After a five-week break during the peak summer-holiday period to accommodate The Hundred, cricket fans were able to re-engage with the Rothesay County Championship as it built up to its climax, with the first of three rounds in September. If the ECB’s brainchild can be said to have any virtues, it is that it creates vacancies in county squads that enable up-and-coming cricketers to be given their chance in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup. So this round featured five first-class debutants, all of whom had seized their opportunities over the previous month in 50-over cricket.

League leaders and champions Surrey took a nine-point lead into their game against Warwickshire at The Oval. A quickfire 72 not out was the highlight of the hosts’ innings of 246, after they were put in to bat. On-loan Nathan Gilchrist took three for 51. New overseas signing Will Young made 72 in the away side’s reply of 248. Only 21.1 overs were possible on the third day, which left Rory Burns pondering when to declare as his side went into the final day on 276 for two. As it happened, he batted on for 19 overs until Dom Sibley could complete his fourth century (103 not out) of a prolific season, declaring on 391 for eight. But the weather intervened and Warwickshire secured a draw, finishing on 105 for one.

Nottinghamshire travelled down to New Road and put Worcestershire in to bat. Nineteen-year-old Daniel Lategan was one of the players who had made the most of playing in the 50-over game, where he averaged 63.50 in his five appearances, but on his first-class debut he scored just 4 as the hosts were bowled out for only 182, Dillon Pennington taking four for 50. The away side replied with 207, with Tom Taylor picking up four for 70. Lyndon James (five for 35) and Josh Tongue (four for 52) swept through the Worcestershire line-up in the second innings, bowling them out for 160, leaving the visitors to chase 136. From 50 for one, they lost six wickets for 64 runs to make hard work of it, but James and Tongue saw them home by three wickets. The win meant the gap at the top was down to just a point, with Nottinghamshire due to travel to The Oval next week for what is potentially a title decider.

At Taunton, the weather played a large part in ensuring the match against Yorkshire ended as a draw. The home side was asked to bat first, and didn’t declare until the third day, by which time they had made 441 for six. Tom Abell top-scored with 130. So it wasn’t until the final day that Yorkshire’s new overseas recruit, Mayank Agarwal, got his chance to bat – only to be dismissed first ball. The rest of Yorkshire’s batting didn’t do much better (though Jordan Thompson smashed a 48-ball 57) and the game finished with them on 134 for nine. 

Relegation-threatened Durham journeyed down to Chelmsford and decided to bat first. Ben McKinney made the most of the opportunity, scoring 121, but his side were all out for 333, with Essex’s overseas recruit Doug Bracewell taking three for 70. Dean Elgar made his first century of the summer (150) and Mark Critchley made his third (129) as the hosts piled on the runs in reply. They declared after the third day on 457 for eight and reduced Durham to 96 for seven before Ben Raine and Matthew Potts put on an unbeaten 77 in 75 minutes to secure a draw. Durham remain six points adrift of Hampshire, nine behind Yorkshire and 12 behind Sussex.

The south coast derby at Hove was set up nicely before the third day was washed out. Sussex chose to field first and dismissed Hampshire for 226, with new signing Bjorn Fortuin making 15 and former Sussex star Ben Brown top-scoring with 71. In reply, Sussex folded to 122 all out, Fortuin taking four for 30 while Kyle Abbott picked up four for 38. Jaydev Unadkat (four for 50) and James Coles (four for 47) ensured the away side could muster only 173 in their second innings, leaving Sussex to chase 278. Only 21 overs were completed on the final day, by which time Sussex had reached 84 for three.

Meanwhile in the Second Division, Leicestershire welcomed Gloucestershire to Grace Road. The visitors chose to bat first, and Graeme van Buuren scored 101, while four other batters made fifties before they were all out for 482. In reply, Shan Masood (on his first-class debut for the county) led the way with a score of 111, while new recruit Stephen Eskinazi made 34. Despite that, they only narrowly avoided having to follow on when they were all out for 342, Matt Taylor taking five for 70. The away side raced to 175 for three declared off only 27 overs, but the weather meant Leicestershire finished on 93 for one, the draw confirming that they would be promoted back to the top division after 22 years.

Second-placed Glamorgan travelled to Northampton and batted first, with in-form Jersey star Asa Tribe scoring a career-best 206, before his side was bowled out for 467. The Northants attack featured two bowlers who’d made their senior debuts in the Metro Bank tournament: 17-year-old off-spinner Nirvan Ramesh took three for 42 on his first-class debut, while left-arm paceman Benjamin Whitehouse went wicketless on his debut. Saif Zaib continued his superb season, making his sixth century of the summer (145) only falling when he was run out. The hosts declared at the end of the third day on 413 for nine, Mason Crane finishing with five for 126. Glamorgan batted out the final day, scoring 241 for seven, and Whitehouse took his first wicket (Timm van der Gugten).

Derbyshire chose to bat first at Lord’s and made 283 all out, with Toby Roland-Jones taking six for 77. Eighteen-year-old Sebastian Morgan made his first-class debut but did not take a wicket. Skipper Leus du Plooy scored 105, but Middlesex were still bowled out for 298, giving them a narrow first-innings lead. Rory Haydon’s first victim on his first-class debut was Joshua de Caires, and he finished with two for 54. Derbyshire then scored 153 for four as the game petered out into a draw. They are in third place, 27 points adrift of Glamorgan.

Finally, there was another evenly matched first innings at Canterbury where Kent batted first and scored 293, Mitchell Stanley picking up five for 80 in just his second first-class game. Lancashire replied with a total of 284, Matt Quinn and Matt Parkinson each taking four wickets. Ekansh Singh’s career-best 60 was one highlight of Kent’s second-innings total of 293, while Stanley went one better than in the first innings, taking six for 100 to give him match figures of 11 for 180. Chasing 303, Lancashire had reached 138 for three when the game ended as another draw.