County Championship While this was going on, representatives of the eight leading county clubs held a private meeting to discuss the method by which the county championship should in future be decided. The new competition began in the 1890 season and at first involved just the eight leading clubs: Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire. Subsequently, the championship has been expanded to 18 clubs by the additions at various times of Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. It is difficult to know when the concept of a county championship originated. While early matches were
Worcestershire County Cricket Club in 2005 Worcestershire County Cricket Club in 2005 Worcestershire County Cricket Club in 2005 played their County Championship games in Division Two and their totesport League games in Division One. Under their new captain, Vikram Solanki, they were tipped to go straight back up to the top flight of the County Championship, and started the season 9-2 second favourites to end up as Division Two champions. They started the season with a convincing win against Derbyshire in the Championship, followed by a comfortable win over Northamptonshire in a rain-affected Sunday League game. Their second game of the Championship, against Durham at Chester-le-Street,