2013 County Championship game, were at the bottom of the table. After a short break, the County Championship returned to action in the second week of July. Hampshire's 41 run first innings lead against Glamorgan proved to be crucial, as they won the game by just 43 runs. Lancashire's victory against title rivals Northamptonshire at Northampton promoted the visitors to the top spot in the Division Two standings, ahead of their hosts for that game. Kent chased 411 in the fourth innings of their game against Gloucestershire to claim their first Championship victory of the season. However, a flat pitch in their match
County Championship sense because Middlesex started the match with a 15-point lead over Surrey. Breach of salary cap: Durham were subject to a 2.5 point penalty in the 2013 County Championship, as well as penalties in the limited over competitions, for breach of the salary cap in 2012. Despite this penalty, Durham still won the County Championship in 2013. Discipline: Leicestershire were fined 16 points in 2015 "in respect of five or more separate occasions when their players committed fixed penalty offences in a 12-month period." Leicestershire were fined 16 points in 2017 after a further five offences in the previous 12