Yorkshire took the County Championship Veterans’ Premier Division title, ending the reign of runners-up Nottinghamshire, who were unable to take their eighth successive title.
With both counties starting the weekend, played at Nottingham TTC, on maximum points after three wins apiece over the first weekend at Ashford, their clash on Saturday was always going to be crucial and so it proved.
Yorkshire had bolstering their squad by inclusion of Victor Guang Shi and the strengthening of their squad proved vital as they ran out 7-3 winners against the reigning champions.
In their clash it was nip-and-tuck early on. After four sets there was little to choose between the counties at which point Yorkshire moved up a gear and took five of the remaining sets.
Being two points ahead of Notts overnight, the Yorkshire team were in the driving seat and comfortable 8-2 and 9-1 victories over Middlesex and Sussex respectively saw the White Rose County take the title.
There was also excitement at the other end of the table, with former champions Sussex ending a disappointing season at the bottom of the table. But who was going to join then in a lower division next term came down to the final match of the weekend.
Derbyshire faced Leicestershire in the final match and both counties knew what they had to do – Derbyshire on 3pts needed a draw and Leicestershire on 2pts needed a win.
Things were looking bright for Leicestershire as they moved into a 4-1 lead but a mini revival by Derbyshire, who took the next three sets, saw the sides locked at 4-4 after eight sets.
The penultimate match saw Leicestershire move ahead again as Chris Rogers beat Robin Pearce 3-0 (11-6 11-5 11-7). This left the final mixed doubles to determine which of these counties would retain their Premier Division status and who would be relegated.
Derbyshire started the stronger as Stuart McIntyre & Jane Vickers took the opening game 17-15 over Leicestershire’s Mathew Hobday & Karen Smith. But in an equally nervy second game it was the Leicestershire pair who prevailed 14-12. Hobday & Smith moved into a fine rhythm and took the third game 11-7. This was followed by a fourth game 11-8 win by the Leicestershire pairing. This secured Leicestershire’s place in the top flight next season.
The results of all the matches played in the Veterans’ Premier Weekend are on the County Championships website. Click here to view the final league table. From there you can navigate to the full set of results, individual match cards, player averages and much more.
