1961 County Championship Explained

Tournament Format:	League system
Champions:	Hampshire
Previous Year:	1960
Previous Tournament:	1960 County Championship
Next Year:	1962
Next Tournament:	1962 County Championship

The 1961 County Championship was the 62nd officially organised running of the County Championship.^[1] Hampshire won their first ever Championship title.^[2]

For the 1961 season, the follow-on was abolished in the County Championship, when play took place on the first day of matches. Teams were able to forfeit their second innings, but none did so.^[3]

Table

• 12 points for a win
• 6 points to side still batting in the fourth innings of a match in which scores finish level
• 2 points for first innings lead
• 2 bonus points for side leading on first innings if they also score faster on runs per over in first innings
• If no play possible on the first two days, and the match does not go into the second innings, the side leading on first innings scores 8 points.
• Teams played either 28 or 32 matches. Therefore, a final average was calculated by dividing the points by the matches played which determined the final placings.^[4]

County Championship table

width=175	Team	width=20 abbr="Played"	Pld	width=20 abbr="Won"	Won	width=20 abbr="Lost"	Lost	width=20 abbr="Drawn"	Drawn	width=20 abbr="ND"	No Decision	width=20 abbr="1st L"	1st Inns Loss	width=20 abbr="1st D"	1st Inns Draw	width=20 abbr="Bonus Points"	Bonus	width=20 abbr="Points"	Points	width=20 abbr="Average"	Average
	32	19	7	6	0	1	3	32	268	8.37
	32	17	5	10	0	1	5	34	250	7.81
	28	15	6	6	1	3	1	26	214	7.64
	32	16	9	7	0	2	3	24	226	7.06
	28	11	11	5	1	2	2	18	158	5.64
	28	10	8	10	0	2	4	26	158	5.64
	28	10	9	9	0	3	3	22	154	5.50
	32	11	10	11	0	1	8	20	170	5.31
	28	9	13	5	1	2	4	26	146	5.21
	32	10	15	7	0	6	3	24	162	5.06
	28	8	8	12	0	1	7	20	132	4.71
	32	9	10	13	0	1	7	26	150	4.68
	32	9	7	15	1	1	7	18	142	4.43
	32	9	12	11	0	1	4	10	128	4.00
	28	4	13	11	0	6	8	24	100	3.57
	28	5	13	10	0	1	5	10	82	2.92
	28	4	20	4	0	6	2	12	76	2.71

Notes and References

1. Book: Engel, Matthew. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2004, pages 493-494. 2004. John Wisden & Company Ltd. 0-947766-83-9.
2. Book: Wynne-Thomas, Peter. The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records. 1983. Hamlyn Publishing Group. 0-600-34667-6.
3. Book: Preston . Norman . Norman Preston . Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1962 . 1963 . Sporting Handbooks . London . 351–352.
4. Book: Wynne-Thomas, Peter. The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records. 1983. Hamlyn Publishing Group. 0-600-34667-6.