The 2025 edition of the County Championship begins this week, with Surrey on the hunt for a fourth successive title. Here's a breakdown of the points structure for the competition.
Two divisions with promotion & relegation
The 18 first-class counties in England and Wales are split across two divisions for the red-ball competition. Ten teams make up Division One while eight are in Division Two. Teams in both divisions play 14 matches across the season, which runs from early April to late September, with breaks along the way to make room for the domestic white-ball competitions. This means that not all teams play each other home and away in Division One.
While all teams in Division One are competing to win the County Championship title, they will also be battling to stay in the top division for next year's competition. The teams who finish in the bottom two places in Division One at the end of the season will be relegated to Division Two for next year. Similarly, the winner of Division Two and the team in second place will be promoted to Division One for 2026. Last year, Sussex and Yorkshire finished first and second respectively in Division Two, and thus will play in Division One this year. Lancashire and Kent finished in the bottom two spots in Division One last year and will play in Division Two next year.
How does the points system work?
A win in the Championship will earn a side 16 points automatically. A tie – of which there have been 26 in the competition's 135-year history, including one last year between Gloucestershire and Glamorgan – will give each side eight points. A draw will also give each side eight points, while a loss will mean no points for the result.
However, teams will also be looking for bonus points, which are awarded regardless of the outcome of the game. Bonus points are awarded for performances in the first 110 overs of each team's first innings in a match, and are given for both batting and bowling milestones.
Batting bonus points
250 to 299 runs scored = one bonus point
300 to 349 runs scored = two bonus points
350 to 399 runs scored = three bonus points
400 to 499 runs scored = four bonus points
450 runs or over = five bonus points
Bowling bonus points
3 to 5 wickets taken = one bonus point
6 to 8 wickets taken = two bonus points
9 to 10 wickets taken = three bonus points
Points deductions and penalties
Match abandoned due to an unfit pitch - If a match is abandoned, as happened last year in a game hosted by Gloucestershire at Bristol, the home team receives zero points and any bonus points already achieved will not be awarded. The visiting team will be awarded eight points plus any bonus points already achieved in the match.
Slow over rates - The minimum over-rate specified by the ECB which teams must achieve is 16 overs per hour. Over rates will be calculated at the end of the match with allowances for wickets taken or other reasons beyond the control of the players. For each over that a side has bowled short of their target, one point will be deducted from their total taken from the match. Only matches in which a team has bowled for four hours or more will be subject to over-rate penalties.
Non-regulation equipment - In the 2024 competition, Essex had 12 points deducted from their total after Feroze Khushi was found to be using a bat which did not fit prescribed dimensions.
Sides can also be deducted points for other infringements such as on-field discipline offences and club financial issues.
What changes to the point system have there been?
The County Championship structure has changed countless times over the years. It was a one-division competition until the 21st century, with a brief split into three tiers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of teams in each division has also changed, with Division One comprising eight, nine and ten teams at various points.
Recently, there have been two notable changes to the points system for each game as well. The threshold has increased from 200 to 250 runs for the first batting bonus point, with each subsequent increment also pushed up by 50 runs. The number of points available for a draw has also increased from five to eight.
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