County Championship 2021 Schedule Squad: The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
It became an official title in 1890. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and originally representing, historic counties, seventeen from England and one from Wales.
According to the schedule for the 2021 County Championship season, which has been remodelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all the 18 county sides have been divided into three seeded groups of six where every county will play five home and away matches each in the group stage.
The top two teams from each group will make it to Division 1, while the remaining sides will form Division 2 and 3.
County Championship 2021 Schedule
| Date | Match | Venue |
| April 8 – 11 | Northamptonshire v Kent | The County Ground |
| Essex v Worcestershire | County Ground, Chelmsford | |
| Sussex v Lancashire | The 1st Central County Ground | |
| Middlesex v Somerset | Lord’s | |
| Leicestershire v Hampshire | The Fischer County Ground | |
| Gloucestershire v Surrey | Bristol County Ground | |
| Nottinghamshire v Durham | Trent Bridge | |
| Yorkshire v Glamorgan | Emerald Headingley | |
| Warwickshire v Derbyshire | Edgbaston | |
| April 15-18 | Hampshire v Middlesex | Ageas Bowl |
| Lancashire v Northamptonshire | Emirates Old Trafford | |
| Kent v Yorkshire | Canterbury | |
| Glamorgan v Sussex | Sophia Gardens | |
| Somerset v Gloucestershire | The Cooper Associates County | |
| Derbyshire v Worcestershire | County Ground, Derby | |
| Essex v Durham | The Cloudfm County Ground | |
| Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire | Trent Bridge | |
| Surrey v Leicestershire | Kia Oval | |
| April 22-25 | Sussex v Yorkshire | The 1st Central County Ground |
| Durham v Derbyshire | Emirates Riverside | |
| Kent v Lancashire | Canterbury | |
| Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire | New Road | |
| Hampshire v Gloucestershire | Ageas Bowl | |
| Warwickshire v Essex | Edgbaston | |
| Middlesex v Surrey | Lord’s | |
| Northamptonshire v Glamorgan | The County Ground | |
| Leicestershire v Somerset | The Fischer County Ground | |
| April 29-May 2 | Lancashire v Sussex | Emirates Old Trafford |
| Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire | The Incora County Ground | |
| Worcestershire v Essex | New Road | |
| Durham v Warwickshire | Emirates Riverside | |
| Gloucestershire v Leicestershire | Bristol County Ground | |
| Somerset v Middlesex | The Cooper Associates County | |
| Glamorgan v Kent | Sophia Gardens | |
| Northamptonshire vs Yorkshire | Headingley, Leeds | |
| Surrey Hampshire | Kia Oval | |
| May 6-9 | Yorkshire v Kent | Emerald Headingley |
| Leicestershire v Surrey | The Fischer County Ground | |
| Warwickshire v Worcestershire | Edgbaston | |
| Middlesex v Gloucestershire | Lord’s | |
| Lancashire v Glamorgan | Emirates Old Trafford | |
| Northamptonshire v Sussex | The County Ground | |
| Hampshire v Somerset | Ageas Bowl | |
| Nottinghamshire v Essex | Trent Bridge | |
| May 13-16 | Essex v Derbyshire | The Cloudfm County Ground |
| Sussex v Kent | The 1st Central County Ground | |
| Glamorgan v Yorkshire | Sophia Gardens | |
| Middlesex v Hampshire | Lord’s | |
| Durham v Worcestershire | Emirates Riverside | |
| Somerset v Surrey | The Cooper Associates County | |
| May 19-22 | Hampshire vs Leicestershire | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| May 20-23 | Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire | Trent Bridge |
| Essex v Warwickshire | The Cloudfm County Ground | |
| Derbyshire v Durham | The Incora County Ground | |
| Northamptonshire v Lancashire | The County Ground | |
| Kent v Glamorgan | Canterbury | |
| Hampshire v Leicestershire | Ageas Bowl | |
| Gloucestershire v Somerset | Bristol County Ground | |
| Surrey v Middlesex | Kia Oval | |
| May 27-30 | Durham v Essex | Emirates Riverside |
| Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire | Edgbaston | |
| Worcestershire v Derbyshire | New Road | |
| Lancashire v Yorkshire | Emirates Old Trafford | |
| Sussex v Northamptonshire | The 1st Central County Ground | |
| Surrey v Gloucestershire | Kia Oval | |
| Leicestershire v Middlesex | The Fischer County Ground | |
| June 3-6 | Yorkshire v Sussex | Emerald Headingley |
| Worcestershire v Durham | New Road | |
| Essex v Nottinghamshire | The Cloudfm County Ground | |
| Derbyshire v Warwickshire | The Incora County Ground | |
| Kent v Northamptonshire | Canterbury | |
| Glamorgan v Lancashire | Colwyn Bay | |
| Somerset v Hampshire | The Cooper Associates County | |
| Leicestershire v Gloucestershire | The Fischer County Ground | |
| July 4-7 | Lancashire v Kent | Emirates Old Trafford |
| Northamptonshire v Yorkshire | The County Ground | |
| Gloucestershire v Middlesex | Cheltenham | |
| Sussex v Glamorgan | The 1st Central County Ground | |
| Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire | Trent Bridge | |
| Warwickshire v Durham | Edgbaston | |
| Hampshire v Surrey | Ageas Bowl | |
| Somerset v Leicestershire | The Cooper Associates County | |
| July 5-8 | Gloucestershire vs Middlesex | College Ground, Cheltenham |
| July 11-14 | Derbyshire v Essex | Chesterfield |
| Durham v Nottinghamshire | Emirates Riverside | |
| Worcestershire v Warwickshire | New Road | |
| Yorkshire v Lancashire | Scarborough | |
| Gloucestershire v Hampshire | Cheltenham | |
| Middlesex v Leicestershire | Merchant Taylors | |
| Surrey v Somerset | Kia Oval | |
| Glamorgan v Northamptonshire | Sophia Gardens | |
| Kent v Sussex | St Lawrence Ground | |
| August 30-September 2 | Hampshire vs Yorkshire | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| Lancashire vs Warwickshire | Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester | |
| Somerset vs Nottinghamshire | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton | |
| Durham vs Surrey | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street | |
| Glamorgan vs Essex | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | |
| Gloucestershire vs Northamptonshire | County Ground, Bristol | |
| Leicestershire vs Kent | Grace Road, Leicester | |
| Middlesex vs Derbyshire | Lord’s, London | |
| Worcestershire vs Sussex | New Road, Worcester | |
| Sep 5-8 | Nottinghamshire vs Lancashire | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
| Warwickshire vs Hampshire | Edgbaston, Birmingham | |
| Yorkshire vs Somerset | North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough | |
| Durham vs Glamorgan | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street | |
| Essex vs Gloucestershire | County Ground, Chelmsford | |
| Northamptonshire vs Surrey | County Ground, Northampton | |
| Derbyshire vs Leicestershire | County Ground, Derby | |
| Kent vs Worcestershire | St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury | |
| Sep 6-9 | Sussex vs Middlesex | County Ground, Hove |
| Sep 12-15 | Hampshire vs Nottinghamshire | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| Somerset vs Lancashire | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton | |
| Yorkshire vs Warwickshire | Headingley, Leeds | |
| Glamorgan vs Gloucestershire | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | |
| Northamptonshire vs Durham | County Ground, Northampton | |
| Surrey vs Essex | Kennington Oval, London | |
| Derbyshire vs Kent | County Ground, Derby | |
| Leicestershire vs Sussex | Grace Road, Leicester | |
| Middlesex vs Worcestershire | Lord’s, London | |
| Sep 21-24 | Worcestershire vs Leicestershire | New Road, Worcester |
| Lancashire vs Hampshire | Aigburth, Liverpool | |
| Nottinghamshire vs Yorkshire | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | |
| Warwickshire vs Somerset | Edgbaston, Birmingham | |
| Essex vs Northamptonshire | County Ground, Chelmsford | |
| Gloucestershire vs Durham | County Ground, Bristol | |
| Surrey vs Glamorgan | Kennington Oval, London | |
| Kent vs Middlesex | St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury | |
| Sussex vs Derbyshire | County Ground, Hove |
County Championship 2021 Squad
Group 1
Essex Squad
Ryan ten Doeschate (C), Varun Chopra, Adam Wheater (wk), Tom Westly, Daniel Lawrence, Ravi Bopara, Ashar Zaidi, Simon Harmer, Shane Snater, Niel Wagner, Samuel Cook.
Derbyshire Squad
Billy Godleman (C), Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Tom Lace, Alex Hughes, Harvey Hosein (wk), Matthew Critchley, Anuj Dal, Logan Van Beek, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul.
Durham Squad
Alex Lees (C), Will Smith, Jack Burnham, Gareth Harte, Micheal Richardson, Stuart Poynter (wk), Ben Raine, James Winchell, Liam Trevaskis, Matt Salisbury, Chris Rushworth.
Nottinghamshire Squad
Steven Mullaney (C), Ben Salter, Ben Duckett, Chris Nash, Joe Clarke, Samit Patel, Tom Moeeres (wk), Paul Coughlin, Stuart Broad, Luke Fletcher, Jake Ball.
Warwickshire Squad
Jeetan Patel (C), Will Rhodes, Dominic Sibley, Liam Banks, Sam Hain, Adam Hose, Time Ambrose (wk), Craig Miles, Tom Milnes, Henry Brookes, Ryan Sidebottom.
Worcestershire Squad
Ben Cox (C&wk), Dary Mithcell, Thomas Charles Fell, Hamish Rutherford, Brett DOliveiria, Ross Whiteley, Riki Wessels, Ed Barnard, Wayne Parnell, Josh Tongue, Charlie Morris.
Group 2
Gloucestershire Squad
Chris Dent (C), Miles Hammond, James Bracey, Benny Howell, George Hankins, Gareth Roderick (wk), Ryan Higgins, Graeme van Buuren, David Payne, George Drissell, Matt Taylor.
Hampshire Squad
Joe Weatherley, James Vince (C), Aiden Markram, Sam Northeast, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Dawson, Tom Alsop (wk), Gareth Berg, Keith Barker, Kylie Abbott, Fidel Edwards.
Leicestershire Squad
Paul Horton (C), Ateeq Javid, Hasan Azad, Mark Cosgrave, Colin Ackermann, Harry Dearden, Lewis Hill (wk), Tom Taylor, Ben Mike, Chris Wright, Will Davis.
Middlesex Squad
Dawid Malan (C), Max Holden, Eoin Morgan, Sam Robson, Nick Gubbins, Stephen Eskinazi, John Simpson (wk), James Harris, Toby Roland-Jones, Steven Finn, Tim Murtagh.
Somerset Squad
Marcus Trescothick, Azhar Ali, James Hildreth, Tom Abell (C), George Barlett, Steven Davies (wk), Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Time Gronewald, Jack Leach, Jack Brooks.
Surrey Squad
Rory Burns (C), Mark Stoneman, Scott Borthwick, Dean Elgar, Ben Foakes (wk), Ryan Patel, Will Jacks, Rikki Clarke, Morne Morkel, Gareth Batty, Conor Mckerr.
Group 3
Glamorgan Squad
David Lloyd (C), Nicholas Selman, Charlie Hemphrey, Marnus Labuschagne, Billy Root, Kiran Carlson, Daniel Douthwaite, Graham Wagg, Tom Cullen (wk), Marchant de Lange, Timm van der Gugten.
Kent Squad
Heino Kuhn (C), Sean Dickson, Zak Crawley, Matt Renshaw, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Alex Blake, Ollie Robinson (wk), Harry Podmore, Matt Milnes, Mithcell Claydon, Fred Klaassen.
Lancashire Squad
Dane Vilas (C), Keaton Jennings, Alex Davies (wk), Haseeb Hameed, Glenn Maxwell, Rob Jones, Josh Bohannon, Brooke David Guest, Tom Bailey, Graham Oninons, James Anderson.
Northamptonshire Squad
Alex Wakely (C), Rob Netwon, Ricardo Vasconcelos (wk), Temba Bavuma, Rob Keogh, Joshua Cobb, Luke Procter, Luke Wood, Jamie Overton, Nathan Buck, Ben Sanderson.
Yorkshire Squad
Steven Patterson (C), Adam Lyth, Harry Brook, Gary Ballance, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Jack Leaning, Jonathan Tattersall (wk), Tim Bresnan, Dominic Bess, Ben Coad, Duanne Olivier.
Sussex Squad
Ben Brown (C&wk), Luke Wells, Philip Salt, Harry Finch, Stiaan van Zyl, Laurie Evans, David Wiese, Chris Jordan, Danny Briggs, Jared Warner, Mir Hamza.
County Championship 2021 – Points Table
Division 1
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Warwickshire | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 0 |
| Nottinghamshire | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 0 |
| Lancashire | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 0 |
| Hampshire | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 0 |
| Yorkshire | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| Somerset | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
Division 2
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Essex | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 0 |
| Gloucestershire | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 0 |
| Northamptonshire | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| Durham | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| Surrey | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| Glamorgan | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
Division 3
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Kent | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 0 |
| Middlesex | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 0 |
| Worcestershire | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 0 |
| Leicestershire | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| Derbyshire | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| Sussex | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
Group 1
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Nottinghamshire | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 0 |
| Warwickshire | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 145 | 0 |
| Durham | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 0 |
| Essex | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 0 |
| Worcestershire | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 0 |
| Derbyshire | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 0 |
Group 2
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Somerset | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 148 | 0 |
| Hampshire | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 145 | 0 |
| Gloucestershire | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 131 | 0 |
| Surrey | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 0 |
| Leicestershire | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 111 | 0 |
| Middlesex | 10 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 0 |
Group 3
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Lancashire | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 0 |
| Yorkshire | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 149 | 0 |
| Glamorgan | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 127 | 0 |
| Northamptonshire | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 0 |
| Kent | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 0 |
| Sussex | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 0 |
County Championship Format
Group Stage
The 18 First-Class Counties have been split into three seeded groups of six counties. Each county will play the other counties in their group both home and away – a total of 10 matches.
At the end of the group stage, the top two counties in each group will progress to Division One for the second phase of the County Championship.
The other 12 counties will move into Divisions Two and Three. The third and fourth-placed teams will progress to Division Two while the fifth and sixth-placed teams move to Division Three.
Division Stage
The First-Class Counties will play their final four County Championship matches after progressing to their Division.
They will not play against the other team from their initial group, but will carry through half the number of points it scored in the two matches played against that team in the group stage. This could result in half points being carried forward.
So, for example, if Essex and Warwickshire both progress from Group One to Division One and each scored a combined 21 points against each other in their two matches, both teams will carry forward 10.5 points to the Division stage.
How can a team win the LV= Insurance County Championship?
The 2021 County Championship title will be decided by the team that finishes top of Division One.
How is the winner of the Bob Willis Trophy decided?
The top two teams in Division One will play for the Bob Willis Trophy in a five-day final at Lord’s to ensure a showpiece event to conclude the men’s first-class domestic season.
The playing conditions for the final are to be confirmed and will be announced in due course.
Also read: IPL 2021 Replacement Players List – All New Squads (Latest)
