'It's a miracle': Aussie quick defies odds to conjure unlikely win

Until this weekend Ryan Hadley, at 27, had a high score of 15 and a batting average of 5.77 having faced 250 balls in first-class cricket in his entire career.

On Sunday night, the bowler was sent in as nightwatchman, with Glamorgan 4-133 chasing 283 to beat Somerset.

It was a role he also fulfilled for NSW last season having finished not out in more than half of his first-class innings to date.

Five hours and 231 balls later Hadley hit the winning runs to bring up his maiden half-century as the Welsh county won by two wickets on Monday afternoon (UK time).

"It's a miracle," said Hadley.

"It happened in blocks. I was just hoping to chip away at a few to help the boys. I played and missed a few, luckily not good enough to nick it and Sean (Dickson) started really well."

Hadley, who was dropped at second slip either side of lunch, resumed on two not out on Monday. He added 114 with Dickson (76), then scored the bulk of the 37 runs required after the South African was dismissed.

The win moved Glamorgan into mid-table in division one and kept Somerset off the top, a spot which is occupied by Fergus O'Neill's defending champions Nottinghamshire after their draw with Surrey – winners the previous three seasons.

England opener Ben Duckett scored his first century in 11 months, and went on to turn it into a double, finishing 203 not out as Notts batted throughout the final day, making 4-414.

Duckett turned his back on the Indian Premier League to work on his red ball game after a poor Ashes series and it has paid off with 503 runs so far this summer. He looks sure to keep his place for the New Zealand series with Zak Crawley, who has been in poor form, more likely to be dropped.

Most Runs

2026 County Championship division one

Player	Total
1 Joe Clarke J Clarke	748
2 Tom Abell T Abell	696
3 Ben Slater B Slater	571
4 Jake Lehmann J Lehmann	559
5 Kiran Carlson K Carlson	542
6 Daniel Hughes D Hughes	539
7 Dom Sibley D Sibley	516
8 Ben Duckett B Duckett	503

Full Table

Sussex beat Jake Weatherald's Leicestershire by seven wickets, chasing down 131 to win despite a golden duck for Daniel Hughes. Beau Webster's Warwickshire thrashed Yorkshire by 377 to move into second.

In division two Nathan McSweeney's 206-minute 62 was not enough for the Darren Lehmann-coached Northamptonshire, who lost to Caleb Jewell's Derbyshire by an innings and 113 runs. 

Northants also had an Aussie nightwatchman, but Harry Conway made 0, though he did hold out for half-an-hour as the visitors tried to bat out the final day.

Gloucestershire captain Cameron Bancroft was just unable to engineer a win over Kent, who held on for a two-wicket win to leave his side at the bottom of the table.

2026 County Championship division one standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Nottinghamshire Men NOT	6	2	0	4	0	11	16	91
2 Warwickshire Men WAR	6	2	1	3	0	12	18	86
3 Glamorgan Men GLA	6	2	1	3	0	11	16	83
4 Essex Men ESS	6	3	2	1	0	8	16	80
5 Sussex Men SSX	6	3	1	2	12	15	12	79
6 Somerset Men SOM	6	2	2	2	0	13	18	79
7 Surrey Men SRY	6	1	1	4	0	14	12	74
8 Yorkshire Men YRK	6	2	2	2	0	7	16	71
9 Leicestershire Men LEI	6	0	4	2	0	15	15	46
10 Hampshire Men HAM	6	1	4	1	0	1	15	40

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points

Australians in the 2026 County Championship

Derbyshire: Caleb Jewell

Glamorgan: Ryan Hadley (first six matches), Nathan McAndrew (June-July)

Gloucestershire: Cameron Bancroft, Gabe Bell (first six matches), Liam Scott (June)

Hampshire: Jake Lehmann

Lancashire: Marcus Harris, Chris Green

Leicestershire: Jake Weatherald

Northamptonshire: Nathan McSweeney, Harry Conway (first two months only)

Nottinghamshire: Fergus O'Neill (April-June only)

Surrey: Sean Abbott (first half of season)

Sussex: Daniel Hughes

Warwickshire: Beau Webster (first half of season)

Yorkshire: Sam Whiteman, Jhye Richardson (until mid-May)