# 2018 County Championship
The 2018 [County Championship](https://www.edgepedia.org/county-championship), played as the Specsavers County Championship, was the 2018 edition of [England and Wales](https://www.edgepedia.org/england-and-wales)'s first-class county cricket competition, in which Surrey won Division One and [Warwickshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/warwickshire) won Division Two. The 18 First-Class Counties competed in a two-division structure of eight teams in Division One and ten in Division Two, with each team playing 14 four-day matches.[1](https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/countycricket/one-division_format_county_championship_return.html) • [2](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/894379/counties-agree-to-men-s-domestic-structure-changesfrom-2020)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Division One champion | Surrey, as listed among the competition's previous winners[3](https://www.ecb.co.uk/county-championship) |
| Division Two champion | Warwickshire, who beat Kent to take the title in late September[4](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45651339) |
| Structure | Eight teams in Division One, ten in Division Two, 14 matches per team[1](https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/countycricket/one-division_format_county_championship_return.html) |
| Match points | 16 for a win, 8 for a tie, 5 for a draw, plus first-innings batting and bowling bonus points[5](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/846404/how-does-the-vitality-county-championship-scoring-system-work) • [12](https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/113653/bob-willis-trophy-all-you-need-to-know-county-championship-cricbuzzcom) |
| Relegation battle | Yorkshire and Lancashire, the Roses rivals, went into the final rounds fighting to stay in Division One[6](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/847676) |
| Aftermath | In October 2018 the counties agreed that from 2020 the split would reverse to 10 teams in Division One and 8 in Division Two[2](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/894379/counties-agree-to-men-s-domestic-structure-changesfrom-2020) |
## Season format and points
The Championship in 2018 ran under the split introduced for the 2017 season: eight counties in the top flight and ten in the second, a reversal of the two divisions of nine used from 2000. Each team played 14 matches.[1](https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/countycricket/one-division_format_county_championship_return.html) The team with the highest aggregate of points at the end of the season was Champion County of its division.[5](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/846404/how-does-the-vitality-county-championship-scoring-system-work)
Under the Championship's scoring system, a win is worth 16 points, a tie 8 points, and a draw 5 points to each side, with first-innings points added on.[12](https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/113653/bob-willis-trophy-all-you-need-to-know-county-championship-cricbuzzcom) Batting points run from 1 point for 200 to 249 runs up to 5 points for 450 or more, and bowling points from 1 point for 3 to 5 wickets up to 3 points for 9 or 10; first-innings points are awarded only for performances in the first 110 overs of each first innings and are retained whatever the result.[5](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/846404/how-does-the-vitality-county-championship-scoring-system-work) • [13](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/1745841/how-does-the-bob-willis-trophy-point-system-work) Teams can also be deducted points during a season for reasons including slow over-rate, player conduct, and pitch conditions.[5](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/846404/how-does-the-vitality-county-championship-scoring-system-work)
## Division One: Surrey's title
Surrey secured the 2018 Championship. In mid-September they looked as though they might be made to wait for the title, with [Worcestershire](https://www.edgepedia.org/worcestershire) appearing favorite in the sides' match, before Morne Morkel bowled a decisive spell, taking 5 wickets for 5 runs in 34 balls as Worcestershire lost their last 8 wickets for 48; Morkel finished with figures of 17-8-24-5, and Surrey needed 272 to be crowned champions.[6](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/847676) Surrey's opener [Rory Burns](https://www.edgepedia.org/rory-burns), in the season of [Alastair Cook](https://www.edgepedia.org/alastair-cook)'s England retirement, was noted both for his run-scoring and his slip catching.[6](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/847676)
The relegation fight went to the final rounds. Yorkshire and [Lancashire](https://www.edgepedia.org/lancashire) met in the Roses match with both desperate to win to stay in Division One; on the third day Yorkshire's Gary Ballance made 85 and Tom Kohler-Cadmore 63, setting Lancashire 230 to win, and Lancashire stumbled to 109 for 7 at the close with Ben Coad taking 4 for 14.[6](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/847676) Lancashire ended the season relegated to Division Two.[7](https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/99768/conference-style-revamp-suggested-for-county-championship) Earlier in the season, leaders [Nottinghamshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/nottinghamshire) had lost by an innings to Lancashire at [Trent Bridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/trent-bridge) in May, Graham Onions taking 6 for 55 to finish with match figures of 9 for 77 in Lancashire's first victory of the season.[8](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/44096690)
## Division Two: Warwickshire and the promotion race
Warwickshire beat Kent to win the Division Two title on 26 September 2018, a result that returned the club to the top flight and marked a farewell for the retiring former England batsman [Jonathan Trott](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-trott), who had received a guard of honor walking to the wicket for his final innings the previous day.[4](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45651339) In mid-September Warwickshire returned to the top of Division Two with a win over [Leicestershire](https://www.edgepedia.org/leicestershire) built on Keith Barker's left-arm seam bowling, which returned match figures of 8 for 63; Kent's win over [Middlesex](https://www.edgepedia.org/middlesex) the same day made Warwickshire's win necessary.[6](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/847676) Durham's Chris Rushworth took match figures of 12 for 100 in a 186-run win over Sussex that dented Sussex's promotion hopes.[6](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/847676)
The season's first result went to Middlesex, champions of 2016 but demoted to Division Two in September 2017, who beat [Northamptonshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/northamptonshire) by 160 runs at Lord's in April. James Harris scored the most runs and the highest score in the match and took the most wickets, 9 for 48 in the game including 4 for 39 in the second innings.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/15/middlesex-beat-nothamptonshire-james-harris)
## Structure debate
The 2018 season was played amid an active debate over the Championship's format. Yorkshire's chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon proposed a conference-style format of three conferences of six counties, with 15 matches per team and points carried into final-stage conferences, partly to reassure smaller counties worried by the planned eight-team regional T20 competition from 2020.[7](https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/99768/conference-style-revamp-suggested-for-county-championship) Sussex chief executive Rob Andrew, a former England rugby international who took charge at Hove in late 2016, called the two-division format "a mess" and "really destructive" and called for an American-style conference system.[10](https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/county-championship-mess-rob-andrew) Writing in April 2018, the former England cricketer Derek Pringle argued that two divisions since 2000 had pushed some counties toward short-term signings and drained talent from clubs such as Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Northamptonshire.[11](https://www.thecricketpaper.com/pringle-column-why-two-divisions-have-been-toxic-for-the-county-championship/)
The counties instead agreed in October 2018, on the recommendation of the Men's Domestic Playing Programme group chaired by Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Khan, to keep the two-division Championship but reverse the split from 2020: ten teams in Division One and eight in Division Two, achieved by promoting three teams from Division Two in 2019 and relegating one from Division One, with two-up, two-down movement thereafter.[2](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/894379/counties-agree-to-men-s-domestic-structure-changesfrom-2020)
## References
1. [One-division format being considered for County Championship return, The Cricketer](https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/countycricket/one-division_format_county_championship_return.html)
2. [Counties agree to men's domestic structure changes from 2020, ECB (31 October 2018)](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/894379/counties-agree-to-men-s-domestic-structure-changesfrom-2020)
3. [County Championship, ECB](https://www.ecb.co.uk/county-championship)
4. [County Championship: Warwickshire beat Kent to win Division Two title, BBC Sport (26 September 2018)](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45651339)
5. [How does the County Championship scoring system work?, ECB](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/846404/how-does-the-vitality-county-championship-scoring-system-work)
6. [County Championship Plays of the Day - September 12, ECB (12 September 2018)](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/847676)
7. [Conference-style revamp suggested for County Championship, Cricbuzz](https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/99768/conference-style-revamp-suggested-for-county-championship)
8. [County Championship: Leaders Nottinghamshire lose by an innings to Lancashire, BBC Sport (13 May 2018)](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/44096690)
9. [All-round brilliance of James Harris drives Middlesex to win over Northants, The Guardian (15 April 2018)](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/15/middlesex-beat-nothamptonshire-james-harris)
10. [County Championship 'a mess' says Sussex chief exec Rob Andrew, Wisden (25 January 2018)](https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/county-championship-mess-rob-andrew)
11. [Pringle column: Why two divisions have been toxic for the County Championship, The Cricket Paper (24 April 2018)](https://www.thecricketpaper.com/pringle-column-why-two-divisions-have-been-toxic-for-the-county-championship/)
12. [Bob Willis Trophy - All you need to know](https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/113653/bob-willis-trophy-all-you-need-to-know-county-championship-cricbuzzcom)
13. [How does the Bob Willis Trophy point system work?](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/1745841/how-does-the-bob-willis-trophy-point-system-work)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Cricket › Cricket competitions and records › Seasons and editions › County Championship seasons › County Championship seasons 2000–present*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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