Middlesex turned the primary County Championship facet in two years to forfeit an innings throughout their match towards Derbyshire earlier this week.
In a rain-affected four-day match on the County Floor in Derby, no play passed off on day one or day three of the match.
When Derbyshire had been bowled out for 131 of their first innings on day 4, Middlesex opted to forfeit their first innings in a bid to speed up the match.
Derbyshire scored 111-3 of their second innings earlier than the match ended on day 4. Middlesex didn’t bat within the length of the match that solely noticed 86.1 overs of play throughout 4 days.
It’s the first time a crew has forfeited an innings within the County Championship since September 2024, the place Gloucestershire and Glamorgan each forfeited an innings every of their match at Cardiff.
Additionally it is solely the third time in County Championship historical past the place one crew has batted twice, and their opponents haven’t batted in any respect, in a fixture.
The earlier situations had been between Durham and Middlesex in June 1993 and between Derbyshire and Middlesex in July 1988.
It’s the 255th event the place an innings within the County Championship has been forfeited.
Historically, it occurs when climate has restricted how a lot play can happen, with groups generally agreeing to each forfeit an innings with a purpose to speed up the probabilities of a end result.
In January 2000, South Africa and England each forfeited an innings throughout a Take a look at match at Centurion after days two, three and 4 of the match had been misplaced resulting from rain. It was the primary time in Take a look at cricket historical past that each groups had forfeited an innings.
England chased down their goal of 249 in 76 overs to win by two wickets. Nonetheless, it was later found that then South Africa captain Hansie Cronje had engineered the double declaration as a part of a match-fixing scandal.
