England and Wales’ first class cricket, also known as County Cricket, is played in two phases between April to September every year. First phase is played between the first week of April to the first week of July. After the first week, various domestic white-ball tournaments. The red–ball tournament resumes in the third week of August and concludes in the last week of September.
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Talking about the format, 18 teams are divided into two divisions. The first division consists of 10 teams while the second division consists of eight teams. The bottom two teams from Division One will replace the top two teams from Division Two. The top two teams from the second division will be promoted while the bottom two of the first division will be demoted.
Division One & Two teams after the County Championship 2024
| Division One | Division Two |
|---|---|
| Surrey | Lancashire |
| Hampshire | Kent |
| Somerset | Middlesex |
| Essex | Northamptonshire |
| Durham | Leicestershire |
| Worcestershire | Glamorgan |
| Warwickshire | Gloucestershire |
| Nottinghamshire | Derbyshire |
| Sussex | |
| Yorkshire |
Note: Teams such as Lancashire and Kent were demoted to Division Two last year. They were replaced by Division Two table toppers, Sussex and Yorkshire. Teams with most points towards the end of the season will win the Championship.
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Playing conditions of County Championship
Talking about the rules, the winning team gets 16 points. In case of a drawn game, the team batting fourth gets four points while the team batting first gets three points. Apart from this, teams earn bonus points in certain situations irrespective of the result.
Bonus points are awarded as follows:
Batting
200 – 249 runs: 1 point
250 – 299 runs: 2 points
300 – 349 runs: 3 points
350 – 399 runs: 4 points
400 runs or over: 5 points
Bowling
3 to 5 wickets taken: 1 point
6 to 8 wickets taken: 2 points
9 to 10 wickets taken: 3 points
History
The modern County Championship history dates back to 1988 when the four-day format was introduced for the first time. From 1890 to 1987, three-day matches were played.
