Rothesay County Championship

The County Championship is an annual first-class cricket competition for county cricket teams in England and Wales.

📜 County Championship History

Though inter-county matches have a history dating back to the 1700s, the County Championship was first organised and played under its current name in 1890. The competition, which consists of a league format with 2 divisions, features all 18 first-class county teams in England and Wales.

The County Championship has grown and developed through the years, and after originally being played over 3 days, tournament matches are now 4-day affairs. These multi-day matches are the domestic equivalent of international Test cricket, and the top County Championship players regularly go on to play for their respective national sides.

A staple of British summers, County Championship games might be slower-paced than those in the Vitality Blast or One-Day Cup, but they are far superior than their short-form counterparts when it comes to tradition and tactics. While all but 3 first-class sides have won the competition at least once, Yorkshire are the County Championship's most successful team, having won the tournament more than 30 times.

💯 County Championship Format & Scoring

County Championship matches are played over 4 days. Like Test cricket, play is split into "innings". In each innings, one team bats and the other team bowls/fields. The batting team aims to score as many runs as possible, while the bowling team aims to limit their score by preventing runs and getting their opponents "all out". This is achieved when 10 members of the opposing team have been "dismissed" by being bowled, caught, stumped, run out, or otherwise deemed "out" by any other method.

Ultimately, once both teams have batted, the team with the highest cumulative score from their 2 innings is the winner. Other eventualities are possible, for example, on some occasions, a team may only need one innings to beat their opponents' 2-innings score. Alternatively, if no result is achieved once the 4 days' playing time has expired, the match is deemed a draw.

On each day of a County Championship match, breaks are taken for "Lunch" and "Tea". Lunch is generally taken at 13:00 for 40 minutes, and Tea at 15:00 for 20 minutes.

League Format

Since 2000, the County Championship has operated with 2 divisions. The bottom 2 teams in Division 1 are relegated each season, while the top 2 teams in Division 2 are promoted.

Teams in the County Championship receive 16 points for a victory, with both sides taking home 8 points for a tie or abandoned match. Alongside points earned for a result, extra points can be earned for batting and bowling. Batting and bowling points can only be won in the first 110 overs of a team's First Innings. These performance-based points are then added to a team's match result points, before the total is added to the league table.

Below is a list of how performance points are earned, and what each achievement is worth:

Batting Points

200 to 249 runs - 1 point

250 to 299 runs - 2 points

300 to 349 runs - 3 points

350 to 399 runs - 4 points

400 runs or over - 5 points

Bowling Points

3 to 5 wickets taken - 1 point

6 to 8 wickets taken - 2 points

9 to 10 wickets taken - 3 points