County Championship
The County Championship is the national first-class cricket competition for England and Wales . The 18 so-called first-class counties take part, including a team (Glamorgan) from Wales.
The official County Championship did not begin until 1890, before the County Champions had been proclaimed by the press, which was not always in agreement. The famous Wisden Cricketers' Almanack keeps an explicitly unofficial list of English masters since 1864, which goes back to the Cricketh historian Rowland Bowen . The earliest reports of a county as an English champion date back to 1826. The British Post issued a postage stamp in 1973 to mark the centenary of the county championship, but in 1873 only uniform rules for qualifying were introduced. H. Game permissions of the players for the countyclubs specified.
In the first official championship season in 1890 Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire took part with home and away games. The league position was determined by the simple formula “wins minus losses”. The following year Somerset entered the First Class Championship, then Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire in 1895. Other county teams followed in 1899 (Worcestershire), 1905 (Northamptonshire), 1921 (Glamorgan) and finally Durham in 1992.
Since the teams never played the same number of games in the season until the Second World War , the relative victory yield from the games was used to determine the champion, with the exception of draws . Different systems were used from 1910 to 1967. In the first season after World War I, 1919, the games only lasted two days instead of three, and Worcestershire did not participate again that year. Since 1968, despite frequent modifications, a system has been established in which, in addition to the points for a victory, bonus points are awarded for runs or wickets in the first 120 overs (as of 2009) of the first innings of both teams. Since 1996 there are also points for a draw . After a transition phase in the 1980s, the games are now scheduled for four days. With Schweppes , the championship received its first sponsor in 1977. In 2000 it was divided into a 1st and 2nd division with three promoted and relegated teams, from the 2006 season this number was reduced to two.
Teams
Eighteen teams are taking part in the County Championship today:
| Participation since | |
|---|---|
| Derbyshire | 1895 |
| Durham | 1992 |
| Essex | 1895 |
| Glam organ | 1921 |
| Gloucestershire | 1890 |
| Hampshire | 1895 |
| Kent | 1890 |
| Lancashire | 1890 |
| Leicestershire | 1895 |
| Middlesex | 1890 |
| Northamptonshire | 1905 |
| Nottinghamshire | 1890 |
| Somerset | 1891 |
| Surrey | 1890 |
| Sussex | 1890 |
| Warwickshire | 1895 |
| Worcestershire | 1899 |
| Yorkshire | 1890 |
County Champions
| season | 1st division | Relegated | 2nd division | further climbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Essex | Nottinghamshire | Lancashire | Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire |
| 2018 | Surrey | Lancashire, Worcestershire | Warwickshire | Kent |
| 2017 | Essex | Middlesex, Warwickshire | Worcestershire | Nottinghamshire |
| 2016 | Middlesex | Hampshire, Nottinghamshire | Essex | |
| 2015 | Yorkshire | Sussex, Worcestershire | Surrey | Lancashire |
| 2014 | Yorkshire | Northamptonshire, Lancashire | Hampshire | Worcestershire |
| 2013 | Durham | Derbyshire, Surrey | Lancashire | Northamptonshire |
| 2012 | Warwickshire | Lancashire, Worcestershire | Derbyshire | Yorkshire |
| 2011 | Lancashire | Yorkshire, Hampshire | Middlesex | Surrey |
| 2010 | Nottinghamshire | Essex, Kent | Sussex | Worcestershire |
| 2009 | Durham | Sussex, Worcestershire | Kent | Essex |
| 2008 | Durham | Kent, Surrey | Warwickshire | Worcestershire |
| 2007 | Sussex | Warwickshire, Worcestershire | Somerset | Nottinghamshire |
| 2006 | Sussex | Nottinghamshire, Middlesex | Surrey | Worcestershire |
| 2005 | Nottinghamshire | Surrey, Gloucestershire, Glamorgan | Lancashire | Durham, Yorkshire |
| 2004 | Warwickshire | Worcestershire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire | Nottinghamshire | Hampshire, Glamorgan |
| 2003 | Sussex | Essex, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire | Worcestershire | Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire |
| 2002 | Surrey | Hampshire, Somerset, Yorkshire | Essex | Middlesex, Nottinghamshire |
| 2001 | Yorkshire | Northamptonshire, Glamorgan, Essex | Sussex | Hampshire, Warwickshire |
| 2000 | Surrey | Hampshire, Durham, Derbyshire | Northamptonshire | Essex, glamorgan |
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Victories by County 1890-2019
- Yorkshire 32 plus 1 shared
- Surrey 19 plus 1 shared
- Middlesex 11 plus 2 shared
- Lancashire 8 plus 1 shared
- Warwickshire 7
- Essex 8
- Kent 6 plus 1 shared
- Nottinghamshire 6
- Worcestershire 5
- Durham 3
- Glamorgan 3
- Leicestershire 3
- Sussex 3
- Hampshire 2
- Derbyshire 1
Three First Class Counties have never won the championship: Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and Somerset.
literature
- Robert Brooke, A History of the County Cricket Championship , Guinness Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-85112-919-6
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 142nd Edition, John Wisden & Co Ltd, 2005, pp. 549 ff. ISBN 0-947766-89-8
Notes and sources
- ^ Cricinfo - A brief history of the County Championship
- ↑ Cricinfo - Unofficial Champions
- ^ Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 134th Edition, John Wisden & Co Ltd, 1997, p. 430. ISBN 0-947766-38-3
- ^ Cricinfo - County Champions