Durham’s Matthew Potts picked up his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket since September 2024.
Matthew Potts takes first FC five-wicket haul since September 2024
Potts, who played the Sydney Test of the 2025/26 Ashes after being drafted into the XI for an injured Gus Atkinson, returned figures of 6-92 in the ongoing County Championship match against Kent. This was his first five-for in the format since September 2024.
Kent batted first in Beckenham, with England U19 opener Ben Dawkins and Sam Northeast slamming respective hundreds after Zak Crawley fell to Ben Stokes. Dawkins scored a career-best 180, his first FC ton, while Northeast struck his 36th century in the format.
Ben Raine dismissed the two centurions, while Potts got the better of Tawanda Muyeye, Chris Benjamin and Matt Milnes as Kent went from 364-1 to 389-7. Ekansh Singh and Keith Dungeon then joined hands to add 108 runs for the eighth wicket, but Potts broke the stand by having the latter caught behind.
He soon removed James Taylor and Matt Parkinson to get to six wickets in the innings and bowl out Kent for 523. In the process, he also ended a 20-game wait for his 11th FC five-for. Potts' last five-wicket haul in a first-class innings was in the 2024 Championship match against Lancashire, when he returned figures of 9-68.
Match 47, Kent vs Durham
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Potts has now taken 24 wickets in five matches of the ongoing Championship season at 22.75. His fellow Durham seamer Raine is on top of the Division Two wicket-takers’ list with 33 scalps after the first innings of the game against Kent.
At the time of writing, Durham had lost Emilio Gay, who received his maiden England call-up for the upcoming first Test against New Zealand, for a duck. Captain Alex Lees fell to Ekansh for 31, with the side at 59-2 in the second session on day two. Potts has not been called up to the England Test squad for the upcoming New Zealand series.
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