County Championship team of the week: Who joins Dom Sibley in our XI?

The Cricketer reflects on round eight of the 2023 LV= Insurance County Championship season by nominating a standout XI

There was no shortage of action in round eight of the LV= Insurance County Championship, with record-breaking centuries, match-saving knocks and a first win of the season for Yorkshire.

The Cricketer nominates a standout XI...

Jake Libby (Worcestershire)

This season had been pretty quiet by Libby's usual standards, with the opener scoring 241 runs in eight innings prior to round eight. However, he rediscovered his mojo against Sussex with a huge knock of 198, during which he batting for all 374 minutes of Worcestershire's first innings before being dismissed two runs shy of his double-hundred. A 192-run stand off 201 balls with Adam Hose was the pick of his partnerships.

Libby returned with another major contribution in the second innings, striking 97 runs from 132 balls to lay the foundations for a successful chase, only for Sussex to hang on for a draw with five runs required for the win.

Dom Sibley (Surrey)

A record-breaking match for Sibley and Surrey. Tasked with chasing 501 to win, Sibley knuckled down and set to work, favouring Sibcrawl over Bazball in a relentless display of concentration. "I was just trying to win each ball," he said afterwards. Well, he faced and won no fewer than 415 balls (in 580 minutes), finishing unbeaten on 140 to help Surrey to a five-wicket victory.

He broke the record for the slowest County Championship century, both in terms of balls faced (368) and minutes spent at the crease (511). For Surrey, it was their highest-ever successful fourth-innings chase and the eighth-highest in first-class history.

^{Yorkshire captain Shan Masood [Stu Forster/Getty Images]}

Shan Masood (Yorkshire)

In his second Championship outing of the season, Masood demonstrated why Yorkshire were so keen to sign him. At Chesterfield, he scored a pair of half-centuries against his former side, Derbyshire, to seal a three-wicket win for Yorkshire – their first first-class win since April 2022.

His first innings knock of 67 (81) was overshadowed by Dawid Malan's century but in the second, the captain firm as his side collapsed to 147 for 7 before sharing a match-winning stand of 68 with Dom Bess to see Yorkshire home with two sessions to spare. He finished unbeaten on 95 (112).

Joe Clarke (Nottinghamshire)

Nottinghamshire were well and truly second best for the first three days of their clash with Warwickshire, leaking 571 runs with the ball before collapsing to 155 and being forced to follow on. An innings defeat loomed but Clarke had other ideas, hitting a career-best 229 not out (365 balls, 520 minutes) to snatch a draw for the home side.

He rode his luck, notably when he was dropped in the slips on 128, but what a time to score your first red-ball century for 21 months. He'd scored 337 runs in 12 innings prior to this knock.

Leus du Plooy (Derbyshire)

The Derbyshire skipper was a thorn in Yorkshire's side at Chesterfield. After top-scoring for his side in the first innings (although 28 runs in a total of 111 is not much to shout about), he walked out to bat in the second with Derbyshire once again in dire straits. However, from a position of 5 for 3, which soon became 17 for 4, du Plooy dragged them to 404 for 7, offering a glimmer of hope that Derbyshire might get a positive result.

He scored 170 runs off 294 balls, spending 413 minutes in the middle and sharing a 277-run fifth-wicket stand with Haider Ali – the second-highest for Derbyshire at Chesterfield.

^{Essex allrounder Matt Critchley [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]}

Jamie Smith (Surrey)

In stark contrast to Sibley, who "wasn't in any rush", Smith clearly had mid-week plans, blasting 114 runs off just 77 deliveries on day three, including 18 fours and four sixes, to put a significant dent in Surrey's chase. He shared a 139-run third-wicket stand with Sibley, flaying bowlers to all corners of Canterbury while the opener plodded along. Blockbuster.

Chris Cooke (Glamorgan, wk)

After being dismissed in single figures in the first innings, Cooke came back with a bang, posting a defiant unbeaten century to deny Durham a fifth win of the season.

Arriving in the middle with Glamorgan teetering on 159 for 5 in their second innings, the wicketkeeper proved impossible to shift, occupying the crease for 290 minutes and enjoying a 153-run eighth-wicket stand with Timm van der Gugten until the teams shook hands. Cooke finished unbeaten on 134 from 224 balls, including 17 fours.

Matt Critchley (Essex)

A wonderful all-round effort from Critchley against Somerset. He put his side in control with a century in the first innings, dominating a 153-run fourth-wicket stand with fellow centurion Alastair Cook and striking above 80 before being dismissed for 121 (143). He went on to top-score for Essex in the second innings, posting 52 off 72 to help his side declare on 170 for 7.

With the ball, he returned figures of 0 for 3 from a four-over cameo in the first innings and 2 for 46 in the second, including the big wicket of Tom Lammonby, who was motoring well on 59 (99).

^{Leicestershire bowler Chris Wright [David Rogers/Getty Images]}

Simon Harmer (Essex)

It's taken longer than expected but Harmer finally has his first five-wicket haul of the season, picking up 5 for 64 as Somerset were bundled out for 167 in their first innings, including two wickets in two balls to account for Josh Davey and Matt Henry. A monster shift in the second saw him bowl 42 of the 97.1 overs faced by Somerset, picking up 3 for 114 .

Matthew Fisher (Yorkshire)

Career-best first-class figures of 5 for 30 in the first innings helped Yorkshire skittle Derbyshire for 111 in just 31.4 overs. Opening the bowling alongside Ben Coad, Fisher struck three times in the first 10 overs as Derbyshire slumped to 23 for 5 before wrapping up the tail with the wickets of Mark Watt and Ben Aitchison.

And he wreaked havoc with the new ball once again in the second innings, accounting for Luis Reece and Matthew Lamb – Derbyshire 17 for 4 – en route to match figures of 8 for 100.

Chris Wright (Leicestershire)

Wright just can't stop taking wickets. The 37-year-old climbed up to fifth in the Division Two wicket-taking charts (27 wickets at 24.92) after picking up 7 for 89 against Gloucestershire.

Leicestershire's standout bowler in the first innings, he returned figures of 3 for 40 from 23 overs, bowling 10 maidens and accounting for three of Gloucestershire's top six. In the second, he kept his foot on Gloucestershire's throat, picking up four of the eight wickets to fall as they collapsed from 132 for 2 to 202 all out.

Those who narrowly missed out: Ari Karvelas, Joe Leach, Alastair Cook, Lewis Hill, Phil Salt, Azhar Ali, Haider Ali, Kiran Carlson, David Bedingham, Ollie Robinson, Tom Alsop, Ben Foakes