Guy Chapman reports:

Numbers were down on last year, but the competitiveness certainly wasn’t for the County Championships qualifying that took place at Eton on Sunday 24^th October. Five teams took part in an all-play-all format, with two qualifying for the final (requests that four should go through to the semis being rejected by the organiser!).

Defending champions Hertfordshire proved to be the class act, with a strong team winning 11 of a 12 possible games, but all four of the other counties entertained thoughts of qualification. Hertfordshire apart, only one match finished 3-0, and there were plenty of thrills as no fewer than four games went all the way to 15-14.

Things were mathematically wide open come the final round (at least for second place), and Richard Tyler spent some time debating the Warwickshire pairs necessary to eke out the points against Middlesex to ensure qualification.  Inspired combinations resulted in the comfortable 3-0 victory that placed Warwickshire in second place and through to the final on 23^rd Jan. This was no less than Warwickshire deserved after a strong performance, the highlight being their first pair victory over Herts (Tyler/Hoskins v Cohen/Campbell). Staffordshire took third place, with 2-1 victories over both Kent and Middlesex. Click on the thumbnail to see photos from the day's Fives.