Cricket: Counties and the County Championship
One–Day team names
These names have been used for one–day competitions since about 1999.
| Derbyshire |
 |
Phantoms |
| Durham |
|
Dynamos |
| Essex |
|
Eagles |
| Glamorgan |
|
Dragons |
| Gloucestershire |
|
Gladiators |
| Hampshire |
|
Hawks |
| Kent |
|
Spitfires |
| Lancashire |
|
Lightning |
| Leicestershire |
|
Foxes |
| Middlesex |
|
Crusaders |
| Northamptonshire |
|
Steelbacks |
| Nottinghamshire |
|
Outlaws |
| Somerset |
|
Sabres |
| Surrey |
|
Brown Caps |
| Sussex |
|
Sharks |
| Warwickshire |
|
Bears |
| Worcestershire |
|
Royals |
| Yorkshire |
|
Phoenix |
The County Championship
| County Championship first officially contested |
|
1890 |
| Second division formed |
|
2000 |
| Points for a win (also 8 for a tie and 5 for a draw) |
|
16 |
| Number of overs that count for bonus points (first innings only) |
|
130 |
Bonus points:
| |
|
0 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
4 |
|
5 |
| Batting |
|
<200 |
|
200–249 |
|
250–299 |
|
300–349 |
|
350–399 |
|
>399 |
| Bowling |
|
<3 |
|
3 – 5 |
|
6 – 8 |
|
9 – 10 |
| |
As you'll no doubt have worked out if you've seen the answers (assuming you didn't already know), it's one batting point
for every 50 runs over 199 and one bowling point for every three wickets over two (or part thereof, in each case).
| Maximum number of points for a win – 16 + 5 (batting) + 3 (bowling) |
|
24 |
The County Championship – by county
| Most wins (32, up to and including 2015) |
|
Yorkshire |
| Won the Championship for five of its first six years (see below); more
titles than any other county except the above (won a 20th in 2022) |
|
Surrey |
| Counties that have never won the Championship |
|
Gloucestershire |
|
|
Northamptonshire |
|
|
Somerset |
Gloucestershire were named as Champion County in 1874, 1876 and 1877; they also shared the title (with Nottinghamswhire) in 1873. This was
before the formation of the County Championship, when the unofficial title of Champion County was awarded by consensus of the press and other
interested parties.
Somerset have finished as runners–up five times in the 21st century (to date): in 2001, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2019,
they needed to beat Essex in their final game to win the title; any other result would mean that Essex were champions. The rain–affected
game (with no play possible on Day 3) ended in a draw, meaning that Somerset missed out on the title yet again.
| 1936 champions – the only county to have won it once and only once (as of 2017) |
|
Derbyshire |
| 18th county to join the Championship (1992); won it for the first time in 2008, and also in 2009 and 2013 |
|
Durham |
| Brian Lara's 501 not out was scored in 1994 against |
| Won the Championship for the seventh time in 2017; the first six were all between 1979 and 1992 |
|
Essex |
| Joined the Championship in 1921 – the last to do so before Durham in 1992; winners in 1948, 1969 and 1997 |
|
Glamorgan |
| W. G. Grace's county; the only one of the original (1890) eight that has never won the Championship |
|
Gloucestershire |
| John Arlott's county; two Championship wins, 1961 and 1973 |
|
Hampshire |
| Won the Championship six times, but only twice since World War I (1970 and 1978 – plus one shared in 1977) |
|
Kent |
| Runners–up five times in the first seven years (1890–6), before winning the title in 1897; also won
in 1904, five times between 1926 and 1934, and 2011, and shared the title with Surrey in 1950 |
|
Lancashire |
| One of three counties, along with Yorkshire and Surrey, to have won the Championship three times in a row
(1926–8) |
| Three wins: 1975, 1996, 1998. First winners of the Benson & Hedges Cup (1972) |
|
Leicestershire |
| Won (outright) for the 11th time in 2016 – only Yorkshire and Surrey have won more times; also involved in
two of the three ties; six outright wins, and one share, came between 1976 and 1993 |
|
Middlesex |
| 16th to join the Championship (1901) and has never won it; won the inaugural Second Division title, in 2000 |
|
Northamptonshire |
| Won the Championship for the fifth time, and the first since 1989, in 2005; lost it (to Essex) by just 4 runs in 1984 |
|
Nottinghamshire |
| Before the formation of the County Championship, were named as Champion County eight times between 1865 and 1886;
also shared it six times between 1868 and 1889 |
| First to join the original eight, 1891; but has never won the Championship |
|
Somerset |
| Won the Championship in its first three years – 1890–2 – also in 1894 and
1895; seven times in a row, 1952–8; more wins than any other county except Yorkshire (won their 20th title in 2022); awarded a
five–point penalty for ball–tampering in 2005, resulting in relegation; emblem (of the cricket club, not the county) is the
Prince of Wales's feathers |
|
Surrey |
| Won the first one–day trophy (Gillette Cup, 1963; also won it in 1964); won the Championship for the first
time in 2003, also in 2006 and 2007 |
|
Sussex |
| The oldest of the 18 first–class county clubs (founded in 1839) |
| Last of seven wins was in 2012; winners of the inaugural Clydesdale Bank 40 (2010) |
|
Warwickshire |
| 15th to join the Championship, 1899; won it for the first time in 1964 (5 wins to 2020 – latest 1989) |
|
Worcestershire |
| Won the County Championship most times (2015 was their 32nd, plus one shared); includes three times in a row,
1966–68, but didn't win again until 2001 |
|
Yorkshire |
Other
| Ian Botham's counties (in chronological order) |
|
Somerset |
|
|
Worcestershire |
|
|
Durham |
| Shane Warne's county (2000–7) |
|
Hampshire |
| Depicted on Glamorgan's badge |
|
Daffodil |
© Haydn Thompson 2017–24
