The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action during day four of the final round of the Vitality County Championship in 2024
Chester-le-Street (day four of four): Durham 360, Kent 353-8d - match drawn
Excellent knocks from Jack Leaning, Joe Denly and Joey Evison steered already-relegated Kent to a creditable draw in their rain-affected County Championship clash at Durham.
Leaning and Denly led a good Kent batting performance, something that has been all too rare this season, and secured a draw on day four at the Seat Unique Riverside with some good batting with the tail from Evison.
Leaning and Denly came together after an early wicket for the hosts and combined for a partnership worth 124, with Kent finishing on 353 for eight as the captain's shook hands at 4:20pm.
The draw gives Kent a good end to a disappointing season, with the county finishing bottom of Division One and as a result, they will be playing in Division Two in 2025, where they will be targeting an instant return to the top tier.
Meanwhile, for Durham, they have secured a mid-table finish in their first Division One season for eight years and there's plenty of positives for the North East county to take from their first season back amongst the elite.
They will look to close the gap to the top of the table next season, with Will Rhodes, Sam Conners and Emilio Gay all joining permanently for the next campaign.
Related: "I couldn't get a sniff, not even a trial": How the path narrowed for players without a contract
Jack Leaning's 84 helped Kent end their disappointing campaign with a draw (Getty Images)
Chelmsford (day four of four): Essex 508-8d, Surrey 267-7 - match drawn
Dom Sibley batted for more than four hours for his third century of the season to ensure there was no last-day embarrassment before Surrey lifted aloft the Vitality County Championship trophy following an attritional draw at Chelmsford.
Surrey savoured the traditional champagne-spraying celebrations for the third successive year after a season in which they won eight of their 14 matches. However, apart from Sibley’s 189-ball 125, they were comprehensively second-best against Essex as underlined by the fact they only collected two bonus points from the game.
Sibley’s innings was a mixture of forcefulness, chiefly through the covers, and watchfulness as he dominated half-century stands with Dan Lawrence and Josh Blake before he was sixth man out with Surrey still nominally 143 runs shy of making Essex bat again.
The finale to the Championship season petered out in comedy as Essex bowlers changed bowling styles before handshakes were exchanged at 4.10pm with Surrey 267 for 7.
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Trent Bridge (day four of four): Nottinghamshire 487, Warwickshire 373-7 - match drawn
With all potential relegation permutations happily off the agenda at last, Warwickshire calmly settled down to avoid defeat against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on the final day of the 2024 Vitality County Championship. Saving the follow-on with five wickets down effectively saved the game.
The draw, for which the pitch was probably intended from the start, thus duly arrived with ease, Notts taking 14 points to the visitors' 13.
Sam Hain signed off the season with an unbeaten 153 and his overnight partner Ed Barnard made 81 before Michael Burgess struck 56 from 71 balls in an eventual 373 for 7 after the resumption on 143 for 4.
Related: Surrey hoping for Alec Stewart "Wolf of Wall Street moment"
Surrey lifted the 2024 Division One trophy after their draw at Chelmsford (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
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New Road (day four of four): Worcestershire 180 & 223-9, Lancashire 177 - match drawn
Worcestershire sealed their highest-ever position in the County Championship since it was split into two divisions in 2000 after drawing with relegated Lancashire at Visit Worcestershire New Road.
They secured sixth spot in Division One after recovering for the second time in the game from a precarious position with the bat thanks to the efforts of Matthew Waite, Adam Hose and Logan Van Beek.
It enabled them to surpass their previous best performance of finishing seventh in Division One in 2011.
Worcestershire have defied the pre-season predictions of being favourites to make an instant return to Division Two after last summer’s promotion campaign.
A run of three successive wins against Durham, Kent and Essex effectively made sure of top-flight cricket in 2025.
It was a fitting way for long-serving all-rounder Joe Leach to end his career after being Worcestershire’s leader of the attack for the past decade and a haul of 467 first-class wickets for the County.
He received a standing ovation when he came out to bat for the second time in the game and signed off with 30 not out.
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