Yorkshire CCC guaranteed top-flight cricket next year after Surrey beat Hampshire
AND breathe…
Any fears that Yorkshire would be relegated to Division Two of the County Championship were allayed on Saturday morning when their survival was mathematically confirmed.
Hampshire’s defeat to Surrey in Southampton - the hosts collapsing from 61-0 to 160 all-out in pursuit of 181 - meant that Yorkshire were safe no matter what.
News of Surrey’s win came through at 10.55am as Yorkshire took on Durham on the final day of the season at Headingley.
It also meant that should Durham hold out for a draw then they would be safe and Hampshire would be relegated, with Hampshire having also lost two cup finals in recent weeks.
At Headingley, Yorkshire resumed on 465-9 in their first innings in reply to Durham’s 346, with Jordan Thompson on 44 and Jack White yet to score.
Thompson went through to his half-century on his final appearance for Yorkshire before his close-season move to Warwickshire, the left-hander reaching the milestone from 112 balls with his sixth boundary, a thumping off-drive off Ben Raine.
Thompson had not added to his tally when he lofted Raine to Alex Lees at long-off, Raine finishing with 5-76 to go with his hundred in the Durham first innings as Yorkshire were dismissed for 475, a lead of 129.
When their survival was confirmed, the Yorkshire players were in the team huddle in front of the pavilion as the Durham openers Alex Lees and Emilio Gay were just about to walk to the crease to start the visitors’ second innings.
There were cheers among the spectators in the ground as the news of Hampshire’s defeat filtered through.