National Counties Championship 2022 Final Preview

Lincolnshire have recalled experienced campaigners Dan Freeman and Curtis Free for the four-day National Counties Championship final against Berkshire which starts at West Bromwich Dartmouth on Sunday.

All-rounder Freeman takes the place of batter Sam Evans, who is required by Leicestershire this weekend, while pace bowler Free is an addition to the side that drew with Norfolk last week to secure top spot in Eastern Division One and a place in the final.

Freeman and Free both played in Lincolnshire’s last Championship final in 2018 when they were beaten by Berkshire by an innings at Banbury, the third year running they had been beaten by them.

Captain Joe Kendall, Jack Timby and Nic Keast are the other Lincolnshire survivors from the 2018 final in a 12-man squad named for this weekend’s re-match.

Freeman played in only the first of Lincolnshire’s four-match Eastern Division programme this season while Free missed the last two.

Lincolnshire won the last of their three Championship titles in 2003 when they beat Devon at Cleethorpes.

But the competition has since been dominated by Western Division Counties with Staffordshire (2014) and Cumberland (2015) the only Eastern Division sides to win the competition outright since then.

Berkshire won the Championship four seasons in a row before Covid wiped out the 2020 season and Oxfordshire kept the title in the Western Division by beating Suffolk in the final 12 months ago.

Having won the National Counties Trophy at Wormsley last weekend, Berkshire head to West Bromwich seeking their tenth piece of silverware in six seasons and with the chance of becoming the first county to do the Championship and Trophy double for a third time.

Berkshire have won the Championship eight times with five of those titles coming in the past 14 years. Only Staffordshire (13) and Buckinghamshire (10) have won the competition more times.

Berkshire captain Dan Lincoln is one of only three survivors, along with all-rounder Andy Rishton and seam bowler Tom Nugent, from the 2018 final in a 13-man squad.

Injury rules out opening batter Savin Perera (broken thumb) and pace bowler Mungo Russell (shin while batter Jack Davies, who played in the 2018 final and last weekend’s Trophy final, is back on Middlesex duty.

Nugent returns to the squad in place of Lewis Sharp having missed the victory over Herefordshire last week which secured top spot in Western Division One.

Dan O’Driscoll replaces Sukhi Kang as wicketkeeper and slow left-armer Rhodri Lewis and Adam Searle are added to the side that beat Herefordshire.

Berkshire (from): Imran Malik, Archie Carter, Euan Woods, Charlie Dunnett, Dan Lincoln (c), Andy Rishton, Rhodri Lewis, Dan O’Driscoll, Tom Nugent, Luke Beaven, Max Uttley, Johnny Connell, Adam Searle.

Lincolnshire (from): Joe Kendall (c), Jaden Fell, Jack Timby, Tom Keast, Ben Wright, Dan Freeman, Jordan Cook, Nic Keast, James Dobson, Mark Footitt, Curtis Free, Drew Sylvester. 

National Counties Championship Final

September 4-7 (10.30am)

West Bromwich Dartmouth CC: Lincolnshire v Berkshire.