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 Shield divided roughly on geographic terms into two pools and play each other once either home or away, with the top teams in each pool progressing to the final. There is no formal promotion and relegation between the County Championship Shield and the higher competition for the County Championship (Bill Beaumont Cup) and County Championship Plate but Surrey moved up into the higher competition from the 2014-15 season after winning the Shield three times in succession and the 2014-15 champions, Leicestershire, have moved up to County Championship Plate level from the 2015-16 season. 2011_results.pdf County Championship Shield The County Championship Shield