Four teams can still claim the Championship going into the final round, and another four are battling to avoid the drop. That's not bad for a nine-team division

Lancashire supporters were dancing on the outfield at Aigburth after their team completed a stunning turnaround, sealing a 70-run victory against Kent to give them a serious chance of avoiding relegation

Stuart Law's 79 kept Lancashire just about alive against Kent, but they only lead by 131 with three wickets remaining at Aigburth

After taking advantage of a damp pitch Kent are already ahead at Aigburth after dispatching Lancashire for 107 before Geraint Jones almost matched it on his own

Surrey lunged further towards relegation with their innings-and-122-run defeat against Hampshire at The Oval leaving Alan Butcher, the coach, looking increasingly vulnerable

For a few days at least Hampshire are top of the Championship after a crushing innings-and-122-run victory against almost-relegated Surrey at The Oval

Surrey's signing of Shoaib Akhtar is optimistic, misguided or both

Surrey are in danger of the rare achievement of finishing a Championship match with no points after they collapsed in the face of Hampshire's sizeable total

Even if there are any Surrey supporters clinging to the hope of top division cricket next year, the players appear to have resigned themselves to the inevitable after Nic Pothas' second century of the season, and Dimitri Mascarenhas' 99, lifted Hampshire

At a time when the money on offer in Twenty20 cricket appears to have no limit, the ECB is working to try and ensure England's Test players are suitably rewarded to keep the longest form of the game as the main priority leading into an Ashes year

Kevin Pietersen has got his way again. Maybe not as directly as persuading Steve Harmison out of one-day retirement or putting Andrew Flintoff at No. 6, but Michael Vaughan's 12-month central contract has the stamp of KP all over it

It's the $20million question. Who are England going to take to Antigua for the Stanford Super Series and thereby hand a chance of the biggest payday of their careers?

After Kevin Pietersen's success, we take a look at 11 other captains who made a mark early in their reign

Cricinfo looks back at some of the best county performances from August

And so the juggernaut rolls on. Not even the rain, increasing gloom or a return to form for Hershelle Gibbs could stop England's one-day bandwagon, while an early-morning back spasm was no hindrance to Andrew Flintoff

Mickey Arthur, South Africa's coach, didn't pull any punches after his side were thrashed by 126 runs at The Oval to surrender the one-day series against England at the earliest possible moment

Like everything during the early stages of Kevin Pietersen's captaincy, the speed of England's one-day revival has come as a surprise.

Kevin Pietersen is having quite an impact as England captain. He did more than most to help his team take a series lead against South Africa with a 20-run victory at Headingley

Some of the most successful first series ever

As fresh starts go this wasn't too shabby from England as they wrapped up a consolation six-wicket victory on the final day at The Oval