1980 County Championship Explained

Tournament Format:	League system
Champions:	Middlesex
Previous Year:	1979
Previous Tournament:	1979 County Championship
Next Year:	1981
Next Tournament:	1981 County Championship

The 1980 Schweppes County Championship was the 81st officially organised running of the County Championship. Middlesex won the Championship title.^[1]

Four matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled and are not included in the table and Leics and Sussex were both awarded 6 points for a drawn match in which the scores were level.^[2] The Championship was sponsored by Schweppes for the third 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
Middlesex	22	10	2	10	58	80	258
Surrey	22	10	4	8	51	74	245
	22	6	5	11	42	64	178
Sussex	22	4	3	15	60	60	168
Somerset	21	3	5	13	56	70	168
Yorkshire	22	4	3	15	51	64	163
	21	4	5	12	39	74	161
Essex	22	4	3	15	48	64	160
Derbyshire	20	4	3	13	47	62	157
	22	4	2	16	45	58	157
	21	3	7	11	54	61	151
	22	5	4	13	41	47	148
Glamorgan	21	4	4	13	43	57	148
	22	3	4	15	55	54	145
Lancashire	20	4	3	13	26	58	132
Kent	22	2	8	12	36	59	119
Hampshire	22	1	10	11	34	56	102

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.