Division Three - Here We Come!

 

County Championship set for radical overhaul with three conferences of six culminating in annual Lord's final

The restructuring is viewed as the best way to ensure the vibrancy - and long-term viability - of all 18 counties

Tim Wigmore - Daily Telegragh

County cricket is poised for its most radical changes in a generation, with the County Championship set to be played in three conferences of six, culminating in an annual final at Lord’s. 

Telegraph Sport revealed earlier this month that the success of the Bob Willis Trophy was leading to a push to replace the two-division Championship with an annual competition in which all 18 first-class counties could win. Such a structure is seen as a way to revive interest in the domestic first-class game.

The new format would entail:

• Three conferences of six, with each team playing the others in the conference home and away
• The top two teams in each conference would proceed to Division One, where they would play the top two teams from the other two conferences. Other teams would advance to Division Two and Three
• All counties would continue to play at least 14 Championship games - the same figure as in 2019
• The top two teams in Division One would then meet in the five-day final at Lord’s - for which it is hoped that England players would be available - which would become the showpiece of the domestic first-class game 

A conference call between chief executives from the 18 counties on Thursday revealed very strong support for this model, which is proposed in a draft document circulated to county chief executives by the Professional Game Group, a body that represent the county game. The restructuring is viewed as the best way to ensure the vibrancy - and long-term viability - of all 18 counties. 

Chief executives are now giving feedback, with a view to agreeing a final proposal in a matter of days. The changes would then need to be agreed by the ECB’s cricket committee - which is not anticipated to be a problem - and ratified by at least 12 of the 18 counties. It is anticipated that the restructuring will now be confirmed by early October, allowing the domestic fixture list to come out in November as normal. 

Each season, the 18 teams in the County Championship would be divided into three conferences of six, and seeded based upon their performances in the previous season. For the first iteration, the conferences would be based upon finishing positions in the 2019 County Championship, with this option set to be preferred to a regional model previously considered. The conferences would be designed to be of equal strength - so the top-ranked team in the previous year would be in conference one, the second in conference two, the third in conference three and then the fourth in conference one, and so on. 

The top two teams in each conference would advance to Division One. They would carry forward their results against the other side to advance from their conference and then play a game each against the other four teams to advance to Division One. An identical structure would be used for teams advancing to Division Two and Three.

While only Division One would have a final, prize money would be designed to give fixtures in Division Two and Three meaning, with the bottom four teams in Division Three receiving no prize money at all. 

The reforms are seen as a way to reinvigorate the English first-class game. It is hoped that the system would keep alive interest in all 18 first-class counties and discourage local players from leaving for bigger counties - the draft proposal references reducing agents’ power by removing the perception of Division Two as a “graveyard” - while maintaining a best v best element. 

The annual five-day Lord’s final is considered essential. This would begin in late September but could culminate in October. It would generate new interest in the county game, with the hope that England’s schedule will allow their leading Test players to appear in this game.

The proposals for the final are that the team who finished second in Division One would need to win to lift the Championship title, with the top team in Division One lifting the trophy in the event of a draw. In the conferences and divisions, the system of bonus points is likely to revert to that used in 2019. 

The proposed schedule envisages the 10 conference games per county being played from April until the end of June, with the T20 Blast - played in two regional groups of nine - beginning in late May. The T20 Blast would then finish in mid-July, with the Royal London One-Day Cup played alongside the Hundred until late August. There remains a long-term ambition to involve the national counties in the One-Day Cup, as Telegraph Sport first revealed, but - partly due to Covid-19 - the competition will be played in two groups of nine next season. 

The knockout stages of the T20 Blast would then be played in late August, before the three divisions of the Championship were played in September, with this segment of the competition likely to be marketed under the moniker ‘Race to Lord’s’.

Attention has also been given to how to ‘Covid-proof’ the 2021 domestic season. Telegraph Sport understands that two potential season structures have been prepared - one if crowds of at least 50 per cent are permitted before next April, and one if they are still not.

In the second scenario, the domestic fixture list would be revised so that the T20 Blast does not begin until August, maximising the chances of more fans being able to attend games. Under these proposals, finals day of the T20 Blast could be played at the very start of October as it is this year, when finals day is staged on October 3. If Covid-19 remains a major issue next summer, the regional format of this year’s Bob Willis Trophy could be retained in the conference stage of the domestic first-class competition.