Nottinghamshire seamer Olly Stone has been named Rothesay County Championship Player of the Round following his match-winning 10-wicket haul in the champions’ three-day victory over Surrey at The Oval as the County Championship returned last week.
Notts triumphed by 145 runs, Stone following up first-innings figures of 6-44 with 4-50 in the second as Surrey were bowled out for 183 in pursuit of a target of 329.
“It was massive,” Stone said. Notts were all out for 184 in their first innings, but on a pitch that was offering assistance to the seamers, Stone knew his team were very much still in the game: “I think we spoke about in the dressing room as a collective that actually that was probably not a bad score in terms of how the pitch behaved.
“We knew that there was still going to be life in it. And obviously we knew with our bowling attack that we could get close to 200 as possible, then that would be a really competitive score.”
Stone took six as Surrey were bowled out for 162 in their first innings before 95 from Joe Clarke helped the visitors to a total of 306 and a lead of 328.
“We took a lead into that second innings, albeit being only a small lead of around 20. It was still crucial in the context of the game. And obviously the likes of Liam Patterson-White in the first innings and then Joe Clarke in the second with their knocks showed how important those 20 runs were as well.
“We were obviously chuffed with getting the win and we probably didn't expect it to happen as quickly as it did, but we felt in that last innings with those runs on the board, that that was enough to get that victory.”
The race for the title is as tight as ever in what is widely acknowledged as the premier red-ball competition in the world. Notts are two points ahead of Somerset in second and five points clear of Warwickshire in third as they head to Edgbaston later this week to face Stone’s former club.
“It'll be nice to go back to Edgbaston, we've had some good success there in the last few years so we'll take confidence from that. I feel like we've shown this week that we can go into tough places and can get the results. We're confident as a group and I feel at the moment there's no side that we feel we can't get a good result against.”
Stone is making up for lost time in this year’s red-ball campaign, after missing out on being part of Notts’ 2025 title-winning side due to a combination of injury and his teammates’ form.
“I'm really happy with where I'm at. I'm just loving my cricket. The disappointment of not playing any games in the four-day stuff last year when we lifted the trophy has really given me that little bit of a kick up the backside to keep trying to get better. I had a frustrating one with my knee injury last year, which kept me out at the start. And then obviously the way the boys were going, it was understandable to maybe not get in that side. But this year, I'm absolutely loving my cricket.”
Stone has also just signed a new contract that will keep him at Trent Bridge for two more years. “I’m obviously chuffed and delighted with that,” he said.
“We've got a great squad here and it's a great club. I've absolutely loved my time here and hopefully it's the club that I finish at. I feel like we're very competitive in all formats and I feel like there's a lot more to come from this group.”
Stone received a maximum of three votes for his fantastic bowling return. Other players to receive maximum votes this round were Tom Haines, who hit 49 and 67 in Sussex’s one-wicket loss to Warwickshire, Ian Holland, who took nine-wickets in the match for Leicestershire as they beat Glamorgan by 42 runs, and Jack Leach, who also took nine in the match, as Somerset defeated Essex by eight wickets. There were also three votes for Dom Bess, who took a second-innings five-for to see Yorkshire beat Hampshire by 39 runs.
Matt Milnes claimed the points with a first-innings five-wicket haul as Kent defeated Middlesex by 46 runs while another Matt, Potts, continued his stellar Championship form and took three votes for his eight wickets in Durham’s 338-run win over Derbyshire. Finally, George Bartlett received three for his 92 not out as Northamptonshire beat Lancashire by 316 runs, and Daniel Lategan also received three for his knock of 144 that guided Worcestershire to an eight-wicket win over Gloucestershire.
Leaderboard
15: Matthew Potts (Durham)
11: Matt Milnes (Kent)
10: Craig Overton (Somerset)
8: Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Ben Raine (Durham)
7: Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Tom Abell (Somerset), Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire), Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), James Rew (Somerset), Matthew Waite (Worcestershire)
Round Nine votes
Division One
Hampshire v Yorkshire – 3 – Dom Bess (Yorks), 2 – George Hill (Yorks), 1 – Adam Lyth (Yorks).
Leicestershire v Glamorgan – 3 – Ian Holland (Leics), 2 – Sheridon Gumbs (Leics), 1 – Kiran Carlson (Glamorgan).
Somerset v Essex – 3 - Jack Leach (Somerset), 2 - Joshua Thomas (Somerset), 1 – Charlie Allison (Essex).
Surrey v Nottinghamshire – 3 - Olly Stone (Notts), 2 - Liam Patterson-White (Notts), 1 – Joe Clarke (Notts).
Warwickshire v Sussex – 3 - Sean Hunt (Sussex), 2 - Michael Booth (Warwickshire), 1 – Tom Haines (Sussex).
Division Two
Derbyshire v Durham – 3 - Matthew Potts (Durham), 2 - Ben Stokes (Durham), 1 – Ben McKinney (Durham).
Gloucestershire v Worcestershire – 3 – Dan Lategan (Worcs), 2 – James Bracey (Glos), 1 – Brett D’Oliveira (Worcs).
Lancashire v Northamptonshire – 3 - George Bartlett (Northants), 2 - Ben Sanderson (Northants), 1 – Luke Proctor (Northants).
Middlesex v Kent - 3 – Matt Milnes (Kent), 2 – Matt Quinn (Kent), 1 – Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex).