Warwickshire finish unbeaten

As the final matches of the 2004 domestic season drew to a close, Warwickshire ensured they finished unbeaten, as their game against Northamptonshire ended in a draw. The likelihood of getting a result after the entire second day was lost to rain was always remote, and after Dougie Brown had picked up 5 for 53 to add to his first-innings century and bowl Northants out for 265, play was called off with Warwickshire on 109 for 5. Ian Bell's prolific summer with the bat ended in anticlimax when he was bowled by Jason Brown for just a single, but Jonathan Trott and Ian Westwood batted out for the draw.

At Hove, Nayan Doshi picked up seven wickets to send Sussex tumbling to a 37-run defeat after they had been set 324 to win. Sussex had been in some trouble at 49 for 3 before a 109-run stand between Murray Goodwin (119) and Chris Adams (41) temporarily raised their hopes. However, Doshi returned to run through the lower order after Goodwin had been dismissed, to seal the win. And at Old Trafford, Lancashire's match against Gloucestershire ended in a fairly tame draw, although a result was on the cards after Lancashire tumbled to 12 for 3. But Mal Loye and Carl Hooper ensured there were no further jitters with an unbeaten 78-run partnership.

In Division Two, Glamorgan drew with Yorkshire at Headingley, with Matthew Hoggard (89*) starring with the bat before he ran out of partners, but some adventurous declarations meant there were results in all the other games. Somerset closed their innings at 184 for 3 to set Leicestershire a total of 275 to chase, but Andy Caddick stormed in to take four wickets, and Leicestershire were bowled out 75 runs short. Hampshire and Derbyshire both cut their innings short at Derby, after which Shaun Udal took 6 for 79 to make sure that newly-promoted Hampshire finished their season on a high note. And at Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire, aided by a century from Darren Bicknell, successfully chased down 379 after Essex had declared at 179 for 1, with Will Jefferson scoring his second hundred of the match.

County Championship Division One

Latest table

Lancashire 311 and 99 for 3 (Loye 45*) drew with Gloucestershire 311 for 8 dec and 289 (Taylor 109, Keedy 7-132) at Old Trafford
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Keedy's heroics all in vain - Wisden Cricinfo
Day 2 report: Lancashire's relegation finally confirmed - Wisden Cricinfo
Day 3: No play because of rain
Day 4 report: Hooper and Loye bat out a draw - Wisden Cricinfo

Warwickshire 295 and 109 for 5 drew with Northamptonshire 265 (Sales 72*, Brown 5-53) at Northampton
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Rugged Brown lifts tired champions - The Guardian
Day 2: No play because of rain

Surrey 283 and 311 (Brown 123, Lewry 5-66) beat Sussex 271 and 286 (Goodwin 119, Doshi 7-110) by 37 runs at Hove
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Clarke blazes Surrey to safety - The Daily Telegraph
Day 2 report: Yardy steals Cottey's show - The Guardian

Kent 535 (Smith 189, Key 131, Walker 108) beat Middlesex 235 and 251 (Joyce 74, Loudon 6-47) by an innings and 49 runs at Canterbury
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Six of the best for O'Brien - The Guardian
Day 2 report: Kent make hay before rain falls - The Guardian
Day 3 report: Kent secure win - The Sunday Telegraph

County Championship Division Two

Latest table

Hampshire 396 and 19 for 0 dec beat Derbyshire 95 for 2 dec and 229 (Bassano 64*, Udal 6-79) by 91 runs at Derby
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Benham in fine debut - The Daily Telegraph
Day 2: No play because of rain

Somerset 213 and 184 for 3 dec (Hildreth 52*) beat Leicestershire 123 for 3 dec and 199 (Gibson 57, Caddick 4-69) by 75 runs at Leicester
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Gibson on a roll - The Daily Telegraph
Day 2: No play because of rain Day 3: No play because of rain

Nottinghamshire 301 for 6 dec and 379 for 7 (Bicknell 110, Singh 89) beat Essex 500 and 179 for 1 dec (Jefferson 100*, Flower 61*) by three wickets at Trent Bridge
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Title secured but Jefferson excels - The Daily Telegraph
Day 2: No play because of rain

Glamorgan 410 and 55 for 1 drew with Yorkshire 401 and 286 (Hoggard 89*, Harrison 4-73) at Headingley
Scorecard
Day 1 report: Jones brightens dull day for Glamorgan - IC Wales
Day 2 report: Elliott in show of bravado - The Telegraph
Day 3 report: Glam going for six of the best - IC Wales