Three of the four veterans’ Division Two titles in the county championships turned out to be thrillers.
In Division 2A, Northants took the title by two points from Nottinghamshire II as, although Northants drew with Norfolk and Notts drew with Cambridgeshire, it was the match-up between the top two counties which determined the destination of the title as Northants beat Notts 6-4.
Leading teams
Northants 6 5 1 0 39 21 11
Nottinghamshire II 6 4 1 1 36 24 9
Norfolk 6 3 2 1 38 22 8
In Division 2C, two county sides completed their fixtures on 10 match points as Surrey seconds and Kent thirds tied at the top of the division.
The destination of the title was determined by whoever had the superior sets advantage and the champions turned out to be Surrey, who actually lost to their rivals when the sides met 6-4 but with Kent drawing two of their matches it left Surrey with a superior sets advantage of 10 sets. Surrey have their own third team to thank as, along with third-placed Hertfordshire, they were the teams who drew with Kent, which allowed Surrey seconds to take the title
Leading teams
Surrey II 6 5 0 1 47 13 10
Kent III 6 4 2 0 37 23 10
Hertfordshire III 6 4 1 1 40 30 9
In Division 2D, it was Oxfordshire who were the outstanding team by a long way although, despite winning six of their matches comfortably, they were beaten 6-4 by mid-table Hampshire.
The nearest rivals to Oxfordshire were Devonshire who completed the season with one draw and a loss to end the season one point adrift of their rivals but when the sides met it ended in an 8-2 victory for the champions – so even if Devonshire had turned their draw against Worcestershire II into a win, such was the superiority of Oxfordshire’s sets advantage they would have taken the title anyway.
Leading teams
Oxfordshire 7 6 0 1 59 11 12
Devonshire 7 5 1 1 45 25 11
Worcestershire II 7 3 3 1 41 29 9