The 2012 County Championship season, known as the LV= County Championship for sponsorship reasons,LV= extends County Championship deal , 21 March 2012, accessed 17 April 2012. was the 113th cricket County Championship season. Warwickshire won their seventh County Championship title, clinching the trophy with a match to spare in early September following an innings victory over Worcestershire.
The tournament was contested through two divisions of nine teams each. Each team played the others in their division both home and away, for a total of 16 matches per team. However, the season was significantly disrupted by exceptionally wet weather—notably the wettest summer in 100 years—leading to 82 drawn matches across both divisions and several total abandonments.
Derbyshire won the Division Two title on the final day of the season. They were promoted to Division One for the 2013 season along with runners-up Yorkshire. The bottom two sides from Division One, Worcestershire and the defending 2011 champions Lancashire, were relegated to the second tier.
Teams
Division One The following teams competed in Division One during the 2012 season:
Team Home ground Captain Coach/Director of Cricket Durham Riverside Ground Phil Mustard Geoff Cook Lancashire Old Trafford Glen Chapple Peter Moores Middlesex Lord's Neil Dexter Richard Scott Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge Chris Read Mick Newell Somerset County Ground Marcus Trescothick Andy Hurry Surrey The Oval Rory Hamilton-Brown Chris Adams Sussex County Ground Michael Yardy Mark Robinson Warwickshire Edgbaston Jim Troughton Ashley Giles Worcestershire New Road Daryl Mitchell Steve Rhodes
Division Two The following teams competed in Division Two during the 2012 season:
Team Home ground Captain Coach/Director of Cricket Derbyshire County Ground Wayne Madsen Karl Krikken Essex County Ground James Foster Paul Grayson Glamorgan SWALEC Stadium Mark Wallace Matthew Mott Gloucestershire County Ground Alex Gidman John Bracewell Hampshire Rose Bowl Jimmy Adams Giles White Kent St Lawrence Ground James Tredwell Jimmy Adams Leicestershire Grace Road Matthew Boyce Phil Whitticase Northamptonshire County Ground Andrew Hall David Ripley Yorkshire Headingley Andrew Gale Jason Gillespie
Standings Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, D = Draws, T = Ties, A = Abandonments, Bat = Batting points, Bowl = Bowling points, Ded = Deducted points, Pts = Points.
Teams receive 16 points for a win and 3 for a draw. Bonus points (a maximum of 5 batting points and 3 bowling points) may be scored during the first 110 overs of each team's first innings.
Division One Team P W L D A Bat Bowl Ded PtsWarwickshire (C) 16 6 1 9 0 43 45 0.0 211Somerset 16 5 1 10 0 32 45 0.0 187Middlesex 16 5 4 7 0 33 38 0.0 172Sussex 16 5 5 6 0 28 41 0.0 167Nottinghamshire 16 4 2 10 0 26 43 0.0 163Durham 16 5 5 5 1 18 45 4.0 157Surrey 16 3 4 8 1 26 40 2.0 139Lancashire (R) 16 1 5 10 0 25 35 0.0 106Worcestershire (R) 16 1 8 7 0 17 42 0.0 96
Division Two Team P W L D A Bat Bowl Ded PtsDerbyshire (C, P) 16 6 2 8 0 31 43 0.0 194Yorkshire (P) 16 5 0 11 0 41 40 0.0 194Kent 16 4 3 9 0 39 40 0.0 170Hampshire 16 4 5 7 0 28 40 0.0 153Essex 16 3 3 10 0 27 40 0.0 145Glamorgan 16 3 6 6 1 28 35 1.0 131Leicestershire 16 3 3 10 0 24 33 5.0 130Northamptonshire 16 2 5 9 0 37 34 0.0 130Gloucestershire 16 3 6 6 1 22 35 0.0 126
Results summary The fixtures for 2012 were announced in November 2011.
Division One DurhamLancashireMiddlesexNottinghamshireSomersetSurreySussexWarwickshireWorcestershire Durham
| Lancashire
| Middlesex
| Nottinghamshire
| Somerset
| Surrey
| Sussex
| Warwickshire
| Worcestershire
Division Two DerbyshireEssexGlamorganGloucestershireHampshireKentLeicestershireNorthamptonshireYorkshire Derbyshire
| Essex
| Glamorgan
| Gloucestershire
| Hampshire
| Kent
| Leicestershire
| Northamptonshire
| Yorkshire
Results in full Complete match reports and scorecards for all fixtures in both divisions are available via the official ECB and ESPNcricinfo archives.
Division One Click [show] to view all Division One match results Date Venue Result 5–8 April The Oval, London Surrey (264 & 273) beat Sussex (196 & 255) by 86 runs. 5–8 April Trent Bridge, Nottingham Nottinghamshire (118 & 403) beat Worcestershire (130 & 299) by 92 runs. 12–15 April Lord's, London Middlesex (256 & 106) beat Surrey (222 & 137) by 3 runs. 12–15 April Edgbaston, Birmingham Warwickshire (243 & 262/8) beat Somerset (147 & 354) by 2 wickets. 12–15 April Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Nottinghamshire (161 & 335) beat Durham (129 & 253) by 114 runs. 12–15 April Aigburth, Liverpool Sussex (300 & 4/0) beat Lancashire (124 & 176) by 10 wickets. 2–5 May Old Trafford, Manchester Nottinghamshire (385 & 143/3d) beat Lancashire (190 & 153) by 185 runs. 23–26 May The Oval, London Surrey (457) beat Nottinghamshire (164 & 246) by an innings and 47 runs. 15–18 August Edgbaston, Birmingham Warwickshire (471/8d) beat Lancashire (179 & 189) by an innings and 103 runs. 11–14 September Edgbaston, Birmingham Warwickshire (420) beat Worcestershire (134 & 84) by an innings and 202 runs to clinch the title.
Division Two Click [show] to view all Division Two match results Date Venue Result 5–8 April Derby Derbyshire (244 & 123/2) drew with Yorkshire (228). 12–15 April Grace Road, Leicester Leicestershire (295 & 232/6d) drew with Hampshire (202 & 23/1). 19–22 April Headingley, Leeds Yorkshire (403/9d) beat Northamptonshire (115 & 178) by an innings and 110 runs. 2–5 May SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff Hampshire (400) beat Glamorgan (148 & 249) by an innings and 3 runs. 30 May – 2 June St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Kent (489) beat Glamorgan (207 & 188) by an innings and 94 runs. 11–14 September Derby Derbyshire (275 & 197/4) beat Hampshire (272 & 198) by 6 wickets to clinch the Division Two title. 11–14 September Chelmsford Essex (437/9d) beat Kent (226 & 202) by 9 wickets.
Statistics
Division One Individual performances in Division One were led by Somerset's Nick Compton and Durham's Graham Onions.
Most runs Player Team Mat Inns Runs Ave 100s 50s Nick Compton Somerset 11 18 1,191 99.25 5 2 Varun Chopra Warwickshire 15 23 1,012 53.26 3 3 James Taylor Nottinghamshire 13 22 915 50.83 2 4 Phil Hughes Worcestershire 9 17 902 60.13 3 3 Chris Read Nottinghamshire 15 21 891 49.50 3 3
Most wickets Player Team Mat Wkts Ave BBI 5w Graham Onions Durham 11 64 14.98 9/67 6 Chris Wright Warwickshire 15 62 24.32 5/52 3 Keith Barker Warwickshire 14 56 20.91 5/45 2 Steve Magoffin Sussex 11 51 18.52 8/20 3 Toby Roland-Jones Middlesex 11 48 21.08 5/44 4
Division Two Statistics for Division Two highlight the leading performances from the second tier, including David Balcombe's 64 wickets.
Most runs Player Team Mat Inns Runs Ave 100s 50s Jimmy Adams Hampshire 15 24 987 47.00 2 5 Joe Root Yorkshire 15 22 937 46.85 1 6 Wayne Madsen Derbyshire 16 24 905 43.09 1 5 James Foster Essex 15 20 885 59.00 2 4 Brendan Nash Kent 10 16 872 72.66 3 4
Most wickets Player Team Mat Wkts Ave BBI 5w David Balcombe Hampshire 13 64 20.31 8/71 4 Chaminda Vaas Northamptonshire 15 52 20.94 5/41 2 Matt Coles Kent 14 52 23.36 6/44 2 Mark Footitt Derbyshire 11 46 19.34 6/56 2 Charlie Shreck Kent 16 46 29.58 4/44 0
Awards The following individual awards were presented at the conclusion of the 2012 season, recognizing the leading performers in the County Championship and domestic cricket.
Award Winner Team Achievement PCA Player of the Year Nick Compton Somerset Scored 1,191 runs at an average of 99.25 in Division One. PCA Young Player of the Year Joe Root Yorkshire Scored 937 runs in Division Two and helped secure promotion. Cricket Writers' Club County Championship Player of the Year Nick Compton Somerset Voted the best player specifically within the four-day format. Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year Joe Root Yorkshire Recognized as the most promising young talent in English domestic cricket.
References