Lancashire relegated on day Yorkshire win promotion

Lancashire’s relegation to the second division of the County Championship was made even more bitter by their Roses rivals Yorkshire’s promotion to the top flight.

Lancashire will join Kent in being relegated from Division One. Just a couple of hours after that demotion was confirmed, the young Yorkshire batsman James Wharton pushed a single into the offside to pick up a third batting point against Northamptonshire and confirm their promotion.

It means that 2025 will be the third consecutive season without a Roses match in the Championship. In 2022, when Lancashire finished second in Division One, Yorkshire were relegated.

The tables have turned now. Lancashire hired Dale Benkenstein as their head coach in the close season but have now been relegated, with a day to spare in his first campaign. They were bowled out for just 177 in their first innings at Worcester, meaning they picked up no batting points in their final game of the season. That, combined with their nearest rivals Nottinghamshire’s strong performance at home to Warwickshire condemned them to relegation to the second tier for the first time since 2019.

For Lancashire, it was a case of too little, too late. They pulled off a magnificent win over Somerset last week to raise hopes of a late-season rally, but three successive early-season defeats – including to relegation rivals Kent and Nottinghamshire – cost them.

Lancashire, one of the best-resourced counties, signed the great Australian Nathan Lyon for half the season despite having the England spinner Tom Hartley on their books. By the end of the season, Lyon had returned home and Hartley had been dropped.

The problem, however, was not their spin bowling but their callow batting, with a young middle order exposed. Captain Keaton Jennings made 1,006 runs for the season, but no other batsman has averaged even 35 and they have exposed Rocky Flintoff, the 16-year-old son of England great Andrew, at No 4 in their Championship team. A symbol of their instability has been the fact that they have used 23 players, five of them overseas, in 14 Championship matches. That figure does not include England white-ball players Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt or Luke Wood.

“There are a few reasons for it but the bottom line is you are expected to go out there and perform and we are in this position because we haven’t consistently performed well,” said Benkenstein.

In their final game of the season, they rolled Worcestershire – who have rallied remarkably after the death of spinner Josh Baker to retain their Division One status  – out for 180, before their familiar fallibility with the bat saw them dismissed for 177, confirming relegation.

Yorkshire surge back to top flight

A few hours later, there were cheers at Headingley as Wharton secured promotion. Yorkshire will join Sussex in the top flight next season at Middlesex’s expense, having dominated their game against Northamptonshire at Headingley.

Despite first-day rain, Yorkshire bowled Northants out for 147, then racked up 371 for two by stumps on the third day, securing the six bonus points that guaranteed promotion.

Early in the campaign, such an outcome seemed a long shot. With the likes of Joe Root and Harry Brook in their side, Yorkshire failed to win any of their first seven games of the season and seemed certain to be condemned to a third straight campaign in Division Two. But they rallied and, since the end of May, have won five out of their six matches to surge to promotion.

“It’s class and amazing to get over the line,” said Yorkshire captain Jonny Tattersall. “We’re still mid-game, and it will be nice if we can get a few more runs in the morning and have a go at trying to knock them over and finish with a win. That would be even better walking off that pitch tomorrow.”

Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson is leaving, and is set to be replaced by the County Championship-winning Essex coach Anthony McGrath next week.

Surrey topped Division One with a week to spare, but Hampshire secured second place by beating Somerset at Taunton, whose dreams of a treble ended with second place in both white-ball competitions and, at best, third in the Championship. In a low-scoring match, Hampshire chased 121 five down thanks to stalwarts James Vince and Liam Dawson.