Essex all-rounder Matt Critchley revealed that his first-round heroics might never have been after he was named the Rothesay County Championship Player of the Round following their win in Southampton.
Critchley struck a first-innings 173 before grabbing remarkable figures of five for nine to wrap up an innings victory over Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl.
“I think those figures flatter me, to be honest!” Critchley told ecb.co.uk.
“I was brought on because it was dark at the end of the day, not much was happening and then somehow I got on a little roll. Someone was looking down on me. I was saying to Sam [Cook] who was standing in as captain, ‘I’m not too sure I want to bowl here, it’s a bit cold!’ So it was a good decision from him to get me on!”
This season fans can keep updated with how players from across the Rothesay County Championship are performing thanks to a new voting system to track which players are making the greatest impression.
Critchley earned a maximum of three votes from Essex’s opening match, with his team-mates Simon Harmer (two votes) and Charlie Allison (one vote) also acknowledged for their performances on the south coast.
The 3-2-1 voting system will be employed across all Rothesay County Championship matches – and judged by the ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay – with a Player of the Round selected from the players who received three votes.
Other players to earn three votes in the opening round included Lancashire skipper Jimmy Anderson, following the 56th first-class five-for of his illustrious career, and Somerset’s 22-year-old sensation James Rew who hit his 12th first-class ton.
It was Critchley who was the stand-out in the first round to earn his Player of the Round honour, with his century coming after Essex had slipped to 67 for three and lost skipper Tom Westley to a finger injury that forced him to be the Championship’s first injury replacement.
Critchley steadied the ship in partnership with Charlie Allison (80) before going on to make an imperious 173 in a first-innings total of 461 for seven declared.
The 29-year-old then excelled with his leg-spin, finishing off Hampshire’s first innings by trapping Sonny Baker lbw before producing a quickfire five-for when the hosts were asked to follow on.
“It was good to get a win on the board so early and in such a convincing manner,” Critchley said. “And personally, unexpected is the wrong word because you hope for a start like that, but I didn’t really have it on my radar, so it was pleasing.
“Batting was quite tough initially. Tommy [Westley] had just been hit on the hand and retired hurt. We were a few wickets down and the lights were on for the best part of two days. It was dark. The conditions weren’t easy against four bowlers who’ve played international cricket. But we managed to get the ball a bit older and then score more freely. My plan was to pounce on any loose balls and put the pressure on them that way.”
With Simon Harmer, one of the world’s best spinners, ahead of him in the pecking order, Critchley admits he doesn’t always get as many opportunities with the ball as he’d like at Essex. He seized his chance at Southampton, his eighth first-class five-for a timely reminder of his ability as England consider their spin options for the forthcoming Rothesay Men’s Test series against New Zealand.
“It’s coming out pretty well,” he said. “Whether it’s because I bat at five or because our attack’s so good, I sometimes don’t get to bowl that much, and people maybe forget that I bowl, but I do see myself as a genuine spinner. I’m obviously behind Harmy [Harmer] but to get that early reward was pleasing.”
Elsewhere in the first round of games, Henry Crocombe earned three votes in Sussex’s 222-run victory over newly-promoted Leicestershire after the 24-year-old seamer claimed career-best match figures of nine for 69. The other players to earn maximum votes were Dan Mousley from Warwickshire, Glamorgan’s Mason Crane, Martin Andersson from Derbyshire, Middlesex’s Leus du Plooy and Durham’s Matthew Potts.
The vote-getters for each match, as well as an overall leaderboard, will be updated after each round of the Rothesay County Championship.
Round One votes
Division One
Glamorgan v Yorkshire: 3 – Mason Crane, 2 – Colin Ingram, 1 – Dom Bess
Hampshire v Essex: 3 - Matt Critchley, 2 – Simon Harmer, 1 – Charlie Allison
Leicestershire v Sussex: 3 – Henry Crocombe, 2 – Tom Clark, 1 – Tom Price
Somerset v Nottinghamshire: 3 – James Rew, 2 – Dillon Pennington, 1 – Tom Abell
Warwickshire v Surrey: 3 – Dan Mousley, 2 – Jamie Smith, 1 – Tom Lawes
Division Two
Derbyshire v Worcestershire: 3 – Martin Andersson, 2 – Luis Reece, 1 – Matthew Waite
Durham v Kent: 3 – Matthew Potts, 2 – Tawanda Muyeye, 1 – Emilio Gay
Middlesex v Gloucestershire: 3 – Leus du Plooy, 2 – Sebastian Morgan, 1 – Toby Roland-Jones
Northants v Lancashire: 3 – Jimmy Anderson, 2 – George Bartlett, 1 – Tom Bailey
Leaderboard
3 – Jimmy Anderson (Lancashire), Martin Andersson (Derbyshire), Mason Crane (Glamorgan), Matt Critchley (Essex), Henry Crocombe (Sussex), Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Matthew Potts (Durham), James Rew (Somerset);
2 – George Bartlett (Northants), Tom Clark (Sussex), Simon Harmer (Essex), Colin Ingram (Glamorgan), Sebastian Morgan (Middlesex), Tawanda Muyeye (Kent), Dillon Pennington (Notts), Luis Reece (Derbyshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey);
1 - Tom Abell (Somerset), Charlie Allison (Essex), Tom Bailey (Lancashire), Dom Bess (Yorkshire), Emilio Gay (Durham), Tom Lawes (Surrey), Tom Price (Sussex), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), Matthew Waite (Worcestershire).