The 2006 English cricket season was the 107th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. It included home international series for England against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. England came off a winter with more Test losses than wins, for the first time since 2002-03, but still attained their best series result in India since 1985. The One Day International series against Pakistan and India both ended in losses.
In domestic cricket, Nottinghamshire, holders of the County Championship, were relegated, and it was Sussex who took the Championship title as their Pakistani overseas player Mushtaq Ahmed ended with 102 wickets. Sussex pipped Lancashire to the title, as they did in the one-day C&G Trophy, which was changed from a direct knock-out into two regional leagues of 10, from which two teams progressed to the final at Lord's,All change for county competitions, by Andrew McGlashan, published by Cricinfo on 14 April 2006 where Sussex won by 15 runs. Essex Eagles defended their National League title from last season, a league tournament that has been shortened from 16 to eight matches per side and officially named Pro40. They finished level with Northamptonshire Steelbacks in the table, though the Steelbacks lost by 109 runs in their meeting. The Twenty20 Cup completed its fourth instalment during 2006, and was won by Leicestershire Foxes, the first team to win the Twenty20 Cup twice.
Roll of honour Test series England v Sri Lanka: 3 Tests - series drawn 1–1. England v Pakistan: 4 Tests - England win 3–0.
ODI series England in Ireland: England won by 38 runs. England v Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka won 5-match series 5–0. England v Pakistan: 5-match series tied 2–2.
Twenty20 International England v Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka won by two runs. England v Pakistan: Pakistan won by five wickets.
County Championship Division One winners: Sussex Division Two winners: Surrey
Pro40 (National League) Division One winners: Essex Division Two winners: Gloucestershire
C&G Trophy Winners: Sussex - Runners-up: Lancashire
Twenty20 Cup Winners: Leicestershire - Runners-up: Nottinghamshire
Minor Counties Championship Winners: Devon
MCCA Knockout Trophy Winners: Northumberland
Second XI Championship Winners: Kent II
Second XI Trophy Winners: Warwickshire II
Wisden Five Players: tbc
Women's Tests England v India: India won 2-match series 1–0.
Women's ODIs England v India: England won 5-match series 4–0.
Women's Twenty20 Internationals England v India: India won by eight wickets.
Under-19 "Tests" England v India: India won 3-match series 1–0.
Under-19 "ODIs" England v India: India won 3-match series 3–0.
Test Series Pakistan tour
Sri Lanka tour
County Championship
C&G Trophy
Twenty20 Cup
Monthly Reviews April The season's opening first class game, the Champion County match at Lord's, began on 14 AprilFirst-Class matches in England in 2006 (77), retrieved from CricketArchive on 16 June 2006 with a Marylebone Cricket Club team taking on Nottinghamshire.Marylebone Cricket Club v Nottinghamshire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive Nottinghamshire earned a lead of 23 on first innings after bowling MCC out for 168, and after centuries from Jason Gallian, Chris Read and Mark Ealham, they declared with a day to spare. Despite 94 from No. 8 Tim Bresnan, MCC lost by 142 runs. A day later, the six three-day university matches between county teams and university teams had begun:University Centres of Cricketing Excellence 2006 and linked scorecards, retrieved from CricketArchive on 16 June 2006 the matches were all drawn, though no county team failed to bowl out their opponents in the first innings, and all county teams declared their first innings closed.
On 18 April, the County Championship began, but the first matches were dominated by rain; at Old Trafford, Lancashire and Hampshire played out 169.3 overs,Lancashire v Hampshire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 compared to the minimum of 408 set out in ECB regulations,Regulations and Playing Conditions in the County Championship , retrieved 16 June 2006 in a drawn game, while Gloucestershire overcame Somerset in Division Two despite 36 and 172 from Australian overseas player Cameron White.Gloucestershire v Somerset in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 Excluding extras, the other ten players contributed with 197 runs, eleven less than White. The other five matches began a day later: Durham's first outing in Division One ended with victory, as Gordon Muchall hit 219 in the first innings and Kent were bowled out for 340 and 179 to leave Durham with a win by an innings and 56 runs,Durham v Kent in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 while Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Sussex and Warwickshire all recorded draws.Liverpool Victoria County Championship 2006 , and linked scorecards, retrieved from CricketArchive on 16 June 2006 In Division Two, Surrey's first match after relegation saw them save the draw after following on against last year's wooden spoon winners Derbyshire,Surrey v Derbyshire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 and Essex and Northamptonshire also drew. Two of the three university matches that week had two days rained out; the third, between Middlesex and Oxford UCCE was drawn.
The first round of the league stage of the C&G Trophy was played out on 23 April.Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy 2006 , and linked scorecards, from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 In the South Conference, Essex (in a 10-over affair), Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Somerset (after Marcus Trescothick's 158) recorded wins, while Derbyshire, Lancashire and Worcestershire won in the North. Sri Lanka began their tour the following day, drawing with a British Universities XI at Fenner's,British Universities v Sri Lanka in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 and the second round of the Championship took place from 26 April to 29 April with seven matches. Durham fell back to earth after their initial win, giving up 421 runs in the first innings to Lancashire and losing by 128 runs,Durham v Lancashire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 while Pakistanis Naved-ul-Hasan and Mushtaq Ahmed claimed 14 of 20 wickets for Sussex in their win at Hampshire, who failed to pick up batting points for the second time this season.Hampshire v Sussex in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 Kent chased down 354 for the loss of three wickets against Middlesex at Lord's,Middlesex v Kent in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 and Warwickshire, despite giving up 433 in the fourth innings, beat Yorkshire to go top of the table.Warwickshire v Yorkshire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006
In Division Two, Essex made 639 with three centuries before declaring against Glamorgan, which was enough to win by an innings and 30.Glamorgan v Essex in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 Essex thus topped the table, while Glamorgan was bottom. Surrey beat Leicestershire by 99 runs,Surrey v Leicestershire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 and Somerset beat Worcestershire in a match where three of the innings totalled less than 170 runs, and Somerset's first was worth 406 and full batting points.Worcestershire v Somerset in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 Meanwhile, three counties played university matches, with Nottinghamshire and Gloucestershire recording innings victories while Northamptonshire came back from a four-run first innings deficit against Cambridge to win by 193 runs.Cambridge UCCE v Northamptonshire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006
The last matches of the month were those of the second round of the C&G Trophy, along with Derbyshire's tour match against Sri Lanka. Derbyshire got a first innings lead of 43 after Sri Lanka declared their first innings closed, and Australian Travis Birt hit 83 off 53 balls before Derbyshire declared overnight on 208 for 4. In the C&G Trophy, Ireland bounced back from an early loss when they successfully defended 193 against Gloucestershire,Gloucestershire v Ireland in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 while Warwickshire made 352 for two against Scotland to win by 114 runs,Warwickshire v Scotland in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 and Sussex converted seven for two into a successful chase of 273 against Surrey.Surrey v Sussex in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006
May On 1 May, nine matches were played in the C&G Trophy, with only Derbyshire and Yorkshire resting. Five of the matches were affected by rain, though no team played fewer than 30 overs. In the North, Durham won their first one-day game of the season, Scotland suffered their second loss in as many days at the hands of Nottinghamshire, Lancashire were the only team with two wins after bowling Worcestershire out for 129, while Warwickshire's 128 for 9 in 33 overs led to loss against Leicestershire.
In the South, Hampshire toppled leaders Essex after Shane Warne, Shaun Udal and Dominic Thornely shared out the last six wickets for 34 runs, in what was called a "collapse in spectacular fashion", Gough injured as Essex collapse, from BBC, published 1 May 2006 securing an eight-run win. England international Darren Gough strained a hamstring during the game. Glamorgan beat Ireland by 15 runs but had England Test bowler Simon Jones injured,Seamer Jones set for scan on knee, from BBC, published 2 May 2006 Surrey beat Kent by one solitary run in a 30-over affair at St Lawrence Ground,Kent v Surrey in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 and Gloucestershire beat neighbours Somerset on the back of 112 off 79 balls from Ian Harvey and five wickets from spinner Martyn Ball,Somerset v Gloucestershire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 which meant they led the South Division after this round. The final match saw Sussex beat Middlesex to go third in the table.
Eight County Championship matches began on 3 May, along with the University match between Worcestershire and Bradford/Leeds UCCE, which Worcestershire won by 250 runs after making 500 for 2 declared in the first innings.Bradford/Leeds UCCE v Worcestershire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 Thus, Durham were the only team without a game. In Division One, Warwickshire were passed by Lancashire on the table despite beating Nottinghamshire by 60 runs - their first innings total of 248 only gave them one bonus point.Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper David Alleyne made 109 not out in the second innings, but was deserted by his batting partners as they totalled 316 in chase of 377 to win. Lancashire took the Championship lead, chasing 89 in the fourth innings and succeeding with the loss of four wickets against Kent at Old Trafford,Lancashire v Kent in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 while Sussex beat Yorkshire at Headingley after 11 wickets from Naved-ul-Hasan and 124 and 55 not out from Matt Prior.Yorkshire v Sussex in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006 The final match saw Middlesex get their second loss of the season, as they were bowled out for 98 after opting to bat and ended with a ten-wicket defeat to Hampshire.Hampshire v Middlesex in 2006, scorecard from CricketArchive, retrieved 16 June 2006