County cricket 2018 awards: the Spin’s final word on the season

And so, with a last splendid hurrah, the doors have closed on another county season. To celebrate those fleeting months, the Spin has delved into the wardrobe and come up with some awards, though she’s unsure if she’ll be able to present them as she’s very busy in a meeting a few hundred yards away at the other side of the ground.

The Stuart Surridge award for team of the season Surrey, for their unrelenting brilliance and the determination to play cricket in the right way – undefeated all summer till the death or glory battle against Essex. Also for their decision to give Alec Stewart and Gareth Townsend at the academy time to bring young players through the ranks – this year they reaped the rewards.

The Mark Ramprakash award for player of the season Rory Burns, for his gallons of runs for Surrey – the leading run-scorer in either division – his outstanding leadership and his phlegmatic shrugs towards the England selectors. He did finally get his golden ticket, at the close of the season, when clamour burst through Ed Smith’s door and demanded his name on the teamsheet for Sri Lanka.

The Spin-doctors award for overdoing the scarification Somerset, whose ill-judged dust-bowl for the game against Lancashire risked the ire of the pitch inspectors and nearly caused Paul Allott to combust spontaneously.

The sprung-from-a-lovely-old-ground award The Worcestershire trio of talented all-rounder Ed Barnard, Dillon Pennington, the 19-year-old who put the wind up Surrey on their way to winning the Championship at New Road, and Pat Brown, hero of T20 Finals day.

The Ted Dexter worst timing award Surrey, for awarding four first XI and three second XI county caps at lunchtime on the first day of their last match at the Oval, after their worst morning of the entire season, with the score 57 for seven.

The Olly Stone award for catastrophic ill fortune Somerset’s Jack Leach, who broke his thumb after being hit on the hand with a ball from a dog thrower in the Somerset nets just before the naming of the England Test squad to play Pakistan, and then, in his comeback match at Guildford, was hit on the head and concussed by a snorter from Morne Morkel.

The Doug Wright award for hat-trick of the year There were four contenders: two in Somerset’s final game – by Tom Abell and Craig Overton, Kyle Abbott’s for Hampshire against Worcestershire; and the winner – Jordan Clark – for his top-class Yorkshire trio of Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow. It was the first hat-trick for a Lancastrian in a Roses game since Ken Higgs in 1968 at Headingley. Lancashire lost that game 50 years ago and, sure enough, they lost this one too.

The CMJ award for coverage of county cricket Kevin Howells of BBC radio and his team of experts for their depth of knowledge and never-ending enthusiasm, even on the dampest of days.

The 2005 award for best game of the season A draw between The Tie! at Taunton when Jack Leach and Keshav Maharaj took 23 wickets between them, and the end-of-season thriller at the Oval between the new champions and the outgoing champions, where Surrey conceded a first–innings deficit of 410 to Essex, but still came within a single wicket of victory.

The Kevin Pietersen award for a temporary truce Yorkshire CCC and Adil Rashid, who managed to put their heads together and agree a new one-year contract after rumbling recriminations surrounding his call-up for England Test duty after declining to play red‑ball cricket for Yorkshire.

The Marcus Trescothick award for long service Darren Stevens, 42 and counting, continued to rip through the Division Two batting lineups (42 wickets at 19.02) as well as wallop a couple of fifties. He signed another one-year contract at the end of the season, and Kent’s promotion means he will pass his 44th summer back in Division One.

The Scott Boswell can’t bear to watch award Poor Haseeb Hameed, who after suffering repeated broken fingers in 2017, hit a cataclysmic loss of form for Lancashire and at one point mid‑season seemed to have forgotten completely the whereabouts of his stumps. He’ll come again, roll on 2019.

The Malcolm Marshall award for best overseas signing Morne Morkel, pure class and Surrey’s not-so-secret weapon: when he cranked it up, he was unplayable.

The Lance Klusener award for what might have been Dom Bess – for his rush of blood at Taunton against Lancashire, bowled going for an almighty heave with the scores level.

The Brian Close award for toughing it out Paul Collingwood, a one-club man with the north-east etched into his heart, who stuck by Durham through 23 seasons of thick and thin. If his skills had started to desert him in this final season, his stubbornness hadn’t. Asked what he’d change about cricket, he replied: “Nothing. I can never understand why people are always trying to tinker with the game. Why would you? It’s stood the test of time.”

The Allen Stanford award for style over substance The Hundred.

Winter work

For Glamorgan, bottom of Division Two, the gloves are off in the shape of an external review. Lancashire, whose batting collapses are the reason they slipped to Division Two and Kent, who got promoted despite repeated first-innings batting failures, will need to strengthen their top orders. Warwickshire and Durham have to survive next season without the wisdom of Jonathan Trott and Paul Collingwood – though Durham gain Ben Raine.

Nottinghamshire, who stayed up in Division One by virtue of winning just one more game, have been raiding extensively from their neighbours, Zak Chappell joins from Leicestershire, Joe Clarke from a young and talented Worcestershire, Ben Duckett from Northants and Ben Slater from Derbyshire. Surrey, assuming that Ollie Pope and Rory Burns will both be busy with England, have tempted Jordan Clark down from Lancashire. Their production line will surely chug onwards. Stuart Law joins Middlesex as coach, which will spice things up a bit. All at Lord’s are hoping that Toby Roland-Jones can continue to recover from that stress-fracture.

Andrew Gale rubbished rumours of a divided dressing room at Headingley and, having flirted with relegation, Yorkshire eventually finished fourth. They lost Jack Brooks to Somerset, (where Marcus Trescothick has signed for one more year) and failed to tempt Clarke or Duckett, suggesting there’s not much cash to flash. However the old place will be transformed for the start of the World Cup next summer, with the new North Stand, shared with Leeds Rhinos, rising fast. Hampshire gain Keith Barker from Warwickshire and hope that Mason Crane too recovers from his stress fracture. His bowling partner Chris Wright joins Leicestershire, who have signed up Pakistan bowler Mohammad Abbas for another year.