Derbyshire all-rounder Matt Critchley has been selected in Wisden’s LV= County Championship Team of the Year, after a standout campaign with bat and ball.
The 25-year-old scored exactly 1,000 runs in the red-ball competition at an average of , securing the milestone passed by just four other batters in 2021 in Derbyshire nine-wicket win over Sussex in the final game of the season.
With one century and eight half-centuries to his name, Critchley started the season brilliantly, passing 50 in five of his opening six innings, including 109 against Worcestershire at The Incora County Ground. Only one other player contributed scores of 50 or more as many times in the County Championship this year, that being Tom Haines of Sussex, who led the run-scoring charts this season with 1,176.
It was in that fixture that he also scored 84 in the second innings, while also claiming eight wickets. He would end the campaign with 32 dismissals at an average of 38.43.
When describing Critchley’s summer, Wisden wrote: “A superb first-class summer for Critchley, who reached the 1,000-run mark off the last ball of Derbyshire’s season. Once tipped to play for England by Stuart MacGill, this was a breakout season for the Derbyshire all-rounder.”
