- Live updates from the final day of play at Lord’s
- Email Tanya, tweet @tjaldred or comment BTL
A very modest ceremony takes place. Tom Westley walks up the plinth alone to collect the trophy, before taking it back to his teammates in front of a sprinkling of applauding journalists, photographers and ECB/MCC staff. No champagne, no leaping about. In a nice touch, Westley and Alastair Cook then go straight away to touch elbows with Lauren Clark, Bob Willis’s wife, who designed the trophy.
That really is it for this first-class season, short but perfectly formed as it was. Thanks to you all for reading and commenting; time for a train home. It’s goodnight from Lord’s, and it’s good night from me. Roll on spring!
In front of the pavilion, the presentation paraphernalia collects, the covers are driven onto the pitch and the teams gather.
A final email from Nat Godden: “As an Essex supporter (through thick and thin), I can’t help but admire the sense that somehow, we’ve done Somerset a favour by again not allowing them to win this year. Schadenfreude alongside the windfall cider-apples, or what? What a five days, though!”