1979 County Championship Explained

Tournament Format:	League system
Champions:	Essex
Previous Year:	1978
Previous Tournament:	1978 County Championship
Next Year:	1980
Next Tournament:	1980 County Championship

The 1979 Schweppes County Championship was the 80th officially organised running of the County Championship. Essex won their first Championship title.^[1]

Ten matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled and are not included in the table. The number of points awarded for a tie was increased from 5 to 6 points and the number of points awarded to a side batting last in a drawn match with the scores level also increased from 5 to 6 points.^[2] The Championship was sponsored by Schweppes for the second time.

Table

• 12 points for a win
• 6 points to each side for a tie
• 6 points to side still batting in a match in which scores finish level
• Bonus points awarded in first 100 overs of first innings
  • Batting: 150 runs - 1 point, 200 runs - 2 points 250 runs - 3 points, 300 runs - 4 points
  • Bowling: 3-4 wickets - 1 point, 5-6 wickets - 2 points 7-8 wickets - 3 points, 9-10 wickets - 4 points
• No bonus points awarded in a match starting with less than 8 hours' play remaining.
• The two first innings limited to a total of 200 overs. The side batting first limited to 100 overs. Any overs up to 100 not used by the side batting first could be added to the overs of the side batting second.
• Position determined by points gained. If equal, then decided on most wins.
• Each team plays 22 matches.

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="Bonus points"	Batting bonus	width=20 abbr="Bonus points"	Bowling bonus	width=20 abbr="Points"	Points
Essex	21	13	4	4	56	69	281
	21	7	4	10	58	62	204
Surrey	21	6	3	12	50	70	192
Sussex	20	6	4	10	47	65	184
Kent	22	6	3	13	49	60	181
	21	4	5	12	60	68	176
Yorkshire	21	5	3	13	52	63	175
Somerset	21	5	1	15	56	53	171
	19	6	4	9	43	54	169
	20	5	4	11	53	54	167
	21	3	6	12	59	58	153
Hampshire	21	3	9	9	39	66	141
Lancashire	22	4	4	14	37	55	140
Middlesex	20	3	3	14	44	60	140
	21	3	7	11	46	51	133
Derbyshire	21	1	6	14	46	60	118
Glamorgan	21	0	10	11	35	58	93

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.