Women's County Championship

The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup,[1] is a women's cricket competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. It is the women's equivalent of the County Championship, although it operates as a 50-over limited overs cricket competition with teams organised into a number of divisions. It was introduced in 1997 to replace the Women's Area Championship.

Women's County Championship

Administrator	England and Wales Cricket Board
Format	Limited overs cricket
First edition	1997
Tournament format	League system in three divisions
Number of teams	38
Current champion	Kent (2019)
Most successful	Kent (8 titles)
2019 Women's County Championship

The teams competing in the Championship are drawn mostly from the historic counties of England, with 34 teams representing these. The Scottish national side has competed in the competition since 2007, the Wales women's national cricket team since 2008 and the Netherlands joined in 2009.[2] The Ireland national team played in the competition between 2009 and 2015 before withdrawing in early 2016, causing fixtures for the 2016 season to be rescheduled and one fewer team to compete in Division 2 during the 2016 season.[3][4]

The competition is the longest established women's cricket competition in England and Wales. It operates alongside the Women's Twenty20 Cup, established in 2009,[5] and the Women's Cricket Super League, a franchise league with six teams initially playing Twenty20 cricket.[6]

The current champions are Kent who won the 2019 Championship after winning all of their first eight matches. Kent is also the most successful county in the history of the Championship with eight titles as of May 2019. Sussex and Yorkshire have both won six titles.

History

The inaugural Women's County Championship took place in 1997, with 16 teams competing in three divisions.[7] This first tournament was organised and run by the Women's Cricket Association, which voted to merge with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on 29 March 1998.[8] As such, the ECB has administered the competition since 1998.[8]

Structure

The 34 teams that make up the Championship are split into three divisions, with the bottom division now split into three groups. The top two divisions are each made up of eight teams, with the bottom two teams relegated from Division One at the end of the season and the top two teams in Division Two taking their place. Previously a four division system had been used with the bottom division split into two groups, but this was replaced with the present structure ahead of the 2017 Championship.[9]

The top two divisions for the 2019 season are each made up of eight teams.

Division One Hampshire Kent Lancashire Nottinghamshire Surrey Sussex Warwickshire Yorkshire

Division Two Berkshire Devon Durham Essex Middlesex Somerset Wales Worcestershire

In 2017, Division Four was abolished, with all its teams promoted to Division Three. The new Division Three is split into three groups of seven or six teams arranged on a general geographical basis to reduce travelling. The groups for the 2019 season are:[10]

Division Three - Group A	Scotland	Cumbria	Derbyshire	Leicestershire	Lincolnshire	Northumberland	Staffordshire
Division Three - Group B	Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire	Hertfordshire	Netherlands	Norfolk	Northamptonshire	Suffolk
Division Three - Group C	Buckinghamshire	Cornwall	Dorset	Gloucestershire	Oxfordshire	Wiltshire

Roll of honour

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Leading run-scorer	Leading wicket-taker	Refs
2019	Kent	Yorkshire	Sophia Dunkley (Middlesex) 471	Katie Thompson (Yorkshire) 17
2018	Hampshire	Yorkshire	Suzie Bates (Hampshire) 358	Kirstie Gordon (Nottinghamshire) 23
2017	Lancashire	Yorkshire	Sonia Odedra (Nottinghamshire) 253	Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire) 27
2016	Kent	Sussex	Kirstie White (Surrey) 337	Megan Belt (Kent) 16
2015	Yorkshire	Kent	Heather Knight (Berkshire) 305	Sarah Clarke (Surrey) 23
2014	Kent	Surrey	Charlotte Edwards (Kent) 642	Erin Bermingham (Kent) 16	[11]
2013	Sussex	Yorkshire	Heather Knight (Berkshire 604)	Thea Brookes (Worcs), Jenny Withers (Somerset), Anje Lague (Herts) 18
2012	Kent	Essex	Sarah Taylor (Sussex, 345)	Isobelle Watson (Warwickshire, 18)	[12][13][14]
2011	Kent	Sussex	Charlotte Edwards (Kent, 541)	Jane Riddell (Durham, 28)	[15][16][17]
2010	Sussex	Kent	Lydia Greenway (Kent, 628)	Danielle Wyatt (Staffordshire, 24)	[18][19][20]
2009	Kent	Sussex	Heather Knight (Devon, 622)	Charlotte Anneveld (Kent, 24)	[21][22][23]
2008	Sussex	Kent	Heather Knight (Devon, 390)	Sonia Odedra (Nottinghamshire, 10)	[24][25][26]
2007	Kent	Sussex	Emily Drumm (Kent, 222)	Lynsey Askew (Kent, 13)	[27][28][29]
2006	Kent	Sussex	Jenny Gunn (Nottinghamshire, 356)	Charlotte Edwards (Kent, 12)	[30][31][32]
2005	Sussex	Kent	Charlotte Edwards (Kent, 302)	Judith Turner (Berkshire, 10)	[33][34][35]
2004	Sussex	Kent	Charlotte Edwards (Kent, 308)	Heather Booth (Berkshire, 12)	[36][37][38]
2003	Sussex	Nottinghamshire	Taryn Keir (Warwickshire, 303)	Lynne Spooner (Derbyshire, 12)	[39][40][41]
2002	Yorkshire	Berkshire	Charlotte Edwards (Kent, 233)	Vicky Borman (Hertfordshire, 14)	[42][43][44]
2001	Yorkshire	Berkshire	Arran Brindle (Lancashire, 274)	Yvonne Craven (Berkshire, 13)	[45][46][47]
2000	Yorkshire	Nottinghamshire	Charlotte Edwards (Kent, 374)	Nicky Myers (Nottinghamshire, 13)	[48][49][50]
1999	East Midlands	Yorkshire	Jane Smit (East Midlands, 335)	Janet Tedstone (Yorkshire Seconds, 13)	[51][52][53]
1998	Yorkshire	Surrey	Charlotte Edwards (East Anglia, 394)	Sarah Clarke (Surrey Seconds, 12)	[54][55][56]
1997	Yorkshire	West Midlands	Jane Smit (East Midlands, 429)	Helen Pack (West Midlands, 11)	[7][57][58]

See also

• Super Fours

References

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5. England to introduce women's Twenty20 Cup, CricInfo, 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
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