Northamptonshire draw with Gloucestershire, both teams get promoted to Division 1

Northamptonshire had begun the match firmly on the front foot after having reduced their opponents to 80/6 at stumps on day one. Day two was abandoned without a ball being bowled courtesy constant downpour in Bristol. Day three saw the clouds dispersed a bit to allow Northamptonshire to gain a strong foothold in the match, only for youngster Ben Charlseswoth to spoil the party with a gritty unbeaten 77 that took them to 220/7 at the close of play. Rain resumed on day four, with the match having to end in a draw with only 73 overs being bowled in four days.

The result also saw Northamptonshire finish a comfortable second having only needed four points to secure promotion, while Glamorgan’s failure to achieve victory meant 182 points were enough for Gloucestershire to end in third. While the norm is two teams getting promoted to the elite division, a change in structure that will see the number of teams in the top tier getting increased from eight to 10 next season onwards meant Gloucestershire were back among the country’s best for the first time since 2005.