Report: Nottinghamshire vs Warwickshire, Rothesay County Championship

Day Three

Having been on the ropes overnight, three down for seven in their second innings and still 109 behind, a Warwickshire side with only a slim chance of improving on fourth place in the Division One table might have been been rolled over even more rapidly under a cloudy sky on the third morning.

Nottinghamshire had been eager to start their full-blown championship celebrations a day early after making sure of the title on Thursday.

As it was, Will Young was Warwickshire’s only casualty before lunch, falling into what looked like a trap laid by his former county as he clipped a ball from Mohammad Abbas straight into the hands of Lyndon James at square leg.

Zen Malik took four boundaries in a single over against Pennington but rode his luck at other times, edging the same bowler between second and third slips before surviving a difficult caught-and-bowled chance to James on 16. Warwickshire were 79 for four at the first break.

There seemed a case for tossing Liam Patterson-White the ball to add some variety to Warwickshire’s diet but the left-arm spinner remained stationed in the slip cordon as  Hameed kept faith with his seamers, justifiably as it turned out.

There was still something in the pitch, as Sam Hain discovered four overs into the afternoon, caught behind off a ball from James that  left him enough to take the edge. It felt like the key wicket for Nottinghamshire and one well deserved by all-rounder James for a consistently testing spell.

Yet it was Pennington who hastened Warwickshire’s demise in short order, taking three wickets in five balls in his 12th over of the innings.

He dismissed Malik leg before with a ball the batter could do little about and had Ed Barnard caught behind from a lifting delivery that took the glove before benefitting from some good fortune as Michael Booth looked to have kept out his first ball before it rolled into the stumps, as a consequence of which Warwickshire were eight down and still 12 behind.

They managed to get their noses narrowly in front before Hutton finished them off, still finding movement to pin Tazeem Ali leg before and bowl Nathan Gilchrist, who shouldered arms to a ball that swung away and then jagged back to bowl him – handing the stage to Slater and Hameed to finish the job.

Warwickshire head coach Ian Westwood said:

“I think up to the point the second new ball was taken yesterday, the team had been really competitive and was very much in this match. So the outcome was disappointing really, but I think it sort of mirrored the season in many ways.

“We did lots of things right, but we just weren’t able to win the big moments. And that always costs you at the back end.

“One big partnership in the first innings took the game away and once we got behind on what was quite a tricky pitch, it was difficult. We probably had the tough end of conditions in this match, but that’s no excuse. We need to be better in those moments and try and limit the damage. 

“We showed signs. I thought for the first two sessions yesterday, we were superb with the ball, and we put them under a lot of pressure, lots of plays and misses, and we just missed a couple of chances that would have really helped us.

“Notts are full of confidence, obviously. They’ve been crowned champions now, and that’s for a reason. They’ve been the best side this year,
and they just showed us where we need to improve and get to if we want that to be us.

“Warwickshire, we’re a proud club and we want to win things, and so any season that you don’t win anything is going to be a disappointment. We know we need to keep pushing and the players know that we need to keep getting better if we want days like this and we want to lift trophies.”

Day Two

Warwickshire battle with the ball on the second day at Trent Bridge.

Warwickshire 258 and 7-3 trail Nottinghamshire 374 by 109 runs

Led impressively from the front by captain Haseeb Hameed’s fourth century of the season, Nottinghamshire clinched the 2025 Rothesay County Championship on day two of the final round of fixtures, the Division One leaders putting themselves out of reach of defending champions Surrey as they totalled 374 in reply to Warwickshire’s 258.

Needing just two more points at the start of play to deny Surrey a fourth consecutive title, Nottinghamshire achieved that goal at six minutes before five o’clock as Kyle Verreynne, their South Africa international wicketkeeper, pulled seamer Nathan Gilchrist high over the deep midwicket boundary for six, taking their first-innings total past 300 to secure a second batting bonus point.

Verreynne, who also hit the winning runs as South Africa beat Australia at Lord’s to be crowned World Test champions in June, raised both arms in the air before embracing batting partner Liam Patterson-White as a Trent Bridge crowd that had grown considerably since lunch rose to their feet. 

He went on to make 83, with Patterson-White hitting 70 as the two shared a decisive seventh-wicket partnership of 119. Ethan Bamber, Ed Barnard and Gilchrist took three wickets each but at seven for three in their second innings, trailing by 109 runs, Warwickshire, who had their sights on overtaking Somerset to take third place in the table, are in deep trouble.

It is Nottinghamshire’s seventh County Championship in all and their first since 2010, one that was effectively won a week ago when victory over Surrey at the Kia Oval made them short-priced favourites to take the crown.

Head coach Peter Moores, for many years the only coach to win the title with two counties until Mark Robinson, twice a winner with Sussex, equalled the feat in 2021 with Warwickshire, now stands alone in winning championships with three counties, having previously done so with Sussex and Lancashire.

Yet for all that it was Verreynne, who hit four sixes, and Patterson-White, who struck 11 fours, who grabbed the glory, it was Hameed who made it possible.

The 28-year-old sometime England opener’s 122 laid the foundations and took his season aggregate to 1,253 runs in first-class matches, the highest of his career. This is the third time in four seasons he has exceeded 1,000 runs.

Earlier in the day, he and Ben Slater had put on 56 for the first wicket as Nottinghamshire, who had claimed the final Warwickshire wicket with the last ball of the opening day, came through a difficult morning session at 100 for two. 

Slater, caught behind as Michael Booth found some extra bounce from the Radcliffe Road End, and Freddie McCann, who lost his middle stump to Bamber, were the two morning casualties. 

It would have been 78 for three had Hameed not been put down by Rob Yates at second slip on 45. As it was, as conditions for batting became a little easier after lunch, Hameed and Joe Clarke (52) added 122 in 32 overs for the third wicket. 

Two dismissals in three balls then jolted their progress. Clarke, reaching for a delivery outside off stump, feathered a catch to Alex Davies off Bamber, before Jack Haynes, confident he had let his second ball go past the bat, looked up to find Warwickshire’s appeals for a thin edge to the ‘keeper had been granted.

Haynes was the third of six victims in the innings for Davies, a total in a single innings bettered by only two other ‘keepers in Warwickshire’s history. 

If that was not a reminder to Nottinghamshire supporters to take nothing for granted, then the sight of Hameed completing his fourth hundred of the season flat on his stomach surely must have been. 

Confident there was a single on as he clipped Bamber towards midwicket, the captain was startled to see Tazeem Ali swooping to field and even his full-length dive might not have saved him had the teenager’s shy hit. As it was, Warwickshire ran out neither Hameed nor new partner Verreynne, who would have been out by a distance without scoring had the throw gone to the ‘keeper’s end.

Hameed – dropped at slip in the previous over – was bowled middle stump by Nathan Gilchrist on the stroke of tea, leaving them 218 for five. The ovation from the spectators was fully deserved. The season has seen him make a double-hundred twice and carry his bat through the innings twice.

Warwickshire’s seamers were rewarded again half an hour into the final session as Lyndon James edged Barnard to give Davies a fourth catch. Nottinghamshire, now six down, still needed another 52 for 300 and with the second new ball soon to become available. 

It might have been a moment of jeopardy, yet any sense of that quickly disappeared. Verreynne and Patterson-White had clearly decided on a glorious finale and it was Gilchrist who felt the full force of it.

His first over with the new ball went for 17 after Patterson-White had begun it with three glorious shots for four, his second for 15 as Verreynne took centre stage. 

It was the cue for the seventh-wicket due to really let rip, stretching their partnership to 100 in precisely 100 balls and 119 from 120 before Verreynne, who hit nine fours and four sixes, became a fifth victim for Davies behind the stumps, a ball from Barnard glancing the bat as the South African tried to pull it clear.

Back for another spell after his chastening experience earlier, Gilchrist then obtained the smallest modicum of revenge by bowling Patterson-White, Barnard picked up his third wicket by bowling Brett Hutton. 

Gilchrist was the bowler as Mohammad Abbas nicked to Davies, leaving Warwickshire, 116 behind, to face four overs before the close, in which they lost both Yates and Davies leg before to Abbas as the Pakistan international delivered a final flourish to Nottinghamshire’s day, Hutton getting in on the act by having nightwatcher Bamber caught at second slip.

Warwickshire’s Nathan Gilchrist said:

“It was a strange feeling being out there when every single is being applauded like it’s a boundary. You’re not being spectators, but you know you’re not the story at that point. To be honest, I didn’t know they needed 300, so I thought it was strange that everyone was clapping every single.

“We were just bystanders for a period there, but congratulations to Notts, they’ve been good all year. I’ve got a few mates in the Notts side, so I’m glad for them. They definitely deserve it.

“I was happy with how I bowled. Obviously, the second new ball, they came out with a bit of intent to score and that happens.

“For me, coming here to finish the season here  has been really good. Getting to know everyone on a personal level going into next year, it really does make a big difference. They’ve welcomed me really, really well. So it’s been awesome so far.”

Day One

Dan Mousley struck 74 as Warwickshire were bowled out for 258, leaving Nottinghamshire within 300 runs of securing the Rothesay County Championship crown after day one at Trent Bridge.

Needing to secure a maximum of 10 points from the final round of matches to lift the title for the first time since 2010 after their victory over holders Surrey last week, Nottinghamshire fulfilled their first requirement by taking all three bowling bonus points, led by Brett Hutton’s four for 46 and Mohammad Abbas’s three for 33.

And Surrey’s failure to take any of the five batting bonus points potentially up for grabs in their match against Hampshire at Southampton means they require just two more in this match to be certain of becoming champions. 

Put simply, if they can muster anything above 300 with the bat within 110 overs in their first innings, the title will be theirs even if they lose this match and Surrey win theirs.

They might have been on the field in pursuit of those runs already if Dan Mousley had not defied difficult batting conditions by scoring 74 after driving Warwickshire’s recovery from 127 for five.

Mousley shared a 117-run sixth-wicket partnership with Ed Barnard, who exactly matched Will Young earlier in making 48 from 104 deliveries. Warwickshire, who began the day in fourth place, are keen at least to overtake Somerset and finish third.

After choosing not to bat first, Nottinghamshire presumably would have hoped to send Warwickshire to lunch in a more precarious position than 70 for one. As it was, in an opening session limited to 25 overs after a wholly unforecast stoppage for rain, the visitors lost only Alex Davies, who was leg before to the 10th ball of the match as Hutton found some early movement through the air.

Not that it was for want of trying by the Nottinghamshire attack. Abbas, returning from a minor back issue, bowled seven overs that on another day might have generated two or three wickets. Young and Rob Yates played and missed several times and edged other deliveries past the slips. Both executed some good shots, to be fair to them.

More rain delayed the afternoon session by 50 minutes. It began with another early wicket, Yates well held at second slip by Freddie McCann in Abbas’s second over.  

Abbas has taken the place vacated by Josh Tongue, ordered to rest up by England after his match-winning performance against Surrey last week, which illustrates the depth of Nottinghamshire’s bowling resources. Their other centrally-contracted fast bowler, Olly Stone, though he missed the first tranche of matches through injury, will complete the season having not appeared in the Championship side.

Though the sky cleared, batting remained a challenge, although patience and some nifty footwork appeared to be paying off for Young. Having saved himself on 35, managing to kick the ball away a delivery from Dillon Pennington squirmed under his bat towards the stumps, he was nearing a half-century against his former county. 

But then he unexpectedly wafted at a ball from Hutton outside off stump and paid the price. With Surrey already dismissed by Hampshire for just 147, a first bowling point for Nottinghamshire was enthusiastically applauded by the home crowd, fully aware that the requirement to take the title was already down to just four more points.

Two more wickets before tea reduced Warwickshire to 127 for five. Sam Hain, pushing forward, and Zen Malik were caught behind in consecutive overs, the latter off a ball from Lyndon James that moved late to find the edge of his defensive bat. 

The middle session thus belonged to Nottinghamshire, yet Mousley and Barnard resisted and then fought back in the final session, Mousley becoming more confident and aggressive as the partnership grew, accelerating to a half-century from 62 balls, which he celebrated by going down the pitch to hit James back over his head for six.

In the final half-hour, though, the pendulum swung back to Nottinghamshire, left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White claiming the second bowling point with a caught-and-bowled to remove Barnard before Abbas, bowling fast and straight with second new ball in hand, dismissed Michael Booth and Ethan Bamber in consecutive deliveries.

Hutton wrapped things up by bowling Tazeem Ali before Mousley holed out to long off, leaving Nottinghamshire within touching distance of the prize.