COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM OF THE SEASON: Simon Harmer and Dom Sibley are in... but who else makes the cut?

The Cricketer picks an XI of the top performers in the 2019 County Championship - and a few others to make up a squad of 14 - based on the numbers, the aesthetics and perhaps even the odd hunch...

Dom Sibley

Warwickshire’s opener enjoyed the season of his career - run-laden and resolute - which has ended with a call-up to the England Test squad for the winter tour of New Zealand. Sibley faced more than 3,000 deliveries in the Championship in 2019, compiling five centuries and 1,324 runs with two doubles. In the feverous surroundings of Division One, it is a mighty effort. 

Hassan Azad

Leicestershire’s 25-year-old batsman looks like he has been around a lot longer than a single Championship season. A haul of 1,189 runs at 54s is a tremendous return, especially given the strength of the Division Two attacks this season - Robinson, Jordan and Garton and Sussex; Anderson, Bailey and Onions at Lancashire; Finn, Roland-Jones, Murtagh and Helm at Middlesex and so on, and so forth. No one across either division lasted longer, by balls faced in the first 20 overs of an innings, than Azad during 2019 (hat tip: CricViz). Staying power in the modern batting world is a massively valuable commodity.

Marnus Labuschagne

With the Australian in their side, Glamorgan looked on a collision course with promotion. When Labuschagne went to lend his superpowers to his national team, however, the Welsh county’s challenge fell away. That’s not to say Glamorgan’s every chance was invested in Labuschagne’s bat but his dominance in Division Two - 1,114 runs in 18 innings at 65.53 - is a pretty big reason for their early-season successes. His runs also came at a rapid rate (76.2), and on 10 of those 18 occasions he visited the crease he passed 50. No-brainer selection.

^{Hassan Azad of Leicestershire}

Sam Northeast

One day, we’ll all be given a good reason for Northeast being constantly overlooked for England duty. Maybe he is let down by batting in the same position as Joe Root? Possibly the selectors feel he might confuse fans of the shipping forecast. Whatever the excuse, it’s wrong. Hampshire’s reliable middle-order batsman keeps on producing. This year it was 969 Championship runs at 51s, accumulated quietly and classily. 

Sam Hain

Up until now, Hain’s presence has been primarily felt in white-ball cricket, where his massive career average is right up there with the best of all time. This year, however, his red-ball stats have been equally impressive - 822 runs at 51.38. A modest fifty-plus haul of five from 19 innings is outweighed by a very low false shot percentage of 10 which, CricViz report, is the lowest of any batsman to have made five or more appearances in Championship cricket in 2019.

Dane Vilas

Batsman, keeper, leader: Vilas enjoyed another tremendous campaign with Lancashire, cracking more than 1,000 runs in double-quick time and adding 48 dismissals behind the stumps. His 266 against Glamorgan - a career-best - was among the innings of the summer, and his average against spin was phenomenal. Quite simply, he was far too good.

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Ryan Higgins

Middlesex’s decision to let the allrounder leave at the end of 2017 is looking a little misjudged. Higgins was a major driver behind Gloucestershire’s unexpected promotion from Division Two this season, contributing 958 runs with the bat and 50 wickets with the ball at a very healthy average in the mid-23s. Only five bowlers in Division Two claimed more wickets, only six batsmen managed more runs.

Darren Stevens

Has there been a more popular story in cricket than the revival of Stevo at Kent in late-summer? The allrounder was to leave the county, his contract having not been renewed, and a loan spell at Derbyshire was all about setting himself up in the shop window. And then, he showed why Kent could not afford him to leave Canterbury. First with ball - he claimed 10-92 against Nottinghamshire to become the oldest seam bowler to take 10 wickets in a first-class match since Hampshire's Derek Shackleton in 1968 - and then with bat. His incredible double century against Yorkshire at Headingley will live long in the memory. At 43 years old, Stevens finished the Division One season with 52 wickets at an average of 17.58. He got through more than 400 overs of infuriatingly difficult-to-play medium pace, too. Quite the workload.

^{Darren Stevens has been in fine form for Kent}

Lewis Gregory

Gregory began the season in sensational form, claiming 14 wickets in the first two rounds of the season, and although his campaign was impacted a little by injury later on he still finished with 51 scalps at 15.76. The allrounder weighed in with 465 runs, too, including an unbeaten 129 against Surrey, and found himself being compared to Sir Ian Botham by one of his more outspoken teammates.

Kyle Abbott

The leading seam bowler in Division One, thanks largely to his astonishing 17-86 match figures against Somerset in the match which ultimately sealed Essex the title. Hampshire fans will be delighted the Kolpak has signed a three-year contract extension after his 71-wicket campaign. Averages of 15.73 don’t come along all too often.

Simon Harmer

Fourteen matches, 595.5 overs, 83 wickets at an average of 18.29 with an economy rate of 2.55. No fewer than 10 five-wicket hauls and two 10-fors. Harmer owned 2019.

Also in the squad: Ollie Pope (sensational in the few games he played after injury), Chris Rushworth (perhaps the most reliable seamer in the country over the past decade), Ollie Robinson (piled up the wickets for Sussex)