Cricket News By TODAYLIVESCORE.INFO - County Championship will revert to two-division system in 2022. After discussions with the ECB, clubs voted to return to a 10-team Division One and eight-team Division Two with two counties to be relegated from Division One and top-two promoted from Division Two.
After discussions with the ECB, clubs voted to return to a 10-team Division One and eight-team Division Two with two counties to be relegated from Division One and top-two promoted from Division Two.
The 2022 season of the English County Championship will see a return of the two division structure as well as the promotion-relegation system. The England & Wales Cricket Board had to revise the format of the tournament ahead of the 2020 season owing to the Coronavirus pandemic.
After discussions with the ECB, clubs voted to return to a 10-team Division One and eight-team Division Two with two counties to be relegated from Division One and top-two promoted from Division Two.
Unfortunately, however, Nottinghamshire will be relegated to Division Two as per their 2019 standing despite finishing third overall this season. Lancashire, Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire's promotion to Division One will stay.
“Although there was support from counties to use the 2022 season as a way to step back to a two-divisional structure, there was not the two-thirds majority that was required,” the ECB stated in a media release.
2020 was the first in which the Championship was not played since the second World War, with the Bob Willis Trophy staged in a truncated and revised calendar.
In 2021, the counties were initially split into three groups. In the second phase, four teams went into the final round of fixtures in Division One still in with a chance of winning the title, eventually won by Warwickshire, who just pipped Lancashire on the final day.
County Championship structure for 2022
Division One: Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire, Yorkshire.
Division Two: Durham, Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Worcestershire.
