- Pro40
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Pro40 Countries England
Administrator England and Wales Cricket Board Format Limited overs cricket First tournament 1969 Last tournament 2009 Number of teams 18 - 2 leagues of 9 Current champion Sussex Most successful Essex, Kent, Lancashire (5 titles each) Website ECB Natwest Pro40 website The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old 'Sunday League' retitled to reflect the fact that large numbers of matches were played on days other than Sunday.
Contents
Sunday League
The 'John Player Special League' was launched, in 1969, as the second one-day competition in England and Wales alongside the Gillette Cup. The 17 counties played each other in a league format on Sundays afternoons throughout the season. These matches were concise enough to be shown on television and BBC 2 broadcast one match each week in full until 1980s and then part of the Sunday Grandstand multi-sport programme. For close finishes for the title, cameras appeared at the grounds where the contenders for the title were competing and the trophy presentation to the victorious team would be on film.
'Refuge Assurance' became the new sponsors of the competition in 1987 and then in 1988 started an end of season play-off competition known as the 'Refuge Assurance Cup'. The top four teams of the season qualified with the top team playing the fourth placed team and the second and third place teams playing each other. The winners of each match met in a final at a neutral venue. This competition lasted until 1991. Somerset played Lancashire at Taunton on Friday 5 July 1991 to make the first Sunday League game not to be played on a Sunday[1].
The Sunday League was not sponsored in 1992, but in 1993 'AXA Equity and Law' became the sponsor. The matches this season were 50 overs per innings. The first round of matches that took place on May 9 1993 were the first official matches played in coloured clothing and a white ball in England. The following season the competition reverted back to 40 overs per innings. On Wednesday 23 July 1997 Warwickshire played Somerset at Edgbaston. This game was the first competitive county game to played under floodlights[2].
National League
The National League was launched in 1999 with the 18 first-class counties split into two divisions with three teams promoted and relegated from each. The matches were played over 45 overs and the competition was sponsored by 'Norwich Union'. Matches were spread over the week rather than Sundays only.
The counties incorporated nicknames into their official names for the National League, from 2002. For example, Kent became the 'Spitfires', Middlesex the 'Crusaders' and Lancashire were the 'Lightning'. The following season the Scotland Saltires took part in the League until 2005.
The C & G Trophy was restructured, in 2006, from a knock-out competition to a round-robin league format, which took up the early part of the season. The National League was renamed the 'NatWest Pro40' and was played in the later part of the season with the teams playing each other once. Also, two teams instead of three were promoted to the first division and two relegated to the second division. A third promotion/relegation spot is determined in a play-off game between the team third from top in the second division and third from bottom team in the first.
Restructuring proposals
In 2008, it was decided that the league would be disbanded from 2010, in order to make way for a new Twenty20 tournament; the 'English Premier League'. However the proposed 'English Premier League' extra Twenty20 idea was abandoned in favour for an expanded Twenty20 Cup competition 'P20'[3].
The ECB announced, on August 27 2009, that in 2010 there will be a 40-overs per innings tournament replacing both the Pro40 and the Friends Provident Trophy. This along with the English County Championship and the Twenty20 Cup will be English cricket's three domestic competitions. [4]
Teams
Division 1 teams in 2009:
- Durham Dynamos
- Essex Eagles
- Gloucestershire Gladiators
- Hampshire Hawks
- Nottinghamshire Outlaws
- Somerset Sabres
- Sussex Sharks
- Worcestershire Royals
- Yorkshire Carnegie
Division 2 teams in 2009:
- Derbyshire Phantoms
- Glamorgan Dragons
- Kent Spitfires
- Lancashire Lightning
- Leicestershire Foxes
- Middlesex Panthers
- Northamptonshire Steelbacks
- Surrey Brown Caps
- Warwickshire Bears
Results
National League
Season 1st Division Relegated 2nd Division Promoted NatWest Pro40 2009 Sussex Not applicable Warwickshire Not applicable 2008 Sussex Middlesex, Lancashire Essex Yorkshire 2007 Worcestershire Warwickshire, Essex, Northamptonshire Durham Somerset, Middlesex[5] 2006 Essex Glamorgan, Durham, Middlesex Gloucestershire Worcestershire, Hampshire[6] totesport League 2005 Essex Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Hampshire Sussex Durham, Warwickshire 2004 Glamorgan Warwickshire, Kent, Surrey Middlesex Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire National League 2003 Surrey Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Worcestershire Lancashire Northamptonshire, Hampshire Norwich Union League 2002 Glamorgan Somerset, Durham, Nottinghamshire Gloucestershire Surrey, Essex 2001 Kent Gloucestershire, Surrey, Northamptonshire Glamorgan Durham, Worcestershire Norwich Union National League 2000 Gloucestershire Worcestershire, Lancashire, Sussex Surrey Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire CGU National League 1999 Lancashire Warwickshire, Hampshire, Essex Sussex Somerset, Northamptonshire Sunday League
AXA League
- 1998 Lancashire
AXA Life League
- 1997 Warwickshire
AXA Equity & Law League
- 1996 Surrey
- 1995 Kent
- 1994 Warwickshire
- 1993 Glamorgan
Sunday League
- 1992 Middlesex
Refuge Assurance League
- 1991 Nottinghamshire
- 1990 Derbyshire
- 1989 Lancashire
- 1988 Worcestershire
- 1987 Worcestershire
John Player Special League
- 1986 Hampshire
- 1985 Essex
- 1984 Essex
John Player League
- 1983 Yorkshire
- 1982 Sussex
- 1981 Essex
- 1980 Warwickshire
- 1979 Somerset
- 1978 Hampshire
- 1977 Leicestershire
- 1976 Kent
- 1975 Hampshire
- 1974 Leicestershire
- 1973 Kent
- 1972 Kent
- 1971 Worcestershire
- 1970 Lancashire
John Player's County League
- 1969 Lancashire
Refuge Assurance Cup
- 1991 Worcestershire
- 1990 Middlesex
- 1989 Essex
- 1988 Lancashire
Tournaments won by county
- Essex 5
- Kent 5
- Lancashire 5
- Worcestershire 4
- Glamorgan 3
- Hampshire 3
- Sussex 3
- Warwickshire 3
- Leicestershire 2
- Surrey 2
- Derbyshire 1
- Gloucestershire 1
- Middlesex 1
- Nottinghamshire 1
- Somerset 1
- Yorkshire 1
- Durham 0
- Northamptonshire 0
Notes
- ^ Benson and Hedges Cricket Year Sept. 1990 to Sept. 1991 - page 325.
- ^ Warwickshire v Somerset July 1997 - Electronic Telegraph
- ^ Counties could scrap 50-over cricket - Cricinfo.com
- ^ English game dumps 50 overs cricket - Cricinfo
- ^ Middlesex beat Northamptonshire in Play-Off match
- ^ Hampshire beat Glamorgan in Play-Off match
See also
- National League Division One in 2005
- National League Division Two in 2005
- County Championship - the domestic first class competition in England and Wales
- Friends Provident Trophy (formerly C&G Trophy)- the one-day knock out competition
- Twenty20 Cup - the short-form competition
- Indian Premier League - the Indian League
External links
Cricket in England National teams National Football Centre First-class competitions One-day competitions ECB 40 · National League (cricket) (defunct) · Benson & Hedges Cup (defunct) · Friends Provident Trophy (defunct)Twenty20 competitions Lists Venues · Competitions · HistoryList A Cricket Leagues Provincial/State Leagues Club Leagues Bangladesh · England, Netherlands, Scotland & Wales · New Zealand · Pakistan · South Africa · Sri Lanka · United Kingdom · ZimbabweCategories:- English domestic cricket competitions
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