England capped spinners Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed both had exceptional all-round outings in the County Championship this week, pulling off an ultra-rare feat in the same round of fixtures.
Both Hartley and Rehan scored first-innings centuries in their respective games – Rehan playing for Leicestershire against Derbyshire, and Hartley for Lancashire against Gloucestershire - both in Division Two of the Championship. Rehan scored an innings-rescuing 115 from No.3, after Leicestershire had been reduced to 0-2. It was his fourth century of the season to continue an outstanding summer with the bat for the young all-rounder.
Hartley's ton was an extraordinary lower-order knock, coming from No.10 as the third century in Lancashire's innings and Hartley's maiden first-class hundred.
After both spinners had reached three figures with the bat, they also both played leading roles with the ball. Hartley took six-for to give Lancashire a 176-run first innings lead, while Rehan returned figures of 6-56 as Derbyshire were all out for 189.
Rehan Ahmed is the first Englishman to score a century and take 13 wickets in the same first-class game since Ian Botham in 1980.#Countycricket2025 pic.twitter.com/K1Z5pQy9cT
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 25, 2025
While Rehan went into bat again – out for 26 off 18 – Hartley went back-to-back with the ball after captain James Anderson enforced the follow-on. The hero from last year's Hyderabad Test took another five-for to complete 11 in the match, with his figures 11-215, leaving Lancashire only needing 110 in their final innings.
Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed complete ultra-rare feat on the same day
Hartley wasn't required to bat in the final innings, Lancashire knocking off the target one wicket down, but over in Derby Rehan played a starring role at the end of the game to continue the startling symmetry between their two feats. The leggie took seven wickets as Leicestershire cruised to victory by 189 runs, returning figures of 7-93 and career-best first-class match figures of 13-144.
Scoring a century and taking two five-wicket hauls in the same game is already a rare feat to achieve. For both Hartley and Rehan to do it in the same round of fixtures is even more astonishing.
Before their efforts this week, only two players had completed the set in the last 38 years of the County Championship. Liam Dawson did so twice (in 2023 and 2024), and before that the last player to do so was Richard Hadlee in 1987.
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