The 2024 County Championship (referred to as the Vitality County Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 124th County Championship cricket season in England and Wales. As in 2023, Division One had ten teams and Division Two had eight teams. The season began on 5 April and ended on 29 September 2024. Surrey won the title with one match remaining, (Online article, published a day earlier, has a different title). repeating their success in 2022 and 2023. They were the first team to become champions in three successive years since Yorkshire in 1966–68, (Online article, published a day earlier, has a different title). having last achieved this feat themselves in 1958.
Overview
For the 2024 season, the number of points for a draw was increased from five to eight, as had been the case from 2019 to 2022. The use of hybrid pitches was permitted for the first time, despite previous concerns that they do not deteriorate enough during a four-day match and are therefore suitable only for limited overs cricket. On 29 August, however, the game between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire at Bristol had to be abandoned on the first day after the surface produced uneven bounce, resulting in two Northamptonshire batters being injured.
In research carried out by the Professional Cricketers' Association prior to the start of the season, concerns were expressed about players' welfare due to the congested schedule (including the T20 Blast, One-Day Cup, and The Hundred).
The Kookaburra debate
Following a trial during the 2023 County Championship, when the traditional English Dukes ball was replaced for two rounds by the less bowler-friendly Australian Kookaburra, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) mandated using the Kookaburra ball for four rounds of the 2024 season. The motivation behind this was to develop bowlers with the skills to compete at an international level, give spinners more of a role at the beginning of the season, and encourage batters to score quickly.
After the Kookaburra had been used during the first two rounds of the 2024 season, England men's team director Rob Key hailed the experiment a success. Spin bowlers contributed 37% (1035.4 overs) of deliveries in the opening two rounds, compared with 17% (767.3 overs) in 2023, and took 135 (72 more) wickets. Batters hit as many double centuries as in the entire previous season, and in the second round accumulated 10 scores of 150 or more, which was a record for a set of matches starting on the same day. However, all but one of the 19 games played in the opening two rounds ended in a draw. In the second round, all matches were drawn for just the third time when all counties had played simultaneously, and matches were criticised for being dull. Key's comments "caused something of a furore".
Writing in Wisden Cricket Monthly, Laurence Booth noted that using the Kookaburra on spongy pitches during one of the UK's wettest springs was "like mixing oil with water – and expecting nectar", but pointed to the first-round performance of seam bowler Sam Cook in explaining Key's perspective. Mike Selvey commented in The Cricketer that rather than resorting to the use of a "substandard ball", Key's objectives might better be achieved by requiring groundsmen to cut the grass shorter and use a hard roller on pitches, whilst also making some changes to the Dukes ball so that the seam would flatten more quickly.
Across the four rounds played with the Kookaburra, statistics showed that seam bowlers achieved the best bowling average and strike rate at an average speed of 82–84 mph, compared to 76–79 mph with the Dukes ball, whilst spinners bowled around 50 per cent more deliveries. (Online article, published a day earlier, has a different title).
Teams The teams were split based on the finishing positions in the 2023 season, with 10 teams in Division One and 8 in Division Two.
Division One sides played five teams both home and away, and four teams either home or away. All Division Two sides played each other home and away. Teams were allowed to field a maximum of two overseas players in a match.
Division One TeamPrimary home groundCaptainCoachDurhamRiverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Scott Borthwick Ryan CampbellEssexCounty Ground, Chelmsford Tom Westley Anthony McGrathHampshireRose Bowl, Southampton James Vince Adi BirrellKentSt Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Daniel Bell-Drummond Matt WalkerLancashireOld Trafford, Manchester Keaton Jennings Dale BenkensteinNottinghamshireTrent Bridge, Nottingham Haseeb Hameed Peter MooresSomersetCounty Ground, Taunton Lewis Gregory Jason KerrSurreyThe Oval, London Rory Burns Gareth BattyWarwickshireEdgbaston, Birmingham Alex Davies Mark RobinsonWorcestershireNew Road, Worcester Brett D'Oliveira Alan Richardson Team promoted from Division Two in 2023
Division Two TeamPrimary home groundCaptainCoachDerbyshireCounty Ground, Derby David Lloyd Mickey ArthurGlamorganSophia Gardens, Cardiff Sam Northeast Grant BradburnGloucestershireCounty Ground, Bristol Graeme van Buuren Mark AlleyneLeicestershireGrace Road, Leicester Lewis Hill Alfonso ThomasMiddlesexLord's, London Toby Roland-Jones Richard JohnsonNorthamptonshireCounty Ground, Northampton Luke Procter John SadlerSussexCounty Ground, Hove John Simpson Paul FarbraceYorkshireHeadingley, Leeds Shan Masood Ottis Gibson Team relegated from Division One in 2023
Division One results April
May
June
August
September
Division Two results April
May
June
August
September
Standings Teams in both divisions played a total of 14 games, with seven home matches and seven away matches. There was a two-up, two-down promotion and relegation system.
Teams received 16 points for a win, and 8 for a draw or tie. Bonus points could be earned during the first 110 overs of each team's first innings, with up to 5 for batting and 3 for bowling available.
+Bonus points awarded Runs scored Wickets taken Points 250–299 3–5 300–349 6–8 350–399 9–10 400–449 450 or more
If a match was abandoned without a ball being bowled, then each team was awarded 8 points. If abandoned once a game has started because the pitch was deemed to be unsafe, then the home side received no points. The away side were awarded 8 points plus whatever bonus points had accrued.
Division One
Division Two
Leading players
Division One
+ Leading run scorers (Division One) Player County Matches Runs High score Average 100 50 David Bedingham Durham 11 279 78.29 6 3 Dean Elgar Essex 14 182 57.20 4 5 Alex Davies Warwickshire 14 256 50.68 4 3 Haseeb Hameed Nottinghamshire 14 247* 51.95 3 4 Rory Burns Surrey 14 227 53.65 3 5 Will Rhodes Warwickshire 14 201 48.57 3 3 Keaton Jennings Lancashire 14 187* 45.72 4 3 James Vince Hampshire 13 211 49.30 2 5 Liam Dawson Hampshire 13 120 59.75 3 5 Ben Slater Nottinghamshire 14 168* 45.19 2 5
+ Leading wicket takers (Division One) Player County Matches Overs Wickets Average Best 5W Jamie Porter Essex 14 362.0 19.25 6/36 4 Kyle Abbott Hampshire 13 382.2 20.36 5/25 5 Liam Dawson Hampshire 13 509.3 25.14 5/47 5 Dan Worrall Surrey 11 331.1 16.15 6/22 2 Oliver Hannon-Dalby Warwickshire 14 380.3 22.28 6/43 3 Jack Leach Somerset 9 395.2 22.27 7/50 5 Simon Harmer Essex 14 492.5 33.15 4/16 0 Sam Cook Essex 11 269.1 17.30 6/14 2 Shane Snater Essex 14 272.0 22.12 5/13 1 Jordan Clark Surrey 13 329.0 25.97 5/65 1
Division Two
+ Leading run scorers (Division Two) Player County Matches Runs High score Average 100 50 Colin Ingram Glamorgan 11 257* 90.06 5 6 Adam Lyth Yorkshire 14 147 57.85 5 5 John Simpson Sussex 14 205* 74.81 5 4 Ryan Higgins Middlesex 13 221 70.81 5 2 James Bracey Gloucestershire 13 207* 60.50 4 3 Wayne Madsen Derbyshire 13 138 50.25 3 5 Sam Northeast Glamorgan 14 335* 50.20 3 2 Max Holden Middlesex 14 211* 49.05 2 5 Leus du Plooy Middlesex 14 196* 50.26 2 5 Luke Procter Northamptonshire 14 116* 48.57 1 7
+ Leading wicket takers (Division Two) Player County Matches Overs Wickets Average Best 5W Ben Coad Yorkshire 12 334.3 15.80 6/30 3 Toby Roland-Jones Middlesex 12 353.0 22.55 6/58 7 Jack Carson Sussex 14 352.1 22.46 6/67 3 Ben Sanderson Northamptonshire 12 374.3 26.73 6/64 3 Ollie Robinson Sussex 12 343.2 25.53 4/42 0 Jordan Thompson Yorkshire 12 264.5 30.78 5/80 1 Zak Chappell Derbyshire 12 261.1 30.41 6/47 2 Timm van der Gugten Leicestershire 7 228.3 21.96 5/59 2 Marchant de Lange Gloucestershire 6 216.0 26.93 6/49 0 Ryan Higgins Middlesex 13 274.1 28.60 4/31 0
Ethan Bamber (Middlesex) and James Harris (Glamorgan) also took 30 wickets, but had a higher average than Ryan Higgins.
Notes
References
External links Division 1 at ESPNcricinfo Division 2 at ESPNcricinfo