Northants secure division two championship title

Northamptonshire duly secured the County Championship's Division Two title, despite being held to a draw by Essex at Wantage Road.

Matthew Hayden's men needed only to avoid defeat to claim the trophy, but were hoping to record a sixth successive victory to round off their home programme on a high note.

They looked on course as the visitors, trailing by 177 on first innings, slipped to 110 for four against Essex old boy Darren Cousins, who snapped up 4-50 to give him 62 wickets this summer.

But Stuart Law came to the rescue with his fifth century of the season, and his solid unbeaten 119 guided Essex to safety at 225-4 and kept alive their own hopes of achieving promotion into Division One for 2001.

Northants batted on to reach 410 all out in the morning session, notching the fifth batting point, and Cousins then tore into his former county with a superb opening burst which saw him trap Paul Prichard leg-before for a duck and have Paul Grayson caught behind.

Law and Darren Robinson (42) steadied the innings by adding 83, only for Cousins to make his presence felt again by removing Robinson and skipper Ronnie Irani in successive overs.

Stephen Peters then settled in with Law, who completed his hundred off 161 balls, and the captains called it a day with their fifth-wicket stand worth 115.

Hayden received the second division silverware at the end of the match, and Northants's delighted Director of Cricket Bob Carter commented: "We set out at the start of the season to get promotion in the Championship and hold our place in Division One of the National League.

"We thought they were realistic goals, and so it's proved."