With the champions already crowned at Edgbaston, there was a spoonful of solace for those Somerset fans who had hoped the season’s final day would bring a title to Taunton at last. At a warm County Ground with Surrey fielding in sunhats, Tom Abell completed his first triple hundred, an epic of 30 fours, eight sixes, 402 balls and nearly nine hours of batting. He became the eighth Somerset cricketer to tuck one under his arm.
When Abell was finally out for 307, aiming for the rope, he was the second highest scorer in the 2026 summer with 1,287 runs – just one short of Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke. With a monster total of 731 under their belts, and a lead of 309, there was hope of a last-day win. And when Surrey lost four quick wickets, including Dom Sibley nudging to slip, it seemed possible, but Ben Foakes and Mahipal Lomror calmed the waters.
Wicketkeeper James Rew took off his gloves to send down the final over of the season, some lollipop slow left-arm. Handshakes and wistful smiles followed, Somerset bridesmaids for the seventh time this century. The support we get is fantastic and this is a wonderful place to play cricket.” At Old Trafford, bad light kept the ground staff busy.
Lancashire passed 300 for the first time since April and Josh Bohannon’s 190 not out was the club’s highest score of the season. Durham, runaway winners of Division Two, jumped in the coach home to prepare for a summer back with the big boys. For Lancashire, who finish 17th for the first time in their history, the winter’s aim is more prosaic: to rediscover their mojo.
Only 21 balls were possible at Sophia Gardens, struggling Essex safe barring a successful appeal by Leicestershire over their points deduction. And with that, the season slipped into sepia.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
