Kasey Aldridge is becoming increasingly difficult to overlook. The 6ft 4in Durham all-rounder produced one of the most complete performances of his career against Gloucestershire at Banks Homes Riverside, taking nine wickets as the Division Two leaders completed a 10-wicket victory. His Rothesay County Championship Player of the Round display was the defining contribution in a contest Durham dominated from almost the first ball.
Aldridge began by ripping through Gloucestershire’s first innings. His five for 16 came from only five overs, an extraordinary burst of seam bowling which left the visitors 137 all out and saw him pass 100 first-class wickets. Durham subsequently piled on the pressure with 384, David Bedingham making 122, his fifth hundred of the summer, and Aldridge showcasing his all-round excellence with a vital unbeaten 32 from No.9, including smacking impressive Indian spinner Sai Kishore for six.
The second innings brought more of the same, Aldridge claiming four for 47 to finish with match figures of nine for 63, the first time in his career he has taken nine in a match.
He said: “The plan was to try to build the lead to 250 and to get as many points as possible. We bowled nicely and I thought the boys played really well. It took a while to get them out in the second innings but it was good in the end.
“With two heavy rollers each, the pitches end up being a bit better, but it started off bowler-friendly and then we had to work hard for the rest of it.
“Personally, I’m feeling really good. I missed the last match and lost a bit of rhythm but have put in some good work with Bunny [Graham Onions, bowling coach] recently, so it's feeling good again.”
Born in Bristol in 2000, Aldridge emerged through Somerset's pathway system and Millfield School, making his professional debut for the county in 2021. He had already been identified as a player of considerable promise before that, having been selected in England's squad for the 2020 Under-19 World Cup.
His development has not been entirely straightforward. Aldridge is the sort of player English cricket increasingly values: a genuine seam-bowling all-rounder capable of contributing with both bat and ball. But establishing himself as a regular in a strong Somerset side was difficult. His first-class career nevertheless began to produce increasingly substantial returns, including a career-best 180 with the bat and a series of important spells with the ball.
Aldridge’s move to Durham has provided impetus. After spending time on loan, he joined permanently for the 2026 season, providing a new environment in which to develop his game and assume greater responsibility.
He explains: “I moved up here to the north-east to play as much cricket as possible and I am grateful for it. To come back into this game and be fourth seamer behind those guys [Carse, Potts and Stokes] is amazing. For me, I'm learning a lot and hopefully learning quite quickly as well. Having those guys around and just watching how they go about their business is amazing, really.”
Nine wickets, the Player of the Match award and another emphatic Durham victory represented more than an excellent weekend. They were another indication that Aldridge, still only 25, may finally be turning the considerable promise of his early career into sustained influence.
In 45 first-class matches, Aldridge now has 1,500+ runs at 28 with two centuries and 105 wickets at almost 36. If those two figures start to converge as seems likely, Durham will have yet another superb all-round cricketer on their hands. Indeed, that convergence is already happening this summer, as Aldridge has hit 261 Championship runs at 37 with a best of 99 and 28 wickets at 26.64, so, together with Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Ben Stokes and Ben Raine, Durham now have a hugely potent seam attack.
Other players to receive maximum votes in this rain-ravaged round – where every match bar Durham’s ended in a draw – were Joe Clarke of league leaders Nottinghamshire for his 150 against third-placed Warwickshire that made him the first batter to 1,000 runs in this year’s thrilling Rothesay County Championship; Sussex speedster Henry Crocombe who took a hat trick as part of his 5-56 in the first innings against second-placed Somerset; Surrey’s Ben Foakes against Essex on a tricky track at Chelmsford, where he compiled an unbeaten, match-saving last-day hundred as well as showcasing his ‘keeping skills standing up to Matt Fisher; James Wharton of Yorkshire who burnished his burgeoning reputation with a composed 70 at Scarborough against Leicestershire; and Sonny Baker, released from Test duty by England and arriving in Cardiff to take two Glamorgan wickets in his first over and generally proving himself a real handful as Hampshire aim to stave off relegation.
In division two, Middlesex’s Naavya Sharma’s five Derbyshire wickets won him the votes in a game Middlesex never got to bat in, having forfeited their first innings in the pursuit of an unlikely victory to boost their fading promotion chances; Northamptonshire opener Ricardo Vasconcelos with 119 came out top against Kent as the two sides who are second and third in the table – scrapping it out to join likely winners Durham in going up to the first division – played out a high-scoring draw; and finally Worcestershire’s Beyers Swanepoel took the maximum votes for an excellent all-round performance against Lancashire, taking four wickets and then hitting a quickfire unbeaten half century.
Leaderboard
15: Matthew Potts (Durham)
11: Matt Milnes (Kent)
10: Craig Overton (Somerset)
9: Tom Abell (Somerset)
8: Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Ben Raine (Durham), Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire), Jake Lehmann (Hampshire)
Round 10 votes
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire (3,2,1) - Joe Clarke, Olly Stone, Ethan Bamber
Essex v Surrey (3,2,1) - Ben Foakes, Dean Elgar, Rahul Chahar
Yorkshire v Leicestershire (3,2,1) - James Wharton, George Hill, Sheridon Gumbs
Glamorgan v Hampshire (3,2,1) - Sonny Baker, Jake Lehmann, Kyle Abbott
Sussex v Somerset (3,2,1) - Henry Crocombe, Tom Abell, Tom Clark
Derbyshire v Middlesex (3,2,1) - Naavya Sharma, Tom Helm, Joe Cracknell
Northamptonshire v Kent (3,2,1) - Ricardo Vasconcelos, Nathan McSweeney, Zak Crawley
Worcestershire v Lancashire (3,2,1) - Beyers Swanepoel, Jake Libby, George Balderson
Durham v Gloucestershire (3,2,1) - Kasey Aldridge, David Bedingham, Brydon Carse