Minor Counties Championship Round-Up

Keith Arnold kept Oxfordshire in pole position in the Western Division table by demolishing Herefordshire's title hopes with the best Minor Counties bowling of the season.

The evergreen 40-year-old seamer, now playing Birmingham League cricket for Leamington, blitzed a magnificent nine for 19 off 17.1 overs to spearhead Oxfordshire to a 10-wicket win at Thame, and maintain their three-point lead at the head of the table over Dorset, who beat Wales at Ynysygerwn.

It was the second best bowling in Oxfordshire's history and as well as giving Arnold a memorable match return of 15 for 76, it also took him past 50 championship wickets for the season.

Herefordshire were bundled out for 83 before lunch and Oxfordshire needed only 22 to win. Stewart Laudat completed the formality of a 10-wicket victory in 4.2 overs by lifting Paul Humphries for six over long leg.

Dorset stretched their challenge to the final round of games on August 20 and 21 by defeating Wales by an innings and 14 runs. Toby Sharpe's six for 60 did most of the damage as Wales subsided to 169 all out.

Devon saw off Wiltshire at Exmouth by 168 runs, but the only winners in the Eastern Division were Lincolnshire, who jumped back above Cumberland after a nine-wicket eclipse of bottom-of-the-table Hertfordshire at Radlett.

David Ward (101) helped himself to another century for Hertfordshire to advance past 800 championship runs for the season, but support was thin on the ground as Simon Oakes claimed six for 27. His post-tea spell of 4-2-3-3 saw Hertfordshire lose their last four wickets for four runs, and Lincolnshire quickly knocked off the 45 runs needed.

They now lead Cumberland by eight points, but the reigning champions have two to play to Lincolnshire's one.