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WELCOME TO THE CONFERENCE
A revamped County Championship will return next summer with the 18 first-class counties split into three groups.
The competition was replaced by the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 after the domestic season started four months late amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bob Willis Trophy final, a five-day game at Lord's, will still take place in 2021 contested by the best two sides in the new-look County Championship.
Essex, county champions in 2019, will defend both trophies.
They also won the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy in September after the County Championship was cancelled for the first time since World War Two.
The County Championship is usually split into two divisions with eight teams in Division One and 10 in Division Two.
But with uncertainty surrounding how Covid-19 will continue to impact first-class cricket in 2021, the England and Wales Cricket Board said it wanted to restart the County Championship while mitigating against the impact of the pandemic.
"I am delighted that the counties have been able to reach this agreement less than three weeks after Essex won the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord's," ECB chair Ian Watmore said.
"The success of that competition provides reassurance that this structure can help safeguard against any impact the global pandemic may have on next season while also ensuring the integrity of the County Championship.
"It must be stressed that this structure has been agreed for next season only and during 2021 we will review and consult with the counties and other stakeholders to decide the appropriate next steps for the men's domestic structure in 2022 and beyond."
The three groups are seeded based on performances during the 2019 County Championship and the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy.
Playing conditions for both tournaments and dates will be announced "in due course".
The County Championship groups
- Group 1: Essex, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Worcestershire, Durham.
- Group 2: Somerset, Hampshire, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Leicestershire.
- Group 3: Kent, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Glamorgan, Sussex.
How will it work?
- Each county will play 10 four-day games in the group stage - five home and five away.
- The top two teams in each group will go through to a second group stage called Division One.
- The six teams in Division One play a further four matches, with the side that finishes top of Division One crowned 2021 County Championship winners.
- The top two teams in Division One will contest five-day Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord's.
- The remaining 12 teams that do not go into Division One will move into Divisions Two and Three, in which teams will play another four matches.
I am going with it, what else to do ?
ReplyDeleteIt hard wires the Championship into the Schedule and gives every county a chance to win The County Championship and The Bob Willis Trophy
Plrased Hutton back, a Notts lad very likely to be in the team and still only 27
Moving towards rejoining, but clearly many good things need to happen outside the sphere of cricket to get us back into the grounds
3 tier championship for the closing stages - poetically apt
DeleteECB Chair, Ian Watmore, said: “Since starting in my new role last month one of my key priorities, as a huge supporter of red-ball cricket, has been to collaborate with the First-Class Counties so that we could confirm a structure for next summer’s men’s first-class season.
ReplyDelete“I am delighted that the counties have been able to reach that agreement less than three weeks after Essex won the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s.
“The success of that competition provides reassurance that this structure can help safeguard against any impact the global pandemic may have on next season while also ensuring the integrity of the County Championship.
“It must be stressed that this structure has been agreed for next season only and during 2021 we will review and consult with the counties and other stakeholders to decide the appropriate next steps for the men’s domestic structure in 2022 and beyond.”
Gloucestershire Cricket Chief Executive Will Brown added: “We welcome today’s announcement from the ECB and confirmation of the proposed red ball tournament for 2021. For Gloucestershire fans there are already some great matches to look forward to and we’re excited to see how we progress and the opposition we will face for the final set of matches next season.
We look forward to planning for the season, taking part fully in the proposed review and most importantly playing some great cricket for our family of supporters.”
Seedings for the Group Stage of the 2021 County Championship have been determined based on performances of the First-Class Counties during the 2019 County Championship and the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy.
A provision to accommodate derby matches, only where appropriate within the seeding structure, into the groups has also ensured that county members and supporters can look forward to some of county cricket’s oldest rivalries resuming home and away next summer.
Yes, Hutton clearly makes our red ball squad stronger so a decent recapture.Not convinced he will play too much white ball however, which ironically, was the reason he gave for heading to Wantage Road. Struggling overall, to get enthused with much to be honest. As like many, someone who attends every day of every home match and some away fixtures also and watches the stiffs regularly, I have no confidence whatsoever that we will be back in cricket grounds by next April. The thought of having to endure another season with the live stream is enough to make me put a pair of underpants on my head and stick two pencils up my nose a la Rowan Atkinson in the classic Blackadder Goes Forth episode
ReplyDeleteAgree with you entirely SJ - keep safe and keep well.
DeleteCheer up SJ !
ReplyDeleteIts not all gloom and doom.
Have faith in Boris and Co to pull us through these dark days!
I am certain that next season you will be watching cricket at Trent Bridge ( actually inside the ground itself)
Perhaps not in the same numbers as before for the White ball games . However there is no logical reason for
300/400+ fans not being admitted to the 4 day stuff. Social distancing should not be a problem there in such a large space with perhaps one gate to come into the ground and a separate one to leave.
Unless of course the dreaded ” second wave ” of virus infections gets out of control .
The $64,000 dollar question is this -will the the ECB have to postphone the much vaunted 100 Ball Comp for yet another year?
At red ball, people could have a row per group easily - it's strange how this isn't being allowed, as it's just sitting outside on your own or with a small group, the same as in a park. But it's the Friday night T20s I love best, and they were packed - so I can see it years before we can enjoy the Outlaws pulverising opposition attacks again in person.
ReplyDeleteI think there's additional problems with people arriving/leaving around the same times, members utilising the Pavillion facility where the players are housed, using the conveniences and catering/bar facilities. Also, in decent weather we get crowds of around 1,000 to 1,500 for a red ball fixture so it's not quite so easy to accommodate everyone as it may initially seem perhaps. Also, the middle tier Raddy Rd stalwarts would refuse to be socially distanced or sit anywhere else I suggest(that's a little jokette by the way) Also, it then comes down to how desperate the Counties are to accommodate spectators in this loss making format. Some I would suggest not very. This will no doubt be dictated by the Govts. stance with regard to Furlough or similar schemes, assuming the virus doesn't magically disappear. Let's all hope Footy is now the guinea pig in this regard and can put pressure on the powers that be to find some sort of way around these issues. If it was indoor pheasant or grouse shooting there would have been a dispensation put in place months ago or if there was a sport where someone on the minimum wage/zero hour contract had to wash the Bentley of a Tory Fat Cat this would not even have been stopped during lockdown I would suggest
ReplyDeleteS J - me thinks you are not a fan of this current Tory Govt?
ReplyDeleteI dont think that many of them have Bentleys or indulge in grouse shooting !
However, this whole pandemic situation should be far above political point-scoring. If Corbyn/ Starmer were pulling the strings we would still have the same problems that we have now. There is no solution available to make the virus go away until an effective vaccine is produced. So we are all stuck with a terrible problem. It's the same throughout the whole world really but in differing levels of contagion.
Reference red-ball cricket. Most Counties said before the pandemic struck that the 4-day game overall was a money loser. But that situation will now be worse because of potential restrictions and sanitizing procedures. So it's easy to see why some Counties are not that keen to admit a few hundred into their grounds