One-division format being considered for County Championship return

HUW TURBERVILL: A three-tier competition, similar to the Bob Willis Trophy, is the front-runner for next season while an FA Cup-style 50-over tournament is also in the pipeline

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Returning to one division of 18 counties for the first time since 1999 is an option being discussed for next season and beyond, The Cricketer can reveal.

Unlike that competition 21 years ago, which was won by Surrey, each team would play 14 matches, as is the case now, however, meaning they would miss out on facing three clubs.

County chiefs are meeting with the Professional Game Group, chaired by Sir Andrew Strauss, to discuss future formats for the domestic game. They are expected to make recommendations that can be put to the cricket committee of the ECB in October, before then being considered by the board of directors.

If the pandemic is under control the counties could revert to the two-division system they played up until 2019. Before Covid-19 struck, 10 teams were preparing to face each other in Division One, with the other eight in Division Two.

Keeping a similar ‘conference-style’ system that has been used for this year’s Bob Willis Trophy is the third option, and that appears to be the front-runner for next summer, however.

It will not be determined on a geographic basis – as was the case this season to reduce travel – but by a seeding system based on the finishing positions of the 2019 County Championship, The Daily Mail reported.

They don't make them quite like David Capel anymore

Each county would play 10 round-robin matches between April and July before white ball replaces red, and then there would be four-day play-offs in September, with a final, probably at Lord’s, like this season.

The top conference would contain the first and second-placed teams from each of this year’s three conferences; Division Two would feature the third and fourth, while fifth and sixth would be in the third tier. 

Two divisions has generally been considered a success, the extra competitiveness helping England’s Test results improve considerably from the under-achieving 1980s and disappointing 1990s. The introduction of central contracts was also noted as a key factor in that upturn in results under permanent, long-serving Test skippers Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, and Joe Root.

From 2000 there were two equal divisions of nine. The 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons saw eight teams in the top flight with 10 in the lower tier, and this summer would have seen that switched around.

Critics of two divisions say that it has led to short-term thinking, with counties signing too many Kolpak players, being reluctant to blood youngsters, and curating ‘result’ pitches. 

There are also concerns that sides like Leicestershire are becoming marooned permanently in Division Two.

^{Surrey were the last champions of a one-division system}

Meanwhile, an FA Cup-style competition for domestic 50-over cricket is edging closer.

With 14 first-class matches and seven home Blast matches for each county ring-fenced, and The Hundred due to start next summer, something will have to give in the fixture calendar.

That could be 50-over cricket, with a new cup competition introduced. It could involve the 20 National Counties playing in a preliminary round, with the winners going on to play the first-class counties.

Theoretically, Devon could play Cornwall, with the winners meeting Somerset; or Norfolk facing Suffolk, and a plum tie with Essex awaiting.

A downside of this format would be that some England players may only have one 50-over domestic match per summer if their county were to be knocked out immediately: not an ideal scenario for the World Cup holders.

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