County Championship: All-round Ben Aitchison named Player of the Round

Derbyshire’s Ben Aitchison has been named Rothesay County Championship Player of the Round after a maiden first-class hundred and career-best match figures of 8-114 in his side’s win against Middlesex at Lord’s.

Aitchison took 5-47 and 3-67, as well as scoring 112 at nightwatcher, to help propel Derbyshire to a seven-wicket victory and a second successive win to end the first block of Rothesay County Championship matches on a high.

“It’s massive,” Aitchison told ecb.co.uk about Derbyshire’s first Championship victory at Lord’s in 24 years.

Realising potential

“Before the season started we were really confident with how our odds were to compete for promotion.

“The first game we played really well and didn’t quite get over the line and then we went to Old Trafford and played great cricket until the final day.

“Comparing that to the last two games where we got over the line against Northants at home and then chased that score [against Middlesex], it’s huge for our confidence and we’re going to ride that momentum going into the Blast.”

A memorable occasion

On his first five-wicket haul of the season, he said: “It makes it even more special, being at the Home of Cricket. The conditions were helpful, which was nice having played on a few flat ones this year, so it was extra special.”

A maiden first-class century wasn’t something Aitchison was expecting to walk away from this match with and it almost didn’t happen.

“I very nearly didn’t go in as nightwatcher because I didn’t have my pads on!” he revealed. “It definitely could have gone a lot of other ways and I had a bit of luck on my side, but it was amazing.

“Scoring a first-class century has always been something I’ve been aiming to do, but I didn’t expect it to come around in those circumstances or on a wicket like that. I’ve done a lot of work on my batting. I think my last ton before that would have been for Formby third team back when I was 15!”

Batting with the experienced Wayne Madsen was huge in helping Aitchison reach three figures. “I’ve only batted with Mads [Madsen] a handful of times. It meant a lot to him to get runs in that game, he really wanted a hundred at Lord’s because he hadn’t ticked that off yet.

“He helped me not really think about the scoreboard or what I was on. It was more just about batting with him and having him talk me through it. It was immensely helpful.”

Award contenders

Aitchison received the maximum of three votes for his match-winning display at Lord’s.

Other players to get maximum votes this round included England capped duo Sam Cook and Adam Lyth.

Cook helped skittle Leicestershire for 60 in their second innings with figures of 4-19, while Lyth’s first-innings century set up Yorkshire’s innings win over Surrey.

Warwickshire seamer Ethan Bamber – who has taken the most wickets in Division One this season – claimed the three votes in his side’s draw with Glamorgan following his eight-wicket haul, whilst a century and five wickets earned Somerset all-rounder Craig Overton maximum votes in their draw with Sussex.

Jake Lehmann received three votes for his excellent unbeaten rearguard century in Hampshire’s draw with champions Nottinghamshire, while a maiden first-class ton for England U19 opener Ben Dawkins earned him three votes in Kent’s draw with Durham.

Injury replacement Louis Kimber received three votes for his match-winning knock of 66 in Northamptonshire’s two-wicket win over Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire’s Matthew Waite completed the set for his all-round display in the Pears’ draw with Lancashire.

At the end of the first block of Rothesay County Championship matches, all-rounder Ben Raine tops the leaderboard after his century helped him claim a single vote in Durham’s draw away to Kent.

Raine, who was man of the match in Durham’s previous two matches, is the second leading-wicket taker in Division Two with 33.

At the end of the season the top 10 players on the leaderboard will be eligible to win the prestigious Cricket Media Club’s County Championship Player of the Year award.

The award is to be presented at the Cricket Media Club’s end-of-season presentation with CMC members voting on the winner from the top-10 players on the leaderboard.

Nottinghamshire skipper Haseeb Hameed was last year’s winner of the award.

Leaderboard

8 – Ben Raine (Durham); 7 – Tom Abell (Somerset), Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), Matthew Potts (Durham), James Rew (Somerset); 6 – Matt Critchley (Essex), Craig Overton (Somerset); 5 – Kiran Carlson (Glamorgan), Sam Cook (Essex), Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Ryan Higgins (Middlesex), Jake Lehmann (Hampshire), Matt Milnes (Kent), Tawanda Muyeye (Kent), James Sales (Northamptonshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey).

READ MORE: Key talking points from Round Seven of the County Championship