Beau Webster and Peter Handscomb went big as 11 Aussies were in action in the final County Championship round before the T20 break

Beau Webster (Gloucestershire)

76

 

6-100 (26) and 0-13 (2)

Potentially the most in-form Australian player celebrated his first home match for Gloucestershire with a career-best six-wicket haul before backing it up with an aggressive 76 from 79 balls in his side’s mammoth first innings score of 530. Had to sit and watch a 277-run partnership unfold for the fifth wicket as the next batter in, but Webster wasted little time after arriving at the crease, reaching a run-a-ball half-century with a towering six over midwicket into the carpark. His entertaining knock featured eight fours and three sixes, replicating the type of innings he’s become renowned for at Tasmania. It did little to help produce a result however, as rain on days two and four ruined the high-scoring contest.

Peter Handscomb (Leicestershire)

103

The Victorian continues to impress in 2024 with another superb hundred, his sixth score above 50 in his past seven innings. Handscomb has moved into the top 10 run-scorers in division two so far this season with 548 at 68.50 and is in excellent touch as he takes on the captaincy of the Foxes T20 side for the upcoming Blast season. Unfortunately, rain on day three led to an uninspiring draw against Glamorgan, meaning Leicester head into the T20 break with neither a win nor a loss from their first eight matches.

Nathan Lyon (Lancashire)

1-75 (34) and 1-33 (8)

A wicket in each innings for the Australian off-spinner who again bowled miserly across his 34 overs in the first innings (economy rate 2.20). The high-profile recruit has been Lancashire’s best bowler (20 wickets at 29.25) across a disappointing first eight rounds for the Red Roses, with their fragile batting line-up leaving them second bottom of the standings with just one win.

Marnus Labuschagne (Glamorgan)

8 and 31

 

0-10 (5)

A move back to his favoured No.3 position failed to pay immediate dividends for the prolific Australian who began his 2024 county campaign with a century last week opening the batting. Labuschagne was out bowled in both innings – shouldering arms in the first and then beaten by a ball that seamed back in the second. The Queenslander also sent down five overs of mediums in Leicester’s only innings, including an over with four consecutive bouncers to Ian Holland.

Michael Neser (Hampshire)

2-39 (8.3) and 0-16 (7)

 

3

The right-armer contributed two first-innings wickets in his first match of the campaign to help his new club Hampshire inflict reigning champions Surrey’s first defeat of the season. He then watched on for almost 150 overs before getting a chance to bat as his teammates amassed more than 600 runs, holing out at midwicket on three when he eventually did get a go. Spin dominated in the second innings as former England left-armer Liam Dawson and off-spinner Felix Organ took nine wickets between them as Hampshire romped to an innings and 278-run victory.

Wes Agar (Kent)

0-21 (7)

The South Australian went down with a shoulder injury in the opening session of the match which prevented him from taking any further part as Kent sunk to an innings and 96-run defeat. The club is yet to reveal the extent of Agar’s injury and what it means for his time in Canterbury this season. The right-armer was due to be available for another two County Championship fixtures and the group stages of the T20 Blast.

Cameron Bancroft (Gloucestershire)

9

There wasn’t to be a third straight hundred for the West Australian, misjudging a leave early on in Gloucestershire’s only innings of their high-scoring draw with Derbyshire. Bancroft was forced to watch on as skipper Graeme van Buuren (187) and James Bracey (144) put on 277 for the fifth wicket as the Bristol surface flattened out throughout the match. A vastly improved T20 batter, Bancroft heads into the Blast campaign in great touch with 506 runs at 56.22 under his belt across the opening eight rounds of the county season.

Marcus Harris (Leicestershire)

14

 

0-1 (0.3)

A quiet return for Harris in last appearance of the season for Leicester, pinned lbw by Glamorgan’s Pakistani quick Mir Hamza. Was handed the Dukes for what would prove the final three deliveries of the drawn fixture, taking his tally of balls bowled in first-class cricket to 99 – though still looking for a maiden wicket with his off-breaks – before rain had the final say on day four. The Victorian finishes his 2024 stint with 388 runs at 43.11, which included a top score of 214 against Derbyshire in April. “I had a couple of good games personally, a couple where I didn’t do as well as I would have liked to, but to be in a position of not having lost a game after the first two months is pretty good,” Harris said post-match.

Matthew Renshaw (Somerset)

5 and 6

Renshaw’s final game of his 2024 county stint was also an uneventful one, caught behind off Ben Stokes for five in the first innings before being bowled by Peter Siddle with a delivery that kept low in the second as Somerset suffered an innings defeat to Durham inside two days. The left-hander heads home to begin Queensland pre-season after amassing 414 runs at 37.63 in his eight games with three half-centuries.

Sean Abbott (Surrey)

2-81 (23)

 

10 and 0

A tough weekend for Abbott and his Surrey teammates as the two-time reigning division one champions were hammered around the Rose Bowl by Hampshire who racked up 6(dec)-608 from 161 overs. The Australian grabbed the wicket of Toby Albert (114) after a 201-run second-wicket partnership, and Liam Dawson (81) after a 183-run fifth-wicket stand.

Peter Siddle (Durham)

3-27 (10) and 1-15 (9)

 

31no

The veteran paceman teamed up with Ben Stokes (4-54) in the first innings to help roll Somerset for 171 before adding Matthew Renshaw in the second will a ball that shot under the Queenslander’s bat and cannoned into the off stump. In just his second game of the campaign as a replacement for Scott Boland, Siddle was at his pinpoint best as he conceded just 2.21 runs per over across his 19 for the match. His unbeaten 31 from 35 balls with four boundaries in a 10th wicket stand of 66 also ensured Durham didn’t have to bat again as they won by an innings and six runs after bowling Somerset out for 88 in the second innings.

2024 Division One County Championship standings

2024 Division Two County Championship standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Sussex SSX	7	3	1	3	0	2	20	19	109
2 Middlesex MSX	7	2	0	5	0	0	14	15	101
3 Leicestershire LEI	7	0	0	7	0	0	21	15	92
4 Gloucestershire GLO	7	1	1	4	1	0	20	14	90
5 Northamptonshire NOR	7	0	1	6	0	0	18	17	83
6 Glamorgan GLA	7	1	1	5	0	0	12	14	82
7 Yorkshire YRK	7	0	2	5	0	0	16	21	77
8 Derbyshire DBY	7	0	1	5	1	1	12	11	70

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points

Australians in the 2024 County Championship

Durham: Ben Dwarshuis, Ashton Turner (both T20s only)

Essex: Daniel Sams (T20s only)

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne

Gloucestershire: Cameron Bancroft, Beau Webster

Hampshire: Michael Neser, Ben McDermott (T20s only)

Kent: Wes Agar, Charlie Stobo, Xavier Bartlett (T20s only)

Lancashire: Nathan Lyon, Chris Green (T20s only)

Leicestershire: Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris

Northamptonshire: Chris Tremain (first four matches only), Ashton Agar (T20s only)

Somerset: Matthew Renshaw, Riley Meredith

Surrey: Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson (T20s only)

Sussex: Nathan McAndrew, Daniel Hughes