Cornwall crowned county cricket champions at Redruth

Three wins in a row, two of them by ten wickets, and Cornwall’s cricketers did not even need the final round of matches to get the job done. The county are champions of the National Counties Cricket Association’s (NCCA) Cluberly Western Division Two, and they are heading straight back into the top flight for next season.

Seven runs, five balls

At Redruth, Cornwall beat Cheshire by ten wickets to make the title all but certain. Cheshire were winkled out for 175 in their second innings by spinners Ellis Whiteford, who took four for 35, and Elliot Hooper, who added three for 40. Chasing just seven runs for victory, Cornwall sent in Ben Ellis and Ryan Tonkin, usually their numbers ten and eleven in the batting order, and the pair knocked off the runs in five balls.

It capped a strong match built on a first innings total of 347, with Alex Blake scoring 108, Will MacVicar 59 and Alfie MacDonald 58.

Confirmed at Whitchurch

The title itself was confirmed once news came through from Whitchurch, where Dorset went down by 41 runs to Shropshire. Dorset had looked capable of chasing down a stiff target of 375, a total which would have been both their record fourth innings score and their highest ever successful run chase.

A century on Championship debut from Ralph Dunne (102) and 87 from Jay Terry, playing his first National Counties match, took Dorset more than halfway there with a fourth wicket partnership of 148. Dorset still needed 111 when Dunne was given out lbw to Warwickshire’s Theo Wylie, a slow left armer. Mo Abbas fought on for a battling unbeaten half century before last man Henry Dunlop was run out, ending the match, and Cornwall’s wait.

Twelve months after the drop

The promotion is a swift reversal for Cornwall County Cricket Club, who were relegated just 12 months ago after being beaten by Devon in the only match in a rain ruined Western Division One to produce a positive result.

This season of Cornish cricket has told a different story. Cornwall beat Shropshire by nine wickets in their opening match, and the win over Cheshire was their third victory in a row, and their second by ten wickets. The title win means Cornwall will replace Herefordshire in the Cluberly Championship’s Western Division One next season.

Next stop Wimborne

Cornwall now head to Wimborne to face Dorset on Sunday with an unassailable lead at the top of the table.

Herefordshire’s relegation was confirmed with a round of matches still to play after they lost by 157 runs to Oxfordshire at Thame, a match they had controlled at the halfway stage. A career best 173 not out from contracted Sussex batter Harrison Ward allowed Oxfordshire to declare on 492 for nine, five short of their highest ever Championship total. Herefordshire were set 322 to win, and only Henry Hardinges, who followed his maiden century in the first innings with a composed 45, looked like standing between Oxfordshire and victory.