Leicestershire clinched an unprecedented Second XI trophy treble after rain washed out the last day of the Championship final against Essex.
Heavy rain overnight prompted the umpires to abandon any hope of play at 9.45am, which handed Leicestershire the title because they had claimed a first-innings lead.
Leicestershire had already won the Second XI Twenty20 and Trophy finals this summer and were well on top at the Essex County Ground, opening up a 302-run lead after the first innings.
Ben Raine’s double-century helped the visitors to a massive 676 and Essex were 107 for three in reply, still 195 runs behind, overnight when the rain came.
Congratulations to @leicsccc on their #2ndXI Championship win. Thank you to Essex fans for your support this year! pic.twitter.com/lfDZHN3CXk
— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) September 19, 2014
It meant Lloyd Tennant’s team, who were unbeaten to top their division, became the first to win three second XI titles in a season and provided a timely boost to the county, who lie at the foot of LV= County Championship Division Two.
Tennant revealed his pride at his side’s feat and, with seven of the 12 players having graduated through the club’s academy, he believe there is reason for optimism in the future.
“I’m very proud of the lads for their efforts over the whole season,” he said.
“It was a strange end to the game because we arrived at the ground to find it under water – and the next thing we were being presented with the trophy on the outfield.
“The way we played yesterday was absolutely brilliant. We have had some experienced players involved but if you look at the average age of this side, it’s still only around 23. We know these lads have the skill, the talent and the character to do well given their performances this year.”
Leicestershire took control of the match following the sixth-wicket stand between Raine and Tom Wells, who hit a century.
“I was really happy to be 278 for five at the halfway point,” Tennant said.
“We felt that the pitch was turning yesterday and we still needed 97 to get into the lead at the start of the day. Although we knew that the first innings was an important factor in case the game was drawn, we felt that the game would go the distance.
@EssexCricket@EssexWeather here's one from the deep end! pic.twitter.com/yIqYvQZzST
— Stuart Kerrison (@Stueyk67) September 19, 2014
“As we were going to have to bat last, the general thought was that if we could get a first-innings lead of 50 then that would be great, and any lead at all would be fine. To get more than 300 ahead just speaks volumes of these players.
“Aadil Ali and Neil Pinner had played really well on the second day, Ben Raine took it to a different level with his double-hundred, Tom Wells got a great hundred, Eben Kurtz made his first fifty at second-team level, and Ant Ireland got an important fifty.
“At one point they had every man on the boundary to Rainey and he was still smashing it everywhere.
“To get a double-hundred at seven is such a great effort – some of his shots were just brilliant. We broke a few records yesterday too, so it could not have gone any better.”
Victory ensured a winning send-off for former England Under-19 skipper Shiv Thakor – who is heading to Derbyshire – as well as Anthony Ireland and Michael Thornely after they were not offered new deals for next season.
Leicestershire were led by Matt Boyce, who has signed a one-year contract extension until the end of next season. Pinner has penned a deal for the same period.