England’s ill wicketkeeper Matt Prior, steered Worcestershire to safety with 97 from 75 balls in his final championship innings before joining Surrey.

Runners-up: Nottinghamshire collected the runners-up cheque for £225,000 by beating relegated Sussex by 35 runs at Trent Bridge.

Samit Patel’s career-best six for 84 helped send Sussex to their sixth defeat of the season.

Valedictory innings? Surrey’s Jonathan Batty made 120 to help secure a draw against Glamorgan at The Oval. Batty has a year left on his contract but his future is in doubt because of Davies’s arrival.

Mark Ealham's final bow takes Nottinghamshire into second place

In a delightful finale to the championship season, on an autumn afternoon of delicious sunshine, Nottinghamshire climbed above Somerset to take second place and the runners-up prize of £225,000.

Down the road in Derby, meanwhile, Essex persuaded the home side to set them 359 runs to win and, largely through Ryan ten Doeschate, they knocked them off and took second place in the Second Division, beating Northamptonshire to promotion.

Ten Doeschate took Essex into the First Division by hitting an undefeated 108 off 59 balls with nine fours and eight sixes. Nicky Boje, Northamptonshire's captain, might well feel aggrieved but it required the fastest hundred of the first-class season – off 54 balls – by Ten Doeschate to take Essex up.

Notts had not won a game in any competition since June so there were many jittery nerves along their way to pay-day. They set Sussex 372 to win from 84 overs – and as long as Notts won or drew, they would be certain of second place.

But they were two periods when Notts looked as though they could well blow it. Sussex had already been relegated and therefore had nothing left to lose. But to their credit they decided that the best way to prepare for the defence of their Pro40 title today would be to bat properly here, rather than slog the ball in the air and get on the motorway to Worcester.

Sussex's opening pair of Chris Nash and Mike Yardy raised a century stand, and Mark Ealham, in his last first-class game, was needed to break it. Then the 40 year-old, a most Steady Eddie, dived at mid-on to catch Murray Goodwin. Goodwin's loss of form in his benefit season and Sussex's lack of wickets – nobody has taken 40 – have been major factors in their relegation.

The second time that Notts faltered was when Dwayne Smith got going. The Barbadian hitter swiped six sixes and kept Sussex up with the rate by making 80 off 54 balls, belying his season's average of 13. But Samit Patel, operating both over and round the wicket, claimed the final wicket and his career-best figures with left-arm spin.

Overall, though, it is safe to say that never in the history of county cricket, since its Victorian origins, has so little interest been taken in it, whether the championship or the limited-overs formats, as in this season.

If this is the case, then the possible causes are numerous, ranging from the particular to the general. In the first instance, Durham have run away with the championship, as they have had the pace bowling which rivals have lacked, so it has been a one-horse race.

Then there has been the very high percentage of draws in the championship. In the First Division well over half of the matches have been drawn, reducing public interest.

International cricket, which subsidises the domestic game, has ironically eroded interest further still. The international season here lasted from May 6 to Sept 20, swamping the county game – whereas last September allowed a championship climax.

The never-ending international schedule also deprives county cricket of the stars. The best cricketers, whether from England or elsewhere, are playing for their countries – and for the Indian Premier League as the domestic tournament of choice. Stuart Broad has played one championship game for Notts this season.

The absence of star cricketers has deprived county cricket of real spin – no Warne or Muralitharan or Kumble any more – and real pace. What remains is monochrome fast-medium. For hour after hour four such bowlers rotate. And never has press coverage been so limited, as an integral part of the downward spiral.

Michael Vaughan, England's former captain, makes two proposals, one in his forthcoming book. the first is that two rounds of the championship should be played in India. This makes sense, as many counties go to the Gulf for pre-season training, and from there could go on to India in early April.

Alternatively, Vaughan suggests inviting domestic team from overseas – as they are not occupied during the English summer – to invigorate the county game. Split the championship into three divisions of seven teams, say, and invite the domestic champions of Australia, South Africa or India to play in the first division, and those of other countries to play in the second and third divisions.

Twelve championship games per county would raise the intensity and standard. The visitors could go home mid-season while the counties played Twenty20, when again the domestic 20-over champions of other countries could be invited.

One point is certain. Delightful as Saturday's denouement was, the downward spiral cannot go on forever.

LV County Championship roll of honour

FIRST DIVISION

Champions: Durham
Runners-up: Notts

PROMOTED

Kent
Essex

Lancashire captain Glen Chapple skittles Warwickshire

Old Trafford: Lancashire (126-4) trail Warwickshire (148) by 22 runs

Lancashire captain Glen Chapple claimed a season's best of six for 19 to help skittle Warwickshire on day one.

The 35-year-old all-rounder ensured the Edgbaston side were bowled out for just 148 inside 45 overs as the Red Rose gained three of the seven points they need to preserve their top-flight future in the LV County Championship.

Five of his six wickets were caught by either wicketkeeper Luke Sutton or slips Paul Horton and VVS Laxman as he took advantage of helpful conditions and poor batting.

His figures from 14.4 overs were the second-best of his career, while the evergreen one-time England one-day international had also taken six for 34 against Worcestershire at New Road earlier this summer.

But that was not the end of the tumble of wickets as the hosts, who had been invited to field first, reached 126 for four after 45 overs at close thanks in the main to Laxman's unbeaten 53 off 108 balls.

Chapple claimed the two wickets of Ant Botha, caught at square-leg by Mark Chilton, and Jonathan Trott (one), caught behind, in an opening 10-over spell which included six maidens and went for just seven runs.

Sajid Mahmood had Ian Westwood caught behind and Kyle Hogg forced Ian Bell (five) to clip to Tom Smith at mid-wicket with his first ball to leave the score at 37 for four in the 17th over.

Hogg (two for 29 from eight) had Tim Ambrose caught at first slip by Horton two overs later and Smith bowled Rikki Clarke to have the visitors six down before lunch.

Just before the break Neil Carter began an entertaining counter-attack by pulling Hogg for six and he later hooked Mahmood and pulled Chapple for further maximums in a 43-ball 59.

But the next ball after his third six, Chapple got his revenge when Carter flashed him to Laxman at second slip to leave the score at 121 for seven in the 39th.

Chapple also had Chris Woakes caught behind and Andrew Miller caught by Horton at first in the 41st over before finishing off the innings four overs later when he got Jim Troughton the same way for 48.

Lancashire made a sketchy start to their first innings as they lost Horton, lbw to Woakes for three in the seventh over.

Smith (23) was then brilliantly caught by Westwood at short-leg off the bowling of Boyd Rankin to leave the score at 44 for two in the 16th.

And Mal Loye was needlessly run out by Carter, who saw the batsman dozing at the non-striker's end while fielding at mid-on, to have Lancashire three down for 45 three overs later.

Laxman and Chilton then shared a stabilising fourth-wicket stand of 65 in 20 overs before the latter was trapped in front by Clarke to leave Lancashire 110 for four in the 39th.

This was Laxman's eighth score of 50 or more in championship cricket this season. He reached his half-century off 101 balls with nine fours.

Sun shining off the Media Centre roof at the Stretford End of the ground halted play four overs early, with Lancashire trailing in the first innings by 22 with six wickets in hand.

County Championship scores: live

County Championship round-up

Matthew Hoggard hat-trick condemns Sussex while Glamorgan and Gloucestershire's match ends in stalemate in Division Two.

Relegation favourites: Sussex were the last side to win the County Championship before Durham but a spectacular collapse against Yorkshire at Hove on Saturday has left them seemingly doomed.

Sussex lost seven wickets for 19 and their last five for just three runs and were beaten by 156 runs in the relegation tussle.

Matthew Hoggard and David Wainwright were the architects of Sussex's defeat; first they frustrated Sussex with a last-wicket stand of 38 then shared eight wickets between them. Hoggard triggered the collapse by taking a hat-trick and Sussex tumbled from 80 for five to 83 all out in 33 balls.

Sussex now need to beat Nottinghamshire in their final game at Trent Bridge. But even that might not be enough to save them from a return to the Second Division for the first time since 2001 if Hampshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire garner sufficient bonus points from their final matches.

Best bowling: Hoggard's hat-trick at Hove was the first by a Yorkshire bowler since Craig White in 1998. It was the second hat-trick of Hoggard's career following one for England against the West Indies at Bridgetown in 2004. Hoggard had Andrew Hodd caught behind, flattened Dwayne Smith's off stump and then had Piyush Chawla taken by Jon Bairstow at slip.

Tense finish: Second Division promotion rivals Glamorgan and Gloucestershire fought out a tense draw at Cardiff where Gloucestershire ended 15 short of victory with their last pair at the crease.

Will Porterfield's 81 and three wickets apiece from off-spinners Robert Croft and Jamie Dalrymple set up the dramatic finish.

Steve Kirby, dropped when Gloucestershire were 43 short of victory, batted out the final over.

Only 11 points divide second-placed Essex from Gloucestershire in sixth.

Highest score: Somerset's Zander de Bruyn made 106, his first championship century of the season, to deny Worcestershire at Taunton.

Worcestershire must beat champions Durham at New Road if they are to avoid going through a championship season without a win for the first time since 1928. They also require four points to beat Glamorgan's record lowest points aggregate of 88.5 in 2005 since the championship was split into two divisions.

Dominic Cork eases Hampshire's relegation fears with five-wicket haul

Hampshire (383 & 7-0) bt Worcestershire (159 & 227) by 10 wickets

Dominic Cork will miss Worcestershire next season if Hampshire secure First Division safety as a result of his efforts in this match.

The veteran former England seamer claimed a five-wicket haul to set up a crushing victory in three days and took his aggregate figures in four innings against Worcestershire this season to 50-17-81-12.

Cork, whose figures were 4-3-1-3 overnight, improved them to 11-6-8-5 after Steve Davies and Moeen Ali were taken in the slip cordon in his first spell.

Hampshire's march to their first win in eight games was delayed by an entertaining seventh-wicket stand of 70 in 13 overs between Alexei Kervezee, who celebrated his 20th birthday with a breezy 54, and the improving Richard Jones.

But Kervezee gifted his wicket by top-edging an attempted pull to mid-off two balls after he had completed his second championship 50 by straight driving Imran Tahir for six.

Jones edged the leg-spinner to slip after had made a career-best 36 but the end came quickly after lunch and Hampshire needed only nine balls to complete the formalities of a facile win.

Safety is still not assured for Hampshire who host champions-elect Durham at the Rose Bowl next week before travelling to play Yorkshire at Headingley for what could be a relegation decider.

They have already started their team building for next season and are in talks with former England swing bowler Simon Jones who was released by Worcestershire earlier in the season.

They are also in a queue of counties interested in signing Kabir Ali, the seamer who has been granted permission by Worcestershire to talk to other counties. Warwickshire have also confirmed their interest in speaking to Kabir but Worcestershire are demanding a compensation payment for the final year of his contract.

Worcestershire's relegation means that opening batsman Stephen Moore could now activate the get-out clause that was included in the three-year contract he signed last year.

The England Lions player is expected to join the New Road exodus with Warwickshire again a likely front runner to sign him.

Moore said that he will take a little time to consider his options but a decision is likely by early October.

"I'm going to have to decide whether playing in Division Two is best for my development," Moore said.

"I've never wanted to be a journeyman county cricketer. I want to be able to put pressure on the people in the England side and be pushing for a spot.

"I'm not trying to leave to make more money, it's about being the best player I can possibly be. At some point over the next month I'll have to come to a decision."

Defeat increases Worcestershire's relegation fears

Warwickshire (443) beat Worcs (154 & 271) by an innings and 18 runs

Worcestershire will be relegated after a single season in the top flight for the third time if they fail to beat Hampshire in their next match following a crushing defeat to Warwickshire.

Warwickshire increased Worcestershire's problems by completing a crushing first double over their near neighbours since 1933.

The visitor's third relegation after one season in the top flight will be confirmed if they fail to beat Hampshire in their next match. They need to take 19 points from their remaining games to beat Glamorgan's record for fewest points – 88.5 in 2005 – since the County Championship was split into two divisions in 2000.

However, there is unlikely to be an early return to the First Division for cash-strapped Worcestershire, who have been hit badly by the recession and are losing senior players at an alarming rate.

Gareth Batty and Steve Davies, who delayed Warwickshire with a defiant half century, have already signed three-year deals with Surrey, batsman Stephen Moore has a get-out clause in the contract he signed last year if Worcestershire are relegated, and seamer Kabir Ali has now submitted a request to talk to other counties.

Although Kabir's request will not be considered by Worcestershire's board until Monday evening, he is already being touted around the counties. Warwickshire will be among the frontrunners if Kabir secures his release from the final year of his contract and Moore exercises his get-out option.

A lack of on-site training facilities and Worcestershire's decision to release the former England swing bowler Simon Jones are among the reasons for the exodus, but disenchantment with a club that seems to have lost direction is a major factor.

There will be plenty of players available this winter for Worcestershire to begin their squad rebuilding, but few of the quality to replace those departing, or in their price range.

Warwickshire's victory, their first at home in a year, was inevitable from the third over when Chris Woakes flattened the middle stump of a bemused Vikram Solanki.

Davies resisted for 40 overs before he played on to Sreesanth, but Woakes, who mopped things up an hour after lunch when he bowled Imran Arif with a full toss, claimed nine for 83 in the match to put Warwickshire within touching distance of safety.

Alastair Cook century gives Essex Pro40 victory over Hampshire

Essex (249-3) bt Hampshire (246-5) by 7 wkts

Alastair Cook celebrated his first NatWest Pro 40 outing of the season with a match-winning 104 to see Essex home by seven wickets in their duel against Hampshire at Chelmsford.

The England opener hammered 13 fours while gathering his runs from 102 deliveries as Essex passed their opponents' total of 246 for five with seven balls to spare.

Sharing the honours with Cook was Varun Chopra. The pair came together in the sixth over after two wickets had fallen for 26 and proceeded to add 192 in 30 overs, a county second-wicket record in the competition.

Chopra also scored a century, finishing unbeaten on 101 from 107 balls, nine of which he dispatched for four.

But Chopra needed slices of luck on his way. Imran Tahir put down a simple return catch when the batsman had reached 51 and, 12 runs later, the same bowler saw wicket-keeper, Nic Pothas, spill a straightforward opportunity.

Cook's fine effort finally came to an end when he gave a return catch to medium pace bowler David Balcombe.

But by then Essex were only 29 short of their target and Chopra and Ryan ten Doeschate saw them home without further setbacks.

James Vince had become the youngest Hampshire player to hit a half-century in limited overs cricket.

The 18-year-old, coming in at number three, struck a superb 93 to provide the backbone of his side's total.

The youngster never looked in the slightest trouble and it needed a brilliant stumping by James Foster to dismiss him in the final over of the innings.

A feature of his effort was the way he found the gaps to keep the scoreboard ticking over, something emphasised by the fact that his 95-ball innings contained just six boundaries.

Vince's main support came from Liam Dawson, the pair coming together in the 21st over with the total on 101 for four.

They added 140 in 19 overs as Dawson went on to finish unbeaten on 69 from 56 balls after helping himself to five fours and the only six of the innings.

Hampshire's momentum arrived in the final five overs of their innings as 62 runs were added, by which time 21-year-old fast bowler Mervyn Westfield had finished his eight-over spell.

He was easily the pick of the Essex bowlers, conceding just 32 while picking up the wickets of Michael Lumb and Sean Ervine.

Mark Butcher retires from first-class cricket

Former England batsman Mark Butcher announced his retirement from first-class cricket on Thursday night, fittingly on the eve of the Headingley Test, the scene of his finest hour.

The Surrey batsman, 36, took advantage of stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist's generous declaration in 2001 to score a rapid 173 not out on the final day of the fourth Test, leading England to an unlikely six-wicket victory.

Butcher played 71 Tests between 1997 and 2004, scoring eight hundreds. He was also one of England's finest No3s; his 2,796 runs in that position put him behind only Wally Hammond (3,440) and Ted Dexter (2,798). In total he scored 4,288 Test runs at an average of 34.58.

After 17 years in the game, however, he has finally conceded defeat in his battle to overcome knee problems.

He had further surgery two weeks ago and had the option of another operation, but said: "There was no guarantee it would make all the difference so it seemed to right time to call it a day.

"It's been a long, hard road to try and get back. The team has had to play without its captain for the vast majority of the last 12 months or so. It was a pretty obvious decision to make.

"It is very tough to walk away from the club that I have called home since I was a boy and the game that has given me so many great memories but I feel that it is the right time to move on to the next chapter in my life."

VVS steers Lancashire to Pro-40 win

VVS Laxman unbeaten 37-ball 38 scripted Lancashire's eight-wicket triumph over hosts Northamptonshire.

The stylish Hyderabadi's efforts sparked up the day in a rain-marred Pro40 Division Two match.

Put into bat, the hosts were reeling at 11 for two when rain interrupted play and the match was reduced to a 21-overs-a-side affair.

Northamptonshire soon slumped to 25 for five before Rob White (23) and Johan van der Wath (35 not out) put up some resistance and helped the side post 102 for seven.

Chasing 100 under Duckworth-Lewis regulations, Lancashire got off to a sound start with Tom Smith (43) and Laxman going great guns before another rain-interrupted left the visitors needing just 88 runs from 14 overs.

The Smith and Laxman opening stand yielded 72 before Andrew Hall castled Smith. Monty Panesar then removed Paul Horton (1) but Laxman -- who was lucky to get two lives in his brief knock -- stood his ground as the Red Rose romped home with 13 balls to spare.

The star Indian batsman had struck his maiden county century against Yorkshire earlier this week.

Friends Provident Trophy final: Hampshire v Sussex

Hampshire (221-4) beat Sussex (219-9) by six wickets.

The bigger stage, the better Dominic Cork performs as the veteran former England all-rounder again proved with a superb opening spell which set Hampshire on their way to their fifth Lord's final victory.

Cork was at his combative best, using his experience of the Lord's slope to take four for 41 including a match-shaping burst of three for nine in 23 balls in the first hour.

Though Sussex captain Michael Yardy did his best to make a game of it, rescuing his side from the wreckage of 77 for five with a diligent unbeaten 92, too many players got out trying to force the pace on a pitch that had lost much of its pace after being used for two matches in the recent World Twenty20.

Sussex's total always looked to be at least 50 runs light and Hampshire coasted home in a disappointingly one-sided affair with almost ten overs to spare after an opening stand of 93 between James Adams and Michael Lumb.

Hampshire's win was based on their strong team ethic but this was Cork's day at the ground that has always brought the best out of him. He was man of the match just as he was when Derbyshire won the Benson and Hedges Cup 16 years ago. Cork took seven for 43 on his Test debut at Lord's in 1995 and was man-of-the-match against the West Indies five years later when he took seven wickets in the match and made an unbeaten 33 in a tense two wickets win.

Cork will be 38 next month and is in his twentieth season of county cricket, but he has retained the enthusiasm of a teenager. He still drives opponents and their supporters to distraction with his pantomime posturing but Cork remains a great showman and fine competitor.

A winter move from Lancashire prompted some Hampshire players to nickname him ‘Clive Allen' after the much-travelled former England footballer, but Cork's arrival has given a developing side they experienced they lacked last season when Shuan Udal joined Middlesex.

"You keep going and you keep trying to put performances in," Cork said. "You have got to have a little bit of luck as a bowler but you run in every day and give it your best. Some days it doesn't go for you, but it for me today."

There were four players on duty in this game who have been named in England's 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy but Cork outshone them all including Ed Joyce who diverted a ball he was trying to leave onto his stumps.

Matt Prior survived a confident LBW appeal to Cork's next ball but edged the next, which ran away from him down the slope, to wicketkeeper Nic Pothas.

Cork then snared Chris Nash LBW pushing half forward and the collapse - four wickets for 13 in 41 balls - continued when Murray Goodwin ran himself out attempting a single off Dimitri Mascarenhas to Chris Tremlett at mid-off.

Yardy showed Sussex how to play on this pitch. He went 20 overs without a boundary at one stage yet kept the scoreboard ticking with a beautifully-compiled innings of clever accumulation.

But Sussex suffered from impetuosity. Luke Wright played on driving at Chris Tremlett and Dwayne Smith holed out to deep midwicket after he had lifted Sean Ervine over long off for the only six of the innings.

Yardy finally found an dependable ally in Rory Hamilton-Brown, the former England Under-19 captain, who picked his shots sensibly in a seventh wicket stand of 60 which steered Sussex towards respectability.

Cork returned to have Robin Martin-Jenkins taken at point but Yardy could not be dislodged, reaching the second highest one-day score of his career from 127 balls with seven fours.

Sussex needed early wickets if Yardy's efforts were going to be rewarded with victory, instead Adams and Lumb, who shared 150-plus opening partnerships in each of the previous two rounds, launched the chase with a flurry of boundaries.

Adams, who struck three fours in four balls from James Kirtley, took the lead, reaching his half century from 57 balls before he was pinned LBW playing back to Wright.

Lumb followed, caught behind driving at Wright and there were further hiccups for Hampshire when Michael Carberry top-edged a pull and Ervine holed out to deep square attempting to finish the job quickly.

There was no need to rush and Chris Benham and Pothas completed the formalities with an unbroken fifth 67 wicket stand of which clinched £150,00 in prize money, half of which will go to the players.

Hampshire's win capped a successful month's work for former England coach Duncan Fletcher in his consultancy role. Fletcher also won trophies in his first season in charge of Western Province and Glamorgan so he might claim to be the man with the Midas touch.

In this case Fletcher has arrived at an opportune time. The foundations for Hampshire's success were laid by Giles White who inherited a side apparently hurtling towards relegation when he was promoted from second team coach barely 12 months ago and who has since helped to galvanise them with his under-stated man-management style.

Justin Langer proud to have overtaken Don Bradman's runs record

Somerset captain Justin Langer admitted that he was proud to have overtaken Sir Donald Bradman as Australia's highest run-scorer in first-class cricket.

The former Test left-hander reached the landmark when he passed 95 in Somerset's County Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road.

"A lot of people have been reminding me since I came back," Langer said. "An Australian journalist told me that I needed 65 going into this match so I was focusing on that.

"We came off for rain on Wednesday when I was on 64 but then Peter Trego said I actually needed 95 so I had to start concentrating and focusing again.

"It's a nice milestone and I'm very proud of it. Not because I have passed Sir Donald bradman because he's in a league of his own in every single respect of the game of cricket.

"I met Sir Donald a couple of times. It was a great thrill. From an Australian point of view it's the same as meeting the Queen which I have had the honour of doing on a couple of occasions.

"In Australia he is the epitome of Australian cricket and since I was a little boy I have wanted to be the next Don Bradman. He has had a place in my heart since I started playing."

Langer received warm applause from the majority of the crowd when he reached his landmark which he acknowledged with a sheepish wave.

"I was surprised that people knew that was the record," he said. "Some of the guys were wondering why I got such a big ovation for getting to 95 so I was a bit embarrassed by the ovation to be frank."

The next landmark for Langer could be a century of first-class hundreds though he is uncertain how much longer he will continue playing.

"How much longer will I play? Hand on heart I'm not sure," he said, "There are lots of considerations about whether I will come back to Somerset next year particularly for my family.

"Umpire Mark Benson asked me out in the middle whether I had my sights on a hundred hundreds.

"It's always been an ambition of mine from a long time back. It was always 100 but at the moment it feels like being at the base of Mount Everest. Another 15 hundreds before this one seems a long way off so I have re-set it to 90, If I get 90 then we will have a look at it after that.

"It's hard in this game not to be driven by statistics to a point, hundreds for example. If you have a good day in cricket no one really will recognise that unless you get a hundred."