The 2021 English cricket season began on 4 April and finished on 3 October 2021. It was the 121st season in which the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

has been an official competition and featured First-Class,

List-A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

and

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

cricket competitions throughout England and Wales. The 18 first-class counties competed in 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 ...

, One-Day Cup and

T20 Blast The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

competitions, whilst the women's regional teams competed for the

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy is an English women's cricket domestic competition, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, who died in 2017. The first edition of the tournament took place during August ...

and the inaugural

Charlotte Edwards Cup The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, is an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2021. The tourna ...

. The season also saw the inaugural season of The Hundred, which was not held due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic in 2020. The season also had the 2021 Bob Willis Trophy, which was played as a five-day final between the teams that finished first and second in County Championship Division One.

International Tours

Four international men's sides toured the country this season:

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and India's women's sides also toured this season to play limited overs series and multi-format series matches, respectively.

New Zealand tour

In June 2021, New Zealand toured England to play two Test matches, prior to playing the inaugural

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship The 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship was the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship of Test cricket. It started on 1 August 2019 with the first Test of the 2019 Ashes series, and finished with the Final at the Rose Bowl, Sou ...

which was held at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. New Zealand played two test matches against England 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 ...

and

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

. The first test ended in a draw and New Zealand won the second test by 8 wickets to win the series 1–0. Prior to the Test series, New Zealand was scheduled to play a tour match against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

which was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, New Zealand played an intra-squad match for preparation.

Sri Lanka tour

During the end of the June and July, Sri Lanka played three ODIs and three T20Is against England. England won all the three T20I matches to win the series 3–0. England won the first two ODI matches to win the series 2–0, and the third ODI ended as No result being washed out by the rain after Sri Lanka's first innings. Before the start of the series, Sri Lanka were scheduled to play two one-day tour matches against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

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 ...

, which were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, Sri Lanka played a 50-over and also a 20-over intra-squad match at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Pakistan tour

In July 2021, Pakistan toured England to play three ODIs and three T20Is. England won all the three ODIs to win the series 3–0. Pakistan won the first T20I at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. England won the last two T20Is to win the series 2–1. Prior to the ODI series, Pakistan were scheduled to play two one-day matches against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, which were cancelled due to safety concerns. Instead, they were due to had two 50-over intra-squad matches, with the second match was cancelled due to rain.

India tour

India toured England to play a five-match test series during August. Prior to the England series, India were scheduled to play the inaugural final of 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship from 18 to 22 June at Southampton. The first Test at Trent Bridge was affected by rain and was ended in a draw. India won the second Test match at Lord's, with England winning the third Test at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

. India won the fourth Test at

The Oval The Oval, currently known 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 since ...

to lead the series 2–1. The fifth and final Test match at

was cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in the Indian team's coaching and support staff, with the result of the series yet to be decided officially. Before the start of the series, India were scheduled to play two intra-squad warm-up matches against

India A The India A cricket team is a national cricket team representing India. It is the second-tier of Indian international cricket, below the full India national cricket team. The team is currently captained by Priyank Panchal in first-class cricket a ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, which were called off following the cancellation of India A tour of England due to COVID-19 pandemic. Later, India were planned to play two first-class matches against counties, which was replaced by intra-squad warm-up matches at

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. Finally, India were played a three-day warm-up match against a County Select XI at Durham.

India women's tour

In June and July 2021, the India women's cricket team toured England, playing one WTest, three WODIs and three WT20Is. The Test match was the first such match that India had played since 2014. The Test match was drawn, whilst England won both the WODI and WT20I series 2–1.

New Zealand women's tour

In September 2021, the New Zealand women's cricket team toured England to play three WT20Is and five WODIs. England won the WT20I series 2–1, and the WODI series 4–1.

Domestic cricket

County Championship

The men's

began on 8 April and ended on 24 September. In the first stage on the competition, the eighteen counties were divided into three groups of six, playing each team in their group twice, playing ten matches overall. The top two teams from each group progressed to Division One for the second phase of the competition, with the next two teams in each group progressing to Division Two and the bottom two teams in each group moving to Division Three. Teams then played a further four matches in the division stage, with the winner of Division One becoming the county champions.

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

won the County Championship. Following the end of the County Championship season, the top two sides in Division One competed for 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 ...

in a five-day final at

. Warwickshire beat

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

by an innings and 199 runs.

Royal London One-Day Cup

The

Royal London One-Day Cup The Royal London One-Day Cup is a fifty-over limited overs cricket competition for the England and Wales first-class counties. It began in 2014 as a replacement for the ECB 40 tournament, which ran from 2010 to 2013. In contrast to its 40-over ...

took place in July and August, with the eighteen counties divided into two groups of nine. The final, which took place at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

, was won by

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

, who beat

by 58 runs.

T20 Blast

The

began on 9 June, with the eighteen counties divided into two regional groups of nine. Finals Day took place on 18 September at

Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. It is home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club and its T20 team Birmingham Bears. Edgbaston has ...

, with

beating

in the final by 25 runs.

The Hundred

The inaugural season of The Hundred took place in 2021, having been delayed for a year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Eight men's and eight women's teams competed in the tournament, which took place in July and August.

Oval Invincibles Oval Invincibles is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in South London. The team represents the historic counties of Surrey and Kent in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which took place for the first time during the 2021 Engl ...

won the women's competition, whilst

Southern Brave Southern Brave is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Southampton. The team represents the historic counties of Hampshire and Sussex in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which took place for the first time during ...

won the men's competition.

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

The

began on 29 May, with eight regional teams competing in a round-robin group. The final took place on 25 September at the

County Ground, Northampton The County Ground is a cricket venue on Wantage Road in the Abington area of Northampton, England. It is home to Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, and was used by Northampton Town F.C. from 1897 to 1994. Cricket Northamptonshire played t ...

, a repeat of the previous year's final between

Southern Vipers The Southern Vipers are a women's cricket team that represent the South of England. The Vipers wear an orange and black kit and play their home matches at the Ageas Bowl and the County Cricket Ground, Hove. They are currently coached by former ...

and

Northern Diamonds Northern Diamonds are a women's cricket team that represent the traditional areas of the North East and Yorkshire, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at Headingley, the Riverside, Rose ...

. Southern Vipers once again won the tournament.

Charlotte Edwards Cup

The inaugural season of the

(initially named the Women's Regional T20) took place in 2021, running from June to September. The eight teams were divided into two groups, with

South East Stars South East Stars are a women's cricket team that represent the London & South East region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, including the County Cricket Ground, Beck ...

and

progressing to Finals Day at the Rose Bowl. South East Stars beat Northern Diamonds by 5 wickets in the final.

Women's County Cricket

The

Women's Twenty20 Cup The Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the Vitality Women's County T20, is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Until the end of the 2019 season, teams were organised in tie ...

returned in 2021, having been cancelled in 2020 due to the

. The tournament had no overall winner, instead having six regional winners. Various regional county competitions also took place: the

East of England Women's County Championship The East of England Women's County Championship is a domestic women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used i ...

, the

Women's London Championship The Women's London Championship (WLC) is an English women's cricket competition. It was created in 2020 following the introduction of the regional Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy as the highest domestic competition in women's One Day cricket. The c ...

and the

Women's London Cup The Women's London Cup (previously the Pemberton Greenish Cup) is an English cricket competition played as a one-off Twenty20 match between Middlesex and Surrey each year since 2015. It was conceived by Surrey's Director of Women's Cricket Ebon ...

National Counties Cricket

The

National Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

took place between July and September, with the final won by

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

over

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. The

NCCA Knockout Trophy The National Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the National Counties of English and Welsh cricket, National Counties in English cricket. At first it was known as the ''English Ind ...

took place between May and September, with

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

beating

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

in the final.

References

{{English cricket seasons English cricket seasons in the 21st century 2021 in English cricket 2021 in English women's cricket