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Maybe not
The Guardian reports that there is a meeting of the county chairs tomorrow at which the ECB will propose the Conference system is retained for 2020 while the Bob Willis Trophy will be “quietly put to bed”. I think that has to be right – last year in the rain the winner over five days was based on first innings lead while this one (with rain again threatened) is absurdly one-sided.
Incidentally the Sky commentators have been commending Will Rhodes on his “first Championship century of the season” but Cricket Archive distinguishes between the Championship and Bob Willis Trophy in career records. That only impacts on this match in 2021 but last year there was NO county championship, just the BWT. If it does disappear I think it would make more sense to reinstate last year’s career records except for the Lord’s Final since that is the only BWT match not played under Championship regulations (bonus points etc). Those two matches would just be first-class games – as, for example, in 1961 was the Champion County v the Runners-Up at Scarborough.
7 Comments
Hampshire Cricket History 
I suppose it will be too much to hope the Championship might actually be played in the Summer next year.
Comment by James September 29, 2021 @ 2:35 pmPersonally, I think Warwickshire should just keep on batting until Lancashire take ten wickets or to the end of the fifth day whichever comes first.
Comment by Colin Price September 29, 2021 @ 3:01 pmReasonable thought!
Comment by Dave Allen September 29, 2021 @ 4:08 pmActually it’s interesting. Theoretically if the match ends with Warwickshire still batting on something like 1,243-9 the Trophy will be shared. BBC has the exact regs:
“In the event of a drawn final there will be one tie-breaker option. That option is that the county which leads on first innings, as long as there were two fully-completed first innings, would be deemed the winner of the final.”
So their innings MUST be completed!
Comment by Dave Allen September 29, 2021 @ 4:29 pmI just noticed this on the BBC website’s coverage of the match.
“”
I would need to check the rules but what I recall from last year is that the team with higher first innings only wins if both first innings complete. So if Warwickshire declare they win, but if they don’t declare and aren’t bowled out, it MAY be a shared trophy.”
The exact wording is: “In the event of a drawn final there will be one tie-breaker option. That option is that the county which leads on first innings, as long as there were two fully-completed first innings, would be deemed the winner of the final.
“In any other circumstance a drawn or tied final will see the trophy shared by the finalists.”
“”
Presumably Warwickshire can declare any time up to close of play on the last day even if play is suspended for bad light or rain.
It would be better if the rules were worded so that if the county batting second in the first innings has overtaken the county batting first they are the winners even if their innings is not completed. The trophy should only be shared if the side batting first have a first innings lead and the side batting second haven’t been able to complete their innings.
Comment by Colin Price September 29, 2021 @ 4:34 pmI agree with your proposed change but couldn’t Warwickshire simply declare (assuming they could bat that long) and therefore complete their first innings and win?
Comment by James September 30, 2021 @ 10:24 amIt’s not likely to happen now as Warwickshire collapse!! Have I ever mentioned that I like leg-spinners?
Comment by Dave Allen September 29, 2021 @ 5:04 pm