COUNTIES CRICKET Holders Dorset off to a flier

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Created on Monday, 27 April 2026 09:00

Last Updated on Monday, 27 April 2026 09:50

Published on Monday, 27 April 2026 09:00

Written by PAUL BOLTON Cricket Correspondent

Dorset made an impressive start to their National Counties Trophy defence by beating Cornwall by nine wickets in their opening Group Four match at Wimborne Cricket Club.

Having dismissed Cornwall for 186 with more than 10 overs of their innings unused, the holders then needed just 33.1 overs to chase down their target with Dylan Church (96 not out) and former Hampshire batter Joe Eckland (75 not out) sharing an unbroken second wicket partnership of 162.

Cornwall were reduced to 37 for three by seamer Matt Burton (three for 30) but were revived by Charlie Mumford with a half-century on debut, and Alfie MacDonald who added 53 for the fourth wicket.

Both perished to slow left-armer Mo Abbas, who finished with a competition best four for 37 and Cornwall fell well short of a competitive total despite Tom Orpe’s 42.

The closest contest of the day was in the other Group Four match at Usk where Buckinghamshire beat Wales NC by eight runs.

Former Herefordshire captain Matt Pardoe made a half century on his debut for Buckinghamshire and shared a fifth wicket partnership of 95 with Bertie Foreman, who was released by Sussex at the end of last season.

Foreman made 61 on his National Counties debut and then played another important role by taking three for 25 with his off-spin after Rhodri Lewis (51 not out) and Alex Russell (42) had threaten to win it for Wales.

Glamorgan batter Henry Hurle made a half-century but Wales had slipped to 112 for seven before Lewis and Russell combined in an eighth wicket partnership of 65 before Russell was bowled by Pardoe.

Lewis was last man out when he was taken at long off trying to clear the ropes off seamer Archie Dodds.

Devon beat Herefordshire by 53 runs at Bovey Tracey where the visitors lost their last five wickets for ten runs in a costly slump.

Sam Read’s 73 proved to be the match-winning innings for Devon after former Worcestershire and Leicestershire all-rounder George Rhodes, a winter recruit from Suffolk, had taken three for 23 with his off-spin.

Herefordshire were 137 for five in pursuit of a target of 201 but that 141 for nine in 12 balls and 147 all out with Read taking three for 13 with his off-breaks.

The other Group Three match high-scoring but less dramatic with Berkshire beating Hertfordshire by 23 runs at Hitchin.

James Isbell, who is on Middlesex’s books, impressed with 92 from 85 balls for Berkshire with Charlie Dunnett (49) sharing in a third wicket partnership of 92.

Former Dorset batter Jacob Gordon (76) and Dominic Chatfield (60) responded with a second wicket partnership of 131 which got Hertfordshire almost halfway to their target of 311 but the innings lost momentum after they departed in the space of three overs.

Ben Cowell sustained the chase with 40 but former Middlesex seamer Toby Greatwood wrapped up victory for Berkshire by taking the last four wickets for nine runs in ten balls.

Slow left-armer Ethan Hardie-Knight took five wickets on debut to help Cumbria beat Shropshire, last season’s beaten finalists, by 73 runs at Bridgnorth in Group One.

Hardie Knight plays for Cockermouth, the club that produced England Test captain Ben Stokes and has also come through Cumbria’s youth system.

He was a late call-up for the Shropshire match but showed no sign of nerves as he took five for 57 as Shropshire fell short in their pursuit of a target of 320.

Cumbria’s total of 319 for eight included a century on debut for former Yorkshire Academy batter Tom Fraine who shared an opening stand of 108 with ex-Cheshire man Calum Rowe (41).

Andre Bradford (71) and Ben Lees (40) added 72 for Shropshire’s sixth wicket but the chase faltered after Lees was run out.

Cheshire made the day’s highest total – 325 for seven – which laid the platform for a 98 runs victory over Cambridgeshire at Peterborough.

A century on his Trophy debut from Henry Murray from just 77 balls was the centrepiece of Cheshire’s imposing total but there were also important supporting innings from Dan Newton (74), Alex Money (55) and Sam Perry (44) who shared in a rapid opening partnership of 87.

Half-centuries from Henry Wilson and Lee Thomason led Cambridgeshire’s resistance but their chase was stifled by Dan Wilson and slow left-armer Isaac Brooks, who took four wickets on his county debut.

Norfolk, the 2024 Trophy winners, beat Staffordshire by 105 runs at West Bromwich Dartmouth in Group Two.

A county record fourth wicket partnership of 160 between Alfie Cooper, with a competition-best 89, and Charlie Hood (65) rescued Norfolk after a stuttering start with former Derbyshire and Kent all-rounder Hamidullah Qadri providing the late acceleration which took them to 312 for eight with a breezy 63 not out from 44 balls.

Staffordshire’s chase was undermined by four wickets from seamer Nathan Muggeridge and it was left to skipper James Kettleborough to hold the innings together with their only score above 30.

Durham all-rounder George Drissell enjoyed himself on his Trophy debut for Northumberland, shining with bat then ball in a 56 runs win over Bedfordshire at South Northumberland.

Drissell made 48 and shared a third wicket stand of 92 with Alasdair Appleby (58) which helped Northumberland recover from being 22 for two. John Oswell’s 86 from 73 balls lifted them to 291 for nine.

Bedfordshire responded with an first wicket partnership of 81 between Jake Tarling (39) and Nabil Moughal (76) but Drissell unpicked the innings by taking four for 35 with his off-spin.

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