All 18 first-class sides get their campaigns underway on Thursday, each with dreams of winning red-ball silverware in a tweaked structure for The County Championship was not staged in with the truncated Bob Willis Trophy held in its place amid the coronavirus pandemic but the established tournament returns this summer.
So, how does the amended format work, who is playing who, and who are some of the overseas stars that could light up the Championship over the coming months? Read on for all you need to know It has - but with some tweaks. Last year's Bob Willis Trophy groups were regional so as to avoid heavy travel during the coronavirus pandemic, whereas this season the sides have been separated into three initial seeded pools of six, with results from the County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy taken into account.
Derby matches have been accommodated where possible, with the ECB saying that is to "ensure that county members and supporters can look forward to some of county cricket's oldest rivalries resuming home and away next summer". The top two sides from each group will then advance to Division One, with the third and fourth-placed teams moving into Division Two and the fifth and sixth-placed teams going into Division Three.
Each county will then play a further four matches. They will not play the side they have already faced twice in the pool stage for a third time. Instead, the points accrued from those matches will be carried over. The side who tops Division One will be crowned County Champions. Sadly for Lancashire, the eventual result of this game is purely academic after they failed to pick up the bonus points needed to keep their slim survival hopes alive. Captain Liam Livingstone 46 was out to the first ball he faced on the second morning, bowled by a Fidel Edwards yorker, but Rob Jones 68 gave the visitors hope of an unlikely escape.
He was dropped in the slips just before lunch, but was trapped lbw shortly after the interval to leave Lancashire With Nottinghamshire faltering with the bat at Trent Bridge, Josh Bohannon 28 and Tom Bailey 16 pushed Lancashire closer to but they then lost three wickets for no runs and Edwards wrapped things up by dismissing Saqib Mahmood lbw.
Lancashire are guaranteed to end the season with 40 bowling bonus points - more than any other team in the top tier - thanks to the efforts of Tom Bailey and Graham Onions.
Seamers Bailey 62 and Onions 57 are the two leading wicket-takers in the division, but it is batting struggles that have contributed to the Red Rose's demise. They have failed to pass in 10 of their 23 Championship innings, while only one of their batsmen - England opener Keaton Jennings - has an average above 40 in the four-day game this summer. Hampshire's Jimmy Adams:. I didn't want to finish it with a pair.
You can't write it and you can't always get what you want. But I don't think I have been clapped to the wicket since I was about 10 so it was very good of Lancashire to do that. It was unexpected, but a nice touch. It will probably sink in in November when the rest of the guys are thinking about fitness tests - I'll probably just grab a coffee and watch on the balcony. Lancashire captain Liam Livingstone:. Everyone's still running in and the way that Bails has bowled there at the end of the day, it shows a lot about us as a team.
No, I just think, when we've been bad we've been very bad, and it's ultimately cost us. If I'm honest, for two out of eight to go down in the top division is tough. It creates pressure all the way through and there is no let-off though the season. Next year we are going to have to learn from what we have done but the good thing is we are building a good squad with the young lads coming through.
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Comment posted by Calmdowneveryone, at 26 Sep Calmdowneveryone. Need to stop this nonsense of the county championship only being played in spring and autumn. Average bowlers take wickets and look better than they are and good batsmen hardly ever get a chance to build a good length innings on a good pitch.
Makes the league tables a lottery. Unlucky Lancs and Worcester, from a Yorkie. Could have easily been us. Comment posted by Dobby, at 26 Sep Dobby. Very sad to see my old county go down but I believe the ECB's one day oriented schedule does not help as games in the NW are played with more moisture around and the ball moves about more and batsmen subsequently lose confidence.
Oh but then I almost forgot that the ECB are trying to kill proper cricket. Comment posted by Mick63, at 26 Sep Mick It's usually the weather that blights the northern counties' chances. Can't blame the weather this year. It was all very close, and someone had to miss out. As a Yorkshireman, I'm obviously happy that we scraped through but I will miss the Roses games next year.
Good luck Lancs. Let's hope we're not swapping places!! I am still struggling to understand that despite being located in an area with such a high level of club cricket, that Lancs CCC always struggles to find batsmen. This inability to post decent totals is nothing new; it's been going on for years. However importing Kolpaks and dissatisfied players from other clubs is not the answer. The opening nine rounds of the group stage will be played in consecutive weeks, starting on Thursday.
After a break for Vitality Blast and Royal London Cup matches, the group stage will conclude in July, and the top two counties in each group progress to Division One with a chance of winning the title.
The traditional short-form game starts on 9 June, with the counties divided into nine-team North and South Groups. Essex, winners in three of the last four years again including last year , should come safely through Group One and Yorkshire are favourites to win Group Three, but as every follower of the county game knows, long-range forecasts are wildly unreliable. In this of all years it is hard to be sure on whom the sun will be shining in September.
Division bell rings as county cricket looks to make up for lost time.
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