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
AdministratorEngland and Wales Cricket Board
FormatLimited overs cricket
First edition1997
Tournament formatLeague system in three divisions
Number of teams38
Current championKent (2019)
Most successfulKent (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.

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

See also

References
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  2. Dutch join women's championship, England and Wales Cricket Board, 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  3. EXCLUSIVE: Ireland Cut Costly County Cricket, Crickether, 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  4. Ireland women to play South Africa in seven-match series, BBC Sport, 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  5. England to introduce women's Twenty20 Cup, CricInfo, 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  6. Super League: Franchise cricket gets set for launch in England, BBC Sport, 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
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  8. "A History of Women's Cricket". Yorkshire Cricket Board. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  9. Berry, Scyld (ed.). "English women's cricket, 2008". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (146th ed.). John Wisden & Co. p. 947. ISBN 978-1-905625-16-1.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
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