2021 County Championship
The 2021 LV= Insurance County Championship was the 121st season of England and Wales’ County Championship. The 18 participating counties were split into three groups of six for the first phase, with each team playing ten group matches. The top two teams from each group moved into Division One for the second phase, while the others went to Divisions Two and Three. The county champions were Warwickshire, who finished on top in Division One and then beat Lancashire in a five-day match at Lord’s to win the Bob Willis Trophy.
Key points and moments
- Schedule and format: After the group stage (completed on July 14), the division stage began, with fixtures announced on July 22. Teams earned 16 points for a win and 8 for a draw, plus bonus points (up to 5 batting and 3 bowling) in the first 110 overs of each team’s first innings.
- Notable events: James Anderson reached his 1,000th first-class wicket in Lancashire vs Kent; Tom Haines became the first batsman to score 1,000 runs in this edition.
- COVID disruptions: Kent had to field an entirely new side for a match after a positive test, and a player had to withdraw after self-isolating. The Derbyshire–Essex match was abandoned due to a COVID-19 positive, and the Division 2 match Durham vs Surrey was cancelled later in August for the same reason.
- Division outcomes: Warwickshire won Division One (and thus the County Championship), with Lancashire finishing second. Essex won Division Two, and Kent won Division Three.
- Leading performers: Tom Haines was the top run-scorer with 1,176 runs, and Luke Fletcher took the most wickets with 66.
Bob Willis Trophy notes
- The five-day Bob Willis Trophy followed the Championship format in a separate trophy competition. Warwickshire won the 2021 Bob Willis Trophy, their first title in that event, beating Lancashire at Lord’s. Will Rhodes scored the most runs (156), and Craig Miles took the most wickets (6).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:22 (CET).