Blow for tier-two counties

FINISHING positions in this season’s County Championship will determine which division teams play in from next year in any revamped domestic structure.

The news, broken to directors of cricket recently, appears to deny this year’s Division Two teams the chance to play in the top tier of any new-look, first-class competition.

Any reconfiguration following a review of English cricket overseen by Andrew Strauss would be based on tables in 2022 instead of average points in recent seasons, stretching back to the start of the pandemic.

Therefore, if a return to a split of 8-10 in the Championship from the current 10-8 were proposed, it is assumed this summer’s top eight would retain first-division status.

If a switch to three divisions of six were agreed for 2023, it is expected the top six this summer would make up the top flight; the bottom four plus the top two of Division Two would play in the new second tier; and the remaining six would form Division Three.

The ECB are conducting research into their entire cricket structure as they seek a format that will help make England the best team in the world across all three formats.

Strauss is setting up a review panel with the hope of putting recommendations on a new domestic structure to the county game by the end of September.