The 2017 County Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2017 Specsavers County Championship), was the 118th cricket County Championship season. It was announced in March 2016 that the season would feature eight teams in Division One and ten teams in Division Two, meaning that at the end of the 2016 season only one team was promoted from Division Two whilst two were relegated from Division One.County Championship: Only one promotion spot in Division Two this summer, BBC Sport, 7 March 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2017. The first round of fixtures began on 7 April, with the final matches completed on 28 September. All of the fixtures starting on 26 June 2017 were played as day/night matches.
Following a series of financial "bailout" payments made by the England and Wales Cricket Board to Durham during the 2016 season, the county, which had finished fourth in Division One at the end of the season, were relegated to Division Two in place of the eighth place team, Hampshire. Durham were also placed under a salary cap administered by the ECB until 2020 and started the 2017 Championship season with a deduction of 48 points. Ahead of the season, each team played a first-class match against a MCC University team.
Teams The 2017 Championship was divided into two divisions, Division One with eight teams, Division Two with 10 teams.
Teams in both divisions played a total of 14 games, with all Division One teams playing each other twice, while Division Two teams played five counties twice and four once.
Division One Team promoted from Division Two Team Primary home ground Other grounds Coach Captain Overseas player(s) RefsEssexCounty Ground, Chelmsford— Chris Silverwood Ryan ten Doeschate Neil Wagner (Apr–Jun) Mohammad Amir (Jun–Sep)HampshireRose Bowl, Southampton— Craig White James Vince George BaileyLancashireOld Trafford, Manchester— Glen Chapple Steven Croft Ryan McLarenMiddlesexLord's, LondonMerchant Taylors' School Ground, NorthwoodUxbridge Cricket Club Ground, Uxbridge Richard Scott Adam Voges Adam VogesSomersetCounty Ground, Taunton— Matthew Maynard Tom Abell Dean ElgarSurreyThe Oval, LondonWoodbridge Road, Guildford Michael Di Venuto Gareth Batty Kumar Sangakkara Aaron Finch (Jul)WarwickshireEdgbaston, Birmingham— Jim Troughton Ian Bell Jeetan PatelYorkshireHeadingley, LeedsNorth Marine Road Ground, Scarborough Andrew Gale Gary Ballance Peter Handscomb
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 Kim Barnett Billy Godleman Jeevan Mendis (Apr–Jun) Imran Tahir (Jun–Sep)DurhamRiverside Ground, Chester-le-Street— Jon Lewis Paul Collingwood Stephen Cook (Apr–Jun) Tom Latham (Jun–Sep)GlamorganSWALEC 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, Royal Tunbridge Wells Matt Walker Sam Northeast Wayne Parnell (Apr–May) Yasir Shah (Jun–Jul) Adam Milne (Jun–Sep)LeicestershireGrace Road, Leicester— Pierre de Bruyn Mark Cosgrove Clint McKayNorthamptonshireCounty Ground, Northampton— David Ripley Alex Wakely Rory KleinveldtNottinghamshireTrent Bridge, Nottingham— Peter Moores Chris Read James PattinsonSussexCounty Ground, HoveArundel Castle Cricket Club Ground, Arundel Mark Davis Luke Wright Vernon Philander (Apr–Jun)WorcestershireNew Road, Worcester— Steve Rhodes Joe Leach John Hastings
Standings Teams received 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) could be scored during the first 110 overs of each team's first innings.
Division One
Division Two
Fixtures The fixture list for the 2017 season was announced in November 2016.
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 50sKumar SangakkaraSurrey10161491106.5020082Mark StonemanSurrey1219115660.8419744Rory BurnsSurrey1422104149.57219*18Jonathan TrottWarwickshire142696737.1917535Nick BrowneEssex142295243.2722115
Most wickets Players Team Matches Overs Wickets Average BBI 5w 10wJamie PorterEssex133997516.837–5551Simon HarmerEssex14521.37219.199–9542Kyle AbbottHampshire14415.36018.207–4140Jack LeachSomerset14520.15125.786–7840Ben CoadYorkshire12356.45020.866–2541
Division Two
Most runs Player Team Matches Innings Runs Average 100s 50sLuke WellsSussex1222129264.6025844Daryl MitchellWorcestershire1426126655.0416173Joe DenlyKent1323116555.4822745Mark CosgroveLeicestershire1223111248.3518826Paul CollingwoodDurham1424108749.4117735
Most wickets Players Team Matches Overs Wickets Average BBI 5w 10wJoe LeachWorcestershire14397.56919.395–3241Darren StevensKent12395.46218.088–7570Jofra ArcherSussex13475.16125.307–6741Liam NorwellGloucestershire113215917.398–4352Michael HoganGlamorgan12370.45020.886–4331
References