The 2020 Bob Willis Trophy was a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

tournament held in the 2020 English cricket season, and the inaugural edition of the Bob Willis Trophy. It was separate from the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

, which was not held in 2020 due to the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

. The eighteen county cricket teams were split into three regional groups of six, with the two group winners with the most points advancing to a final held at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. The maximum number of overs bowled in a day was reduced from 96 to 90, and the team's first innings could be no longer than 120 overs. After a delay due to the pandemic, counties passed a majority vote to start the season on 1 August 2020, with the final starting on 23 September 2020. In the final round of matches, the game between

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

was abandoned at lunch on the first day, after a member of the Northamptonshire squad provided a positive test for COVID-19. The match was recorded as a draw, with Northamptonshire taking ten points, and Gloucestershire eight. Neither side were in contention to reach the final of the tournament.

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

became the first team to qualify for the final of the tournament, after they beat

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

by nine wickets in their final match, and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

failed to gain a batting point in their match against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

became the second team to qualify for the final after they beat

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

by 60 runs in their fifth match of the tournament. The final finished as a draw, with Essex winning the tournament, after securing a lead in the first innings of the match. In October 2020,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

were deducted 24 points after bowler Mitchell Claydon was found guilty of a ball tampering offence. Claydon was adjudged to have applied hand sanitiser to the ball during a game against

in August. The player also received a nine-game ban. While it was promoted as being a one-off competition, the new structure of three groups of six was retained for the 2021 County Championship.

Background

The first round of matches in the County Championship were originally scheduled to start on 12 April, with the final round of matches finishing on 25 September. However in March 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

(ECB) announced that the season would be delayed until at least 28 May 2020. The following month, Abu Dhabi Cricket (ADC) suggested using facilities in the United Arab Emirates between October and January as a possible solution to playing some fixtures. On 24 April 2020, the ECB confirmed that no professional cricket would be played in England before 1 July 2020. As a result of the pandemic, the vast majority of clubs placed players and staff on

furlough A furlough (; from , "leave of absence") is a temporary cessation of paid employment that is intended to address the special needs of a company or employer; these needs may be due to economic conditions that affect a specific employer, or to thos ...

. In late May 2020, the ECB looked at the idea of starting the County Championship in August, split into three groups of six teams, with a final at

. The ECB also confirmed that no domestic cricket would be played before 1 August 2020. In June 2020, some clubs raised concerns about the logistics of travelling and the financial viability of playing first-class cricket, with 50-over matches being a more realistic possibility. On 29 June 2020, the ECB confirmed that the domestic cricket season would begin on 1 August 2020, with the format to be agreed in early July. On 7 July 2020, the majority of counties voted to start the season on 1 August 2020. On 26 July 2020, a crowd of 1,000 spectators were allowed to watch a test event at

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in London, the first time people had been to see a live cricket match since the start of the pandemic. Following the success of the trial, a pilot scheme would have allowed up to 2,500 fans to attend the first two days of play of Surrey and Warwickshire's first matches. However, on 31 July 2020 Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

announced crowds would not be allowed to attend sporting events following an increase in COVID-19 infection rates.

Teams

The teams were placed into the following groups: * North Group:

, Durham,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

* Central Group:

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

* South Group:

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Fixtures

The fixtures for the tournament were announced on 24 July 2020. Following local COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in Leicester, Leicestershire County Cricket Club's first home fixture was moved to a neutral venue.

North Group

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Central Group

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

South Group

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Standings

Teams receive 16 points for a win and 8 for a draw or tie. 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.

North Group

Central Group

South Group

Final

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{English cricket seasons

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Bob Willis Trophy Bob Willis Trophy