The 2020 Bob Willis Trophy was a first-class cricket tournament held in the

2020 English cricket season The 2020 English cricket season was originally scheduled to run between 2 April and 25 September. It was planned to have first-class, one-day and Twenty20 cricket competitions throughout England and Wales and as well as the launch of a new franc ...

, and the inaugural edition of the

Bob Willis Trophy The Bob Willis Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales for the eighteen first-class counties, organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It was established in the 2020 English cricket season. The ...

. It was separate from the County Championship, 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 confir ...

. The eighteen

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

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 venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

. 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 and Northamptonshire 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 became the first team to qualify for the final of the tournament, after they beat Middlesex by nine wickets in their final match, and Derbyshire failed to gain a batting point in their match against Lancashire. Somerset became the second team to qualify for the final after they beat Worcestershire 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 (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

were deducted 24 points after bowler

Mitchell Claydon Mitchell Eric Claydon (born 25 November 1982) is an Australian-English former first-class cricketer. Although he was born at Fairfield, New South Wales he holds a British passport. Claydon is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bow ...

was found guilty of a

ball tampering In the sport of cricket, ball tampering is an action in which a fielder illegally alters the condition of the ball. The primary motivation of ball tampering is to interfere with the aerodynamics of the ball to aid swing bowling. Definition Unde ...

offence. Claydon was adjudged to have applied hand sanitiser to the ball during a game against Middlesex 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 The 2021 County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 121st cricket County Championship season in England and Wales. For the first phase of the tournament, the teams were split into ...

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 England and Wales Cricket Board (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 nl, verlof, "leave of absence") is a temporary leave of employees due to special needs of a company or employer, which may be due to economic conditions of a specific employer or in society as a whole. These furloughs may be s ...

. 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 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 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: Derbyshire, Durham, Lancashire,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire * Central Group:

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Worcestershire * South Group: Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

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

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Central Group

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South Group

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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 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 events, COVID- ...