2017 County Championship Plate Stadium. Due to changes to the County Championship format (more detail of this below) four new teams were added to the competition, with Hampshire (winners) and Staffordshire (runners up) coming up due to reaching the final of the 2016 County Championship Shield, while Warwickshire and Cumbria were also promoted by virtue of their performances in the competition during the past two seasons. The changes also meant that there were no teams relegated into the division. Leicestershire and Hampshire won their respective groups to qualify for the Twickenham final, with Leicestershire being the more impressive with three easy victories. The first
Kent County Cricket Club in 2018 finished second in Division Two of the County Championship and were promoted to Division One for the 2019 season. They won 10 matches, which was more wins than any other team in the division, drew one and lost three, but were beaten in their final match of the season by Warwickshire who won the division as a result. The two teams had started the final match equal on points. The county played 14 Championship matches in 2018, seven at home and seven at away grounds. Kent's opening fixture was at home against Gloucestershire, starting on 13 April at the St