County Championship team of the week: Who joins Daniel Bell-Drummond?

The Cricketer reflects on round nine of the 2023 LV Insurance County Championship season by nominating a standout XI…

After the ninth round of County Championship matches, The Cricketer selects a team of the week...

Alex Lees (Durham)

It's almost impossible to overlook a player who scored a century in both of his side's innings and that's exactly what Lees did against Leicetershire. Having passed fifty on three occasions in his first seven outings of the season, Lees finally had the chance to raise his bat, with his 101 (151) laying the foundations for Durham to declare on 517 in the first innings. In the second, he shared a destructive 243-run stand off 255 balls with David Bedingham.

Tawanda Muyeye (Kent)

Another batter may have stolen the headlines as Kent piled on 621 runs en route to a resounding innings-and-15-runs win over Northamptonshire, but Muyeye's knock cannot be ignored.

In his 14th first-class match, the 22-year-old scored his maiden century, posting 179 runs off 205 balls, including 19 fours and four sixes. His previous best was 89 against Middlesex in September 2021.

^{Gareth Roderick scored a match-saving century against Derbyshire [Dan Mullan/Getty Images]}

Gareth Roderick (Worcestershire)

Roderick is enjoying life since being promoted to the top of the order for Worcestershire, following up promising starts of 30, 33 and 40 with a match-saving 123 against Derbyshire. Worcestershire were in real danger of defeat after Derbyshire declared on 578 for 5 in response to 237 but Roderick proved difficult to shift, sticking around for 209 balls and sharing a stubborn 63-run stand (230 balls) with Ed Pollock before eventually being removed in the 77th over.

Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent)

It's been a milestone week for Daniel Bell-Drummond who not only smashed his career-high score but also became just the third Kent player, after Bill Ashdown (twice) and Sean Dickson, to reach 300 in a first-class innings.

Batting at No.3, he finished unbeaten on 300 off 439 balls, batting for 526 minutes and scoring 26 fours and one six. A flurry of wickets had threatened to leave him stranded just shy of his triple century but No.11 Arshdeep Singh stuck around long enough to see him over the line.

Leus du Plooy (Derbyshire)

After scoring 170 against Yorkshire at Chesterfield to give his side a slim chance of getting a result last time out, du Plooy was once again among the runs. Against Worcestershire, the skipper went even bigger, finishing unbeaten on 238 off 356 balls as Derbyshire declared on 578.

His side were in trouble on 38 for 3 when he arrived in the middle but a pair of 250-plus partnerships with Wayne Madsen and Anuj Dal turned the tables. Du Plooy's knock is the 10th-highest for Derbyshire in first-class cricket.

Anuj Dal loves playing against Worcestershire [Dan Mullan/Getty Images]

Peter Handscomb (Leicestershire)

There was an abundance of wicketkeepers in contention for selection, with Durham's Ollie Robinson (167 not versus Leicestershire) and Somerset's James Rew (123 not out versus Notts) both scoring centuries and Sussex's Oli Carter keeping Glamorgan at bay with an unbeaten 55 off 150 balls. However, it's Handscomb who gets the nod for a resilient century as Leicestershire clung on for a draw with Durham.

After scoring 55 in the first innings, Handscomb finished unbeaten on 136 (201) in the second, batting for 256 minutes as he rescued his side from the precarious position of 26 for 3. He enjoyed big stands with Colin Ackermann and Wiaan Mulder and later stood firm as they collapsed from 173 for 4 to 189 for 8 before sharing a match-saving 70-run ninth-wicket stand with Ed Barnes.

Liam Dawson (Hampshire)

Ever since Jack Leach broke down with a lower back stress fracture at the start of June, Dawson has been the talk of the town. Even though he was overlooked for the Ashes – "I'm enjoying my cricket here at Hampshire," he responded – he's unlikely to be out of the headlines following his all-round masterclass against Middlesex.

Dawson shared a 236-run partnership with Nick Gubbins en route to 141 (247) before demolishing Middlesex with the Kookaburra. He took 6 for 40 off 22 overs in the first innings and 6 for 90 in the second to become the first Hampshire player to score a century and take 10 wickets in a match since 1901.

Anuj Dal (Derbyshire)

Dal loves playing against Worcestershire. Last season, he scored an unbeaten century when the two sides met in Derby and followed it up with an unbeaten century and a five-for in Worcester.

And on his return to New Road, it was business as usual. Dal picked up 5 for 45 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 237 before contributing 141 runs (193 balls) to a club-record sixth-wicket stand of 258 with du Plooy.

^{Will Williams impressed with bat and ball for Lancashire [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]}

Simon Harmer (Essex)

It took Harmer until mid-June to register his first Championship five-for of the season; he now has three in the space of four innings. Harmer did the lion's share of the bowling at Edgbaston, sending down 68.4 of the 144.4 overs faced by Warwickshire, bowling unchanged from the River End in the second innings. He finished with match figures of 10 for 230, including ripping through Warwickshire's lower order in the first innings. Oh, and he also chipped in with a handy 30 with the bat.

Matt Henry (Somerset)

Somerset needed something special after being bowled out for 163 and Henry delivered. The New Zealand international saw off Haseeb Hameed for a 19-ball duck and later grabbed the big wicket of Ben Slater (70) before tearing through the lower order to finish with figures of 6 for 59 from 20 overs. In the second innings, he snared Slater once again and also picked up Joe Clarke as Nottinghamshire collapsed to 14 for 4 and were later all out for 92.

Will Williams (Lancashire)

Williams' Lancashire teammate Tom Bailey is unlucky to miss out after demolishing Surrey's top order late on day three. However, Williams not only excelled with the ball, taking 3 for 86 in the first innings and 4 for 23 in the second as Lancashire skittled Surrey for 84 but also rescued his side with the bat.

He was sent out as nightwatch when Lancashire were in deep trouble at 112 for 4 in their second innings, and proceeded to frustrate Surrey's bowlers for over four hours as he posted his career-high score of 61 off 220 balls, top-scoring for the Red Rose in the process.

Honourable mentions: Ben Raine, Nathan McAndrew, Oli Carter, Ollie Price, Tom Bailey, Colin Ackermann, Ollie Robinson, Josh de Caires, James Rew, George Bartlett, David Bedingham, Dan Lawrence, Matt Revis, Dan Moriarty, Ed Pollock, Wayne Madsen