The 1981 English cricket season was the 82nd in which the County Championship had been an official competition. A change of sponsorship ended the Gillette Cup and the knockout competition became the NatWest Trophy, which lasted for twenty years. Australia toured England to compete for the Ashes and England won the series 3–1. Nottinghamshire won a close struggle for the County Championship title, defeating Sussex by two points.
Honours County Championship - Nottinghamshire NatWest Trophy - Derbyshire Sunday League - Essex Benson & Hedges Cup - Somerset Minor Counties Championship - Durham Second XI Championship - Hampshire II Wisden - Terry Alderman, Allan Border, Richard Hadlee, Javed Miandad, Rod Marsh
Test Series
Cumulative record - Test wins 1876–1981England82Australia93Drawn71
Sri Lankan tour The second tour of England by the Sri Lankan team took place in 1981. Sri Lanka had not yet achieved Test status. The team played 13 first-class matches and 11 of these were drawn. In their other two games, the Sri Lankans won one and lost one.
County Championship
NatWest Trophy
Benson & Hedges Cup
Sunday League
References
External links CricketArchive match lists
Further reading Playfair Cricket Annual 1982 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1982