The 2016 County Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2016 Specsavers County Championship), was the 117th cricket County Championship season. It was announced in March 2016 that the 2017 season would feature only eight teams in Division One, meaning that only one team would be promoted from Division Two in the 2016 season, whilst two teams were relegated from Division One.
The season saw a significant change in playing regulations where instead of a mandatory coin toss to determine choice of batting or bowling first, the visiting team was allowed to choose to bowl first if they desired.Coin toss to be scrapped in County Championship cricket, BBC Sport, 26 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.No mandatory toss in the County Championship, CricInfo, 26 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016. This change was introduced by the ECB cricket committee in November 2015 as a response to concerns raised about the standard of pitches, particularly in Division Two of the Championship. The initiative attempted to reduce the preparation of seamer friendly wickets which had seen matches completed quickly, made batting harder early in matches and generally gave an advantage to the team bowling first.Hopps D, Dobell G (2015)The toss debate: aiding spin v home advantage , CricInfo, 2 December 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016. By encouraging Counties to produce more balanced wickets the initiative aimed to promote the skills required in Test cricket, in particular aiding the development of spin bowling and promoting more patient batting.Win the toss and...actually don't bother, CricInfo, 10 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
Tougher penalties for poor pitches and the use of the new regulations just in Division Two of the Championship had been considered by the ECB, but the committee opted to implement the change across both divisions in 2016. On the opening day of the 2016 season, four captains opted to bowl first with the choice of batting or bowling being decided by a toss in just one match.
Teams The 2016 Championship was divided into two divisions of nine teams each. Each county played every other team in their division twice with matches lasting four days - once at home and once away. At the end of the season one county was promoted from Division Two and two relegated from Division One in order to create a smaller Division One and a bigger Division Two in 2017.
Division One Team promoted from Division Two Team Primary home ground Other grounds Coach Captain Overseas player(s) RefsDurhamRiverside Ground, Chester-le-Street— Jon Lewis Paul Collingwood—HampshireRose Bowl, Southampton— Dale Benkenstein (Apr–Jul) Craig White (Jul–Sep) James Vince Ryan McLarenLancashireOld Trafford, Manchester— Ashley Giles Steven Croft Neil Wagner (May–Jul)MiddlesexLord's, LondonMerchant Taylors' School Ground, NorthwoodUxbridge Cricket Club Ground, Uxbridge Richard Scott Adam Voges (Apr–May) James Franklin (May–Sep) Adam Voges (Apr–May) George Bailey (Jul–Aug)NottinghamshireTrent Bridge, Nottingham— Mick Newell Chris Read Jackson Bird (Apr–Jul) Imran Tahir (Jul–Sep)SomersetCounty Ground, Taunton— Matthew Maynard Chris Rogers Chris RogersSurreyThe Oval, LondonWoodbridge Road, Guildford Michael Di Venuto Gareth Batty Kumar Sangakkara Aaron Finch (Jul)WarwickshireEdgbaston, Birmingham— Dougie Brown Ian Bell Jeetan PatelYorkshireHeadingley, LeedsNorth Marine Road Ground, Scarborough Jason Gillespie Andrew Gale Kane Williamson (Jun–Jul) Travis Head (Aug) Jake Lehmann (Aug–Sep)
Division Two Team relegated from Division One
Team Primary home ground Other groundsFixtures – County Championship Division Two, CricInfo. Retrieved 10 April 2016. Coach Captain Overseas player(s) RefsDerbyshireCounty Ground, DerbyQueen's Park, Chesterfield Graeme Welch (Apr–Jun) Billy Godleman Hamish RutherfordDobell G, Hopps D (2016) Tight race for one promotion spot, CricInfo, 8 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016. Derbyshire CCC: Fixtures released and Welch looks for a flying start , Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 10 April 2016.EssexCounty Ground, ChelmsfordCastle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester Chris Silverwood Ryan ten Doeschate Jesse RyderGlamorganSWALEC Stadium, CardiffPenrhyn Avenue, Rhos-on-SeaSt Helen's, Swansea Robert Croft Jacques Rudolph Jacques RudolphGloucestershireCounty Ground, BristolCollege Ground, Cheltenham Richard Dawson Gareth Roderick Cameron Bancroft (Apr–May) Michael Klinger (May–Sep)KentSt Lawrence Ground, CanterburyKent County Cricket Ground, BeckenhamNevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells Jimmy Adams Sam Northeast Tom Latham Kagiso Rabada (Jul)LeicestershireGrace Road, Leicester— Andrew McDonald Mark Cosgrove Clint McKayNorthamptonshireCounty Ground, Northampton— David Ripley Alex Wakely Rory Kleinveldt Seekkuge Prasanna (May–Jul)SussexCounty Ground, HoveArundel Castle Cricket Club Ground, Arundel Mark Davis Luke Wright Ross Taylor2016 Fixture list released , Sussex County Cricket Club. Retrieved 10 April 2016.WorcestershireNew Road, Worcester— Steve Rhodes Daryl Mitchell Matt Henry (Apr–Jun) Kyle Abbott (Jul–Sep)
Standings Teams receive 16 points for a win, 8 for a tie and 5 for a draw. Bonus points (a maximum of 5 batting points and 3 bowling points) may be scored during the first 110 overs of each team's first innings.
Division One
Division Two
Fixtures The fixture list for the 2016 season was announced in December 2015.
Division One April
May
June
July
August
September
Division Two April
May
June
July
August
September
Statistics
Division One
Most runs Player Team Matches Innings Runs Average 100s 50s Keaton Jennings Durham 16 28 1,548 64.50 221* 7 2 Nick Gubbins Middlesex 16 24 1,409 61.26 201* 4 9 Marcus Trescothick Somerset 16 27 1,239 51.62 218 4 4 Mark Stoneman Durham 16 28 1,234 45.70 141* 2 5 Haseeb Hameed Lancashire 16 27 1,198 49.91 122 4 7 Source:
Most wickets Player Team Matches Overs Wickets Average Jeetan Patel Warwickshire 16 616.4 69 24.02 5/32 4 1 Jack Leach Somerset 15 526.3 65 21.87 6/42 5 0 Jack Brooks Yorkshire 14 432.2 60 25.01 6/65 3 0 Keith Barker Warwickshire 16 522.1 59 23.13 5/53 1 0 Toby Roland-Jones Middlesex 15 482.2 54 28.22 6/54 2 1 Graham Onions Durham 16 544.0 54 31.25 5/90 1 0 Source:
Division Two
Most runs Player Team Matches Innings Runs Average 100s 50s Ben Duckett Northamptonshire 14 24 1,338 60.81 282* 4 5 Sam Northeast Kent 15 22 1,337 83.56 191 5 3 Wayne Madsen Derbyshire 15 26 1,292 58.72 163 6 3 Mark Cosgrove Leicestershire 16 27 1,279 49.19 146 5 5 Chris Nash Sussex 15 24 1,256 54.60 144 3 9 Source:
Most wickets Player Team Matches Overs Wickets Average Joe Leach Worcestershire 15 495.4 65 27.47 5/60 5 0 Graham Napier Essex 14 451.3 63 23.17 5/59 4 0 Steve Magoffin Sussex 16 523.1 62 20.14 5/32 5 1 Clint McKay Leicestershire 15 411.1 56 22.50 6/73 1 0 Timm van der Gugten Glamorgan 13 450.0 56 26.03 5/52 5 0 Source:
References