2005 English Cricket Season - September

September

September began with Australia's women recording a four-run win in the final ODI of the five-match series – Clare Connor out as last woman when England needed five to win off the last over. Karen Rolton then hit 96 not out in the second women's Twenty20 international ever to be played, as Australia won by seven wickets. On 3 September, Hampshire batted first to make 290 in the C&G Trophy final, and Andy Bichel, Shane Watson and Chris Tremlett combined to bowl their final opponents Warwickshire out for 272 to win the Trophy, becoming the third club to win a major trophy in England this season. Meanwhile, former England Under-19 player Alastair Cook took the Australian bowlers on for 270 in a drawn non-first class tour match.

There were National League games from 4 September to 6 September, and Sussex Sharks became the first team to promote from Division Two, despite not even playing. In the Championship, Nottinghamshire began their match two days early, and completed an innings defeat inside two days to take a 23.5-point lead over second-placed Hampshire. Hampshire had a bye, however, so Sussex took the opportunity to go second with a two-day victory over Glamorgan. Nottinghamshire had a game in hand and 10 points on Sussex, however, and their only challenge looked to come from Kent, who drew their match with Middlesex to be third in the table, trailing by 19.5 points with the same amount of games as Nottinghamshire.

The final Test match of the season started on 8 September with England needing a draw or better to win back the Ashes after 16 years of Australian domination. England opener Andrew Strauss made a first-innings century, which was matched by his Australian counterpart Matthew Hayden, who ground out his hundred from 218 balls and went on to top score with 138. However, Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard grabbed the last nine wickets for 103 runs as Australia were bowled out six overs into the fourth day afternoon. Going into the second innings with a 4-run lead, England fell to 199 for 7, but Ashley Giles held out for his fourth Test half-century and a 109-run stand with Kevin Pietersen – who made the series' second-highest score with 158 to give England a total of 335. Australia walked off after three minutes in their second innings, to give England the draw and the 2–1 series victory.

Meanwhile, in the County Championship, Lancashire assumed the ascendancy of Division Two with an eight-wicket win over Essex which also secured their return to Division One after only one season on the lowest rung of the Championship ladder. National League losses for Worcestershire Royals and Hampshire Hawks then left four teams on 22 points in the bottom of Division One – three of them would have to go down.

Nottinghamshire and Kent then faced off for the match that would decide the County Championship title, with Kent trailing by 19.5 points before the match at Trent Bridge. Kent failed to chase 420 in five hours, and Nottinghamshire recorded a 214-run win to take the Championship title. Durham and Yorkshire also secured Championship promotion with draws, while the first International 20:20 Club Championship was won by Faisalabad Wolves after a five-wicket win over Chilaw Marians in the final.

In the National League, Warwickshire Bears won three matches in seven days to go third in the Division Two table before the final round, with Derbyshire Phantoms the only team that had a theoretical possibility of catching the Bears. Lancashire Lightning and Worcestershire Royals both lost in Division One, leaving them tied on points with two other teams at the bottom of the table. The final round of the Championship saw Hampshire beat the newly-crowned county champions Nottinghamshire by an innings and 188 runs, their second win over Nottinghamshire in the Championship this year, but they still finished 2.5 points behind. Surrey were relegated after conceding too many bonus points to Middlesex, and a total of four innings victories were registered on the final matchday.

The season ended with nine National League matches – Lancashire Lightning survived in Division One after beating Worcestershire Royals, while Gloucestershire Gladiators were relegated despite a win. Warwickshire Bears confirmed promotion, despite losing to Durham Dynamos, while Scottish Saltires played their last National League game, losing by eight wickets.