Essex claimed their second win of the Vitality County Championship season with a comprehensive victory by an innings and 124 runs inside three days over Lancashire.

Lancashire capitulated in less than 42 overs for the second time and it was Jamie Porter who picked up the first of nine wickets to fall in the session – finishing with three for 24, while Shane Snater got in on the act with three for 17.

Lancashire had started day three on 10 for one, requiring another 221 runs to make the hosts bat again but lost five wickets in the first hour and did not recover, with the game wrapped up in extra time before the scheduled lunch interval.

Durham earned their first victory of the season after defeating Worcestershire by 185 runs on day three in the battle of last season’s two promoted sides.

Worcestershire’s chances of chasing down a mammoth 458 was dented by Paul Coughlin, who picked up three wickets in quick succession to curtail any chances of the opposition doing the unthinkable.

Matthew Potts also picked up a couple of wickets and with half the side back in the hutch for just 121 in only 28 overs, the contest was all but over and despite some late resistance from Nathan Smith and Matthew Waite, it was not enough to stop them from falling to defeat.

Fletcha Middleton claimed his maiden County Championship century but it may only count for a draw as Hampshire and Warwickshire head into day four.

Middleton reached 116 as he put on 213 runs for the second wicket alongside Nick Gubbins who also passed his century in a stunning partnership between the two.

Hampshire looked set for a huge score but a mid-afternoon collapse saw them lose five wickets for just 45, giving Warwickshire a 90-run first-innings lead.

Rob Yates and opening partner Alex Davies reached 46 without loss by close – a lead of 136.

Champions Surrey need five wickets on the final day to claim their first win of the season over Kent at Canterbury.

They reduced the hosts to 120 for five in their second innings, with Dan Worrall impressing by taking three for 18, after Surrey declared on 543 for seven.

Matt Parkinson took five wickets for Kent as Surrey earned a first-innings lead of 299, with Dom Sibley scoring 150, Dan Lawrence 112 and Jamie Smith contributing 58.

Joe Clarke and Will Young shared a record Nottinghamshire stand of 370 to lead Somerset by 157 runs.

Clarke hit an undefeated 209, while Young contributed 156 not out to break a 121-year-old Nottinghamshire record.

In Division Two, Leus Du Plooy and Ryan Higgins steered Middlesex to a six-wicket victory against Yorkshire at Lord’s.

The pair shared a match-winning stand of 59 just when the hosts were wobbling at 77 for three chasing 158 and Du Plooy fell eight short of 50 with victory in sight, but Higgins remained 33 not out when Stephen Eskinazi made the winning runs.

Ollie Robinson took two wickets in three balls as Sussex look to close victory against Gloucestershire.

After bowling 27 wicketless overs in the match, Robinson was finally rewarded when he dismissed Cameron Bancroft and James Bracey as Gloucestershire fell to 27 for four before slightly improving to 81 for six, leading by just 19 runs.

Jayden Seales had taken two wickets in his first two overs after Gloucestershire entered their second innings trailing by 62 after dismissing Sussex for 479.

Karun Nair’s unbeaten double hundred put Northamptonshire in a strong position in their match against Glamorgan.

He scored 202 not out from 253 balls, propping up a commanding total of 605 for six declared, and shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 212 with Saif Zaib, who scored a century.

Glamorgan go into day four trailing by 230 runs with seven wickets remaining.

Wayne Madsen rescued Derbyshire from the threat of a three-day defeat as they trail Leicestershire by 183 runs with four wickets remaining.

Derbyshire were made to follow on 407 runs behind and Madsen blocked the visitors’ push for victory with an unbeaten 59 from 114 to finish 224 for six at stumps.

England captain Heather Knight insists counties feeling upset by their failure to land a new ‘tier one’ women’s team represents “progress” for the female game, while the England and Wales Cricket Board have made it clear a disappointed Yorkshire have not been “punished for past sins”.

The move away from the current regional setup to a fully professionalised top flight from 2025, aligning with first-class counties in the process, is a major step forward for women’s cricket but not everyone has made the initial cut.

Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire were all successful, but eight other proposals were not. Yorkshire have been approved alongside Glamorgan to be elevated in 2027 and a further expansion to 12 teams is planned.

Yet that delay represents the latest setback for a proud cricketing county after several years mired by the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal and financial pressures which saw them reappoint the divisive Colin Graves as chair earlier this year.

However, ECB chief executive Richard Gould made it clear there was no sense of re-litigating those issues in a process that was focused entirely on elevating women’s cricket to fresh heights.

“It’s certainly not (about) being punished for past sins, that’s not our role. Our role is to promote the game, not punish,” he said at the launch of a new national tape ball competition, aimed at further broadening the sport’s appeal.

“It will be disappointing for those venues that either haven’t been selected for tier one at this point or who have been, but perhaps not quite as quickly as they expected.

“There will be individual circumstances but I don’t think anybody should see this as anything other than a positive for the women’s game – we’ve had 16 counties bidding so strongly to host professional women’s cricket.

“We were so relieved by the amount of focus, attention and frankly, love, that was being put into the women’s game in those bids.”

Knight, meanwhile, sees the intensity of the bidding process – and the level of frustration at those who were not approved – as a positive sign given a a relative lack of enthusiasm for female teams earlier in her career.

“It sounds like there’s some counties disappointed which is a shame but also pretty cool,” she said.

“When I was playing a long time ago, a lot of counties weren’t interested. So that disappointment is a sign of the progress that has been made.

“The regional structure has been super successful in professionalising the game and this is the next logical step.

“It has been a problem with regions, mine (Western Storm) has three different counties, and sometimes you feel you don’t have a home or a bit all over the place with facilities, not getting the same equal access as the guys do. Hopefully that will change with this coming in and counties will be accountable. That’s the whole idea: one club, two teams.”

Yorkshire, who have hosted the Northern Diamonds and can now expect their top players to head elsewhere in search of the best – and best-paid – cricket opportunities, had earlier tabled their own statement.

“Yorkshire County Cricket Club are surprised and disappointed not to be awarded one of the initial Tier 1 women’s teams,” it read.

“The news is especially frustrating and upsetting for the players and staff at the Northern Diamonds. Our focus is on supporting them through this difficult period and gaining as much clarity on what the future looks like.”

Simon Phillip, speaking as chair of a Kent side who have hosted the South East Stars in recent seasons, was similarly aggrieved.

“As the most successful county team in the history of Women’s Cricket, offering the only dedicated women’s performance centre at Beckenham and based in a highly diverse south-east London population of 1.2 million people, the decision is difficult to swallow,” he said.

“Whilst this decision will take some getting over, we remain committed to women’s and girls’ cricket and are determined to not let it hamper our long-term ambitions.”

Leicestershire were also vocal about their feelings on missing the boat, claiming “a missed opportunity by the ECB” and saying the club was “crestfallen” not be included.

Essex chair Anu Mohindru insists maintaining anonymity was behind the decision not to name individuals sanctioned over an independent review which found players at the club had been subjected to racist abuse.

A report by Katharine Newton KC published last December found reference to players’ ethnic, racial and religious origins was “entirely normalised and tolerated behaviour” within the dressing-room culture between the mid-1990s until around 2013, under the misguided belief that it was acceptable ‘banter’.

Newton was commissioned to carry out the report in 2021 after allegations of discrimination were made by former Essex players Jahid Ahmed, Maurice Chambers and Zoheb Sharif.

The club revealed on Wednesday that sanctions have now been issued, but have not confirmed who has been sanctioned, how many individuals are involved and what the nature of those sanctions are.

Mohindru told the PA news agency: “I am not going to give a number because it’s about jigsaw identification.

“Everyone who has been implicated and had an adverse finding in the report has been sanctioned in some way.

“When the report came out we gave it to the independent panel, who then had nothing off the table for them at that stage. They could decide what was appropriate from bans, to losing membership to bans from the ground.

“That was then sent back to the board and everybody had an opportunity to make representation with regards to mitigating circumstances or anything we thought the board should take into consideration.

“The board then took the starting point that the panel had thought or the range, took mitigation into place and then we imposed the sanction.

“Each person has been told individually. We haven’t told anybody what anybody else has got and so forth like that. And that’s keeping in line with the anonymity we wanted to keep throughout this.

“It is not a matter of us trying to shut shop, but with regards to the Katharine report, we were very clear in our mind we needed to follow the anonymity that stemmed from the start.”

Mohindru refused to reveal if any of the individuals sanctioned were still working for Essex, but said the England and Wales Cricket Board had been told about all those sanctioned and what those sanctions were.

“I can’t tell you that because again, I can’t confirm or deny that. All I can say is anybody that has been in the report has been sanctioned and there has been an array of sanctions that have been put forward,” Mohindru said when questioned if any of the sanctioned individuals were still at Essex.

“I absolutely understand (criticism) but I need to also keep an eye on people’s welfare and the process we’ve followed from the start. We had to follow legal advice, which we have done all the way through and I think we were in a catch 22.

“If we had revealed it, I am sure we would have been criticised for that and by not revealing it, we’ll be criticised for that, but what I can say is it has been a very strong process.

“The independent panel are an experienced panel that are used to dealing with regulatory as well as sanctions so they would know what would be appropriate. It is my day job as well so I know how to deal with it.

“It is a matter of this board had nothing to do with anything that happened before and it is an independent board that was pretty much elected after all of this started, so we’ve tried to be as fair as possible all across the board in every way. That’s been robust sanctions as well as being fair to the individuals.”

Newton said in her report conclusions that those on the receiving end of discriminatory treatment “were too scared to speak up for fear of damaging their prospects of selection and progression”.

“In any event, there were no effective mechanisms for raising such concerns,” she added.

Her report also found a lack of understanding of the needs of Muslim players at Essex.

Newton also found that the club’s former chairman, John Faragher, used racist language during a board meeting in 2017 and that the club failed to properly investigate a complaint about the language used.

Newton said in the summary report that she had upheld “a number” of complaints of racially discriminatory conduct, and that the perpetrators were named in the full report she sent to Essex.

Newton said one of the players was given the nickname ‘bomber’ following the September 11 terrorist attacks. She also found that the phrase ‘curry muncher’ was “commonly used” in the dressing room to describe individuals of South Asian heritage.

Ahmed, who has been contacted for comment, has previously told PA the term “curry muncher” was directed towards him during his time at the club.

The ECB has not commented on the sanctions. The Cricket Regulator is continuing its own investigation into what happened at Essex, but Mohindru is unsure when it will conclude.

Surrey have retained their LV= Insurance County Championship title as Essex’s slim hopes ended after their batters collapsed in a heap against Northamptonshire.

A 20-point gap between the top two Division One teams heading into the final round meant Surrey needed just five points in their fixture against Hampshire to celebrate a 21st championship triumph.

They secured three bowling bonus points at the Ageas Bowl but none with the bat, which opened the door for Essex, who needed to amass a 400-plus score in 110 overs to have any chance of catching Surrey.

But Essex were unable to claim the maximum amount of batting bonus points as they capitulated to 211 all out on Thursday morning, with last man Jamie Porter bowled by Tom Taylor to crown Surrey champions.

Surrey, who have won the championship five times since the turn of the century, became the first side since Yorkshire in 2014 and 2015 to claim back-to-back titles.

Adam Rossington’s century and an unbeaten 83 from Matt Critchley rescued Essex after a false start to their crunch LV= Insurance County Championship clash against Hampshire.

If Essex lose their penultimate game this week, Surrey can retain their Division One crown by beating Northamptonshire and Tom Westley’s side lurched to 132 for five after winning the toss at Chelmsford.

But Rossington, who was averaging 18.8 with the bat this season when he strode to the crease, thumped 10 fours and two sixes, contributing 104 to an important 177-run stand with all-rounder Critchley.

Rossington edged a big swipe late on at Mohammad Abbas, who had earlier castled Sir Alastair Cook for a three-ball duck, but the wicketkeeper’s Essex-best helped his side collect two batting bonus points.

Surrey also scooped a couple of points thanks to their bowlers, chiefly Tom Lawes, who took three for 24 as Northamptonshire slid from 106 for two to 171 for six on a rain-shortened day at the Kia Oval.

There were also wickets for Jordan Clark, Daniel Worrall and Jamie Overton, who gave Surrey a scare after leaving the field in his third over feeling his hip before returning to snare Saif Zaib.

Former India batter Karun Nair went to stumps unbeaten on 51 after Northamptonshire were invited to bat first on a day where only 63.4 overs were possible.

There were four fewer deliveries but a lot more action at Lord’s, where Oliver Hannon-Dalby’s five-wicket haul restricted struggling Middlesex to a paltry 121 before Warwickshire closed on 72 for four.

Middlesex started the day two points above second-bottom Kent and after their batters were put in and floundered in bowler-friendly conditions, the outgoing Tim Murtagh dragged them back into the contest.

The 42-year-old seamer, playing at the home of cricket for the last time prior to his retirement from professional cricket at the end of the season, took three for 17 as Middlesex took one bowling point.

Kent are bidding to move out of the relegation places this week but despite winning the toss, Tom Lammonby’s 109 – his first hundred of the season – put Somerset on top on 214 for two after 53.2 overs.

Arafat Bhuiyan was the only frontline Kent bowler to take a wicket on the opening day while part-timer Daniel Bell-Drummond atoned for dropping Lammonby on 76 by having the opener caught behind at Taunton.

The inclement weather ruined any prospect of play between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire at Emirates Old Trafford while all three Division Two fixtures were heavily impacted by rain.

Sussex, a day on from their 12-point deduction from the England and Wales Cricket Board that has almost certainly ended their promotion hopes, did not get on to the field at Derbyshire.

Leicestershire, fresh from their Metro Bank One-Day Cup victory at the weekend, need a win to stay in the hunt for a top-two finish and with it a place in Division One next year.

They reduced Yorkshire to 155 for nine after bowling first at Grace Road, where Will Davis finished with four for 28 while Finlay Bean top-scored with 40 to go past 1,000 runs for the season.

Second-placed Worcestershire, who began the day 21 points ahead of Leicestershire, reached 104 for one against already-promoted Durham at New Road.

Sir Alastair Cook struck his 74th first-class century as Essex took advantage of perfect batting conditions in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Somerset.

Former England captain Cook converted to three figures in 210 balls before reaching 128 as Essex racked up 360 for four on the opening day with Matt Critchley adding a sublime 119.

A stand of 115 between makeshift opening partnership Phil Salt and George Balderson saw Lancashire take charge against Hampshire at Southport.

Having dismissed the visitors for just 142, helped by three wickets apiece for Tom Bailey and Will Williams, Salt and Balderson made light work of Hampshire’s much-vaunted bowling attack as they powered their way to 139 for one at the close, trailing by three runs.

A stellar century by Jordan Cox rescued Kent as they faced champions Surrey at Canterbury.

The hosts recovered from 41 for five to 301 all out after losing five top-order wickets for seven runs in the space of 31 balls.

Cox led the fightback with 133, exactly 100 of which came after he was dropped by Ben Foakes.

Surrey’s Sean Abbott took four for 52, but the visitors were 18 for two at stumps, trailing by 283 after Agar claimed two late wickets.

Sam Hain’s third century of the season helped Warwickshire get off to a strong start against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The visitors ended day one on 361 for five after Hain shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 171 with Dan Mousley (87), opener Alex Davies having earlier scored 93.

In Division Two, Matthew Fisher delivered a timely demonstration of his international potential on a day of Yorkshire domination against Derbyshire at Chesterfield.

Fisher – who played a Test Match in the Caribbean 15 months ago and could come into Ashes reckoning if England’s fast bowlers sustain injuries – returned career-best figures of five for 30 to skittle Derbyshire for 111.

Yorkshire skipper Shan Masood heaped further misery on his former county with 67 – his highest score of the season – and Dawid Malan made an unbeaten 76 before rain ended play early with the visitors 272 for five, 161 ahead.

Only 36 overs were possible between Gloucestershire and Leicestershire at Bristol because of heavily overcast skies and rain.

By the close of a frustrating day, Gloucestershire had posted 108 for three, Ollie Price unbeaten on 26.

Kiran Carlson scored a brilliant century to allow Glamorgan to post 390 with the bat against Durham at Seat Unique Riverside.

Carlson was dropped on 67 and 107, and he duly made the hosts pay with his knock of 162 supported by 60 from Sam Northeast and a quickfire 45 from Billy Root.

Tailenders Jack Carson and Henry Shipley helped Sussex mount a respectable score after an early stumble against Worcestershire.

Sussex recovered from 142 for six to reach 338 for nine at stumps thanks to some late-order hitting from Nathan McAndrew, Carson and debutant Shipley, the latter two putting on 85 for the ninth wicket.

Worcestershire’s Joe Leach finished the day with figures of six for 73.

Skipper James Vince and Liam Dawson starred as Hampshire trounced Essex by 118 runs in the Vitality Blast.

Vince needed just 48 balls to amass 103, hitting eight sixes and the same number of fours, in a total of 214 for eight before Dawson took four for 21 as the home side collapsed to 96 all out in 14.1 overs at Chelmsford.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore plundered an unbeaten 64 to help Somerset strengthen their position at the top of the South Group with a nine-wicket demolition of struggling Middlesex.

Kohler-Cadmore, who hit four sixes – the last of them to win the match – and seven fours, and Tom Abell with 25 not out eased the home side over the finishing line with 39 balls to spare at Taunton after the visitors were bowled out for just 136 in 18.4 overs.

Tom Smith dispatched the first ball of the final over for four as Gloucestershire edged to a two-wicket victory over high-flying Surrey in a low-scoring thriller at Bristol.

Only opener Grant Roelofsen, Oliver Price and James Bracey made it past 20 on a difficult pitch, but the hosts, who needed two off the last over, managed to chase down the visitors’ 124 for nine despite England seamer Sam Curran’s three for 20.

David Payne and Matt Taylor had both earlier taken three wickets with Jamie Smith’s knock of 29 the biggest batting contribution in the match.

Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke staged an unbeaten stand of 109 to ease Glamorgan to a seven-wicket win over Kent inside 17 overs.

The pair came together in the ninth over with the score on 82 for three in response to Kent’s 189 for six – due in large part to Tawanda Muyeye’s 62 – and were still there at the finish, Ingram making a 32-ball 63, including 10 fours and a six, and Cooke 46.

Michael Bracewell and Adam Hose both hit half-centuries as Worcestershire blew away Nottinghamshire by 56 runs to go top of the North Group.

Bracewell, who put on 98 with skipper Brett D’Oliveira for the first wicket, made 55 and Hose an unbeaten 51 in an impressive 226 for five.

Alex Hales led a Notts charge with 71 from 35 balls, but largely without support as D’Oliveira ripped the heart out of their reply with four for 11 in his two overs and Pat Brown took four for 25 as they were dismissed for 170.

Wayne Madsen’s unbeaten 71 laid the foundation for Derbyshire to see off previous leaders Birmingham Bears by 17 runs.

Madsen hit 12 fours with Tom Wood adding a quick-fire 39 from 19 balls in a total of 174 for five, and they were backed up by bowlers Zaman Khan and Zak Chappell, who finished with three for 34 and three for 32 respectively as the visitors reached 157 for nine.

Chris Lynn smashed an unbeaten century as Northamptonshire beat Leicestershire by eight wickets in the battle of the bottom two.

Lynn thumped five sixes and 13 fours on his way to 110 from 68 balls to see his side to victory on 168 for two with seven deliveries to spare.

Leicestershire had posted 164 for eight with Ben Sanderson and Andrew Tye helping themselves to three wickets each.

A third-wicket partnership of 54 between Michael Jones and Ollie Robinson provided the backbone for Durham as they completed a comfortable six-wicket win over Lancashire at Chester-le-Street.

Jones’ 43 and 39 for Robinson set up Ashton Turner and Wayne Parnell to see the home side over the line with 10 balls remaining after Parnell, Bas de Leede, Ben Raine and Nathan Sowter had taken two wickets each to help restrict Lancashire to 152 for nine.

Nottinghamshire moved into fourth in the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One table after drawing against Essex.

Having been 144 runs behind on the first innings, former England captain Sir Alastair Cook scored 99 alongside Tom Westley’s 95 to help Essex put on 362 for eight before declaring.

With the hosts set 219 to chase in 39 overs, Nottinghamshire were 97 for four, still 122 runs short of their target, when the sides agreed to call it a day with five of the scheduled overs unbowled.

In Division Two, Ajaz Patel finished with match figures of 10 for 209 as Durham cemented their position at the top with a 125-run triumph over Gloucestershire at Bristol.

The hosts were bowled out for 300 before lunch despite Marcus Harris carrying his bat with an unbeaten 122 and putting on an eighth-wicket stand of 88 with Josh Shaw (44).

However, New Zealand Test left-arm spinner Patel was able to follow up his five for 113 in the first innings with five for 96 as Durham earned their fourth victory in six games.

Elsewhere, an extraordinary effort saw Glamorgan pile up a vast total of 737 to save their match against Sussex, which ended in a draw.

Michael Neser became the third century-maker of the innings, following Marnus Labuschagne and Kiran Carlson, as Glamorgan turned a first-innings deficit of 358 into a lead of 379 against the weakened hosts.

Any doubt about the outcome of the match had long gone by the time the players shook hands.