In the UK, County cricket is the domestic form of the sport of cricket that is considered to be first-class cricket. Almost all of teams are named after, and were originally representative of, English counties (the exception being Glamorgan, which is in Wales.)

In 2004, the County cricket competition is sponsored by Frizzell , and the teams presently play in two divisions:

• First division
  • Glamorgan County Cricket Club
  • Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
  • Hampshire County Cricket Club
  • Kent County Cricket Club
  • Middlesex County Cricket Club
  • Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
  • Surrey County Cricket Club
  • Sussex County Cricket Club
  • Warwickshire County Cricket Club

• Second division
  • Derbyshire County Cricket Club
  • Durham County Cricket Club
  • Essex County Cricket Club
  • Lancashire County Cricket Club
  • Leicestershire County Cricket Club
  • Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
  • Somerset County Cricket Club
  • Worcestershire County Cricket Club
  • Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Brief History

The official County Championship began in 1890, before which unofficial championships were contested. The unofficial championships were decided not by numerical method rather by popular acclaim.

The first official championship in 1890 was competed between Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire, where the side were to play no more than 16 matches. The positions were based on number of wins minus the number of losses.

The following year Somerset also competed in the championship and in 1895 Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire also joined, by now each side had to play at least 16 matches per season.

Of the current 18 sides in County Cricket the remaining joined at the following dates:

• Worcestershire in 1899
• Northamptonshire in 1905
• Glamorgan in 1921
• Durham in 1992.

More information about the history of the County Championship can be found here.