The County Championship (currently known as the LV= County Championship because of its sponsor, Liverpool Victoria) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and originally representing, historic counties, seventeen from England and one from Wales.

History

"Champion County"

Until 1890, the concept of an unofficial championship existed whereby various claims would be made by or on behalf of a particular club as the "Champion County", an archaic term which now has the specific meaning of an unofficial claimant for the County Championship title prior to 1890. In contrast, the term "County Champions" applies in common parlance to a team that has won the official title since 1890.

The most usual means of claiming the unofficial title was by popular or press acclaim. In the majority of cases, the claim or proclamation was retrospective, often by cricket writers using reverse analysis via a study of known results. The unofficial title was not proclaimed in every season up to 1889 because in many cases there were not enough matches or there was simply no clear candidate. Having already been badly hit by the Seven Years' War, county cricket ceased altogether during the Napoleonic Wars and there was a period from 1797 to 1824 during which no inter-county matches took place. The concept of the unofficial title has been utilised ad hoc and relied on sufficient interest being shown.

The 2006 County Championship season, known as the Liverpool Victoria County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team plays all the others in their division both home and away. This season saw a change in promotion and relegation, with the top two teams from Division Two being promoted to the first division for 2007, while the bottom two sides from Division 1 are relegated.

Teams in the County Championship 2006:

Division One

Standings

Source:
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd matches won; 3^rd fewest defeats
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; Tie = Matches tied; D = Matches drawn; Aban = Matches abandoned; Deduct = Points deducted; Pts = Points

Division two

Standings

Source:
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd matches won; 3^rd fewest defeats
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; Tie = Matches tied; D = Matches drawn; Aban = Matches abandoned; Deduct = Points deducted; Pts = Points

The 2005 County Championship season, known as the Frizzell County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the others in their division both home and away. The top three teams from Division Two were promoted to the first division for 2006, while the bottom three sides from Division 1 were relegated.

Teams

Teams in the County Championship 2005:

Division One

Standings

Source:
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd matches won; 3^rd fewest defeats
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; Tie = Matches tied; D = Matches drawn; Aban = Matches abandoned; Deduct = Points deducted; Pts = Points

Division Two

Standings

Source:
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd matches won; 3^rd fewest defeats
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; Tie = Matches tied; D = Matches drawn; Aban = Matches abandoned; Deduct = Points deducted; Pts = Points