Second XI Championship

The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been contested annually ever since.

All the then 17 first-class counties contested the first two competitions in 1959 and 1960; the next season when all 17 entered was 1977, though the number of teams in any one year was never lower than 14 (in 1971). Gloucestershire and Somerset entered a combined team for two seasons, 1967 and 1968.

Before 1959, many second XIs of the first-class counties contested the Minor Counties Cricket Championship, winning the championship 23 times. A few continued to do so and the last to withdraw from the Minor Counties was Somerset 2nd XI after the 1987 season, though Somerset had participated in both competitions from 1959 to 1966 and since 1975.

At present, all 18 current first-class counties take part in the Second XI Championship along with the MCC Young Cricketers team. It was not possible for all teams to play each other and different numbers of matches were played by each team. As a result, the table had to be based on a percentage of points obtained to points possible. Therefore, for 2009 the competition was split into North and South divisions, with ten teams in each division and each team in a division playing all the others once. The team added to make the number up to twenty was Marylebone Cricket Club Universities. The two divisional winners play each other to determine the overall champion.

In 2001, a Second XI Trophy was introduced. This is a limited overs competition with the teams forming zones in the initial stage. The zone winners progress to semi-finals and then to a final.

A Second XI T20 championship was launched in 2011.

List of Second XI Champions

 * 1959	Gloucestershire II
 * 1960	Northamptonshire II
 * 1961	Kent II
 * 1962	Worcestershire II
 * 1963	Worcestershire II
 * 1964	Lancashire II
 * 1965	Glamorgan II
 * 1966	Surrey II
 * 1967	Hampshire II
 * 1968	Surrey II
 * 1969	Kent II
 * 1970	Kent II
 * 1971	Hampshire II
 * 1972	Nottinghamshire II
 * 1973	Essex II
 * 1974	Middlesex II
 * 1975	Surrey II
 * 1976	Kent II
 * 1977	Yorkshire II
 * 1978	Sussex II
 * 1979	Warwickshire II
 * 1980	Glamorgan II
 * 1981	Hampshire II
 * 1982	Worcestershire II
 * 1983	Leicestershire II
 * 1984	Yorkshire II
 * 1985	Nottinghamshire II
 * 1986	Lancashire II
 * 1987	Kent II, Yorkshire II (shared)
 * 1988	Surrey II
 * 1989	Middlesex II
 * 1990	Sussex II
 * 1991	Yorkshire II
 * 1992	Surrey II
 * 1993	Middlesex II
 * 1994	Somerset II
 * 1995	Hampshire II
 * 1996	Warwickshire II
 * 1997	Lancashire II
 * 1998	Northamptonshire II
 * 1999	Middlesex II
 * 2000	Middlesex II
 * 2001	Hampshire II
 * 2002	Kent II
 * 2003	Yorkshire II
 * 2004	Somerset II
 * 2005	Kent II
 * 2006	Kent II
 * 2007 Sussex II
 * 2008 Durham II
 * 2009 Surrey II
 * 2010 Surrey II
 * 2011 Warwickshire II
 * 2012 Kent II
 * 2013 Lancashire II, Middlesex II (shared)
 * 2014 Leicestershire II
 * 2015 Nottinghamshire II
 * 2016 Durham II
 * 2017 Lancashire II
 * 2018 Durham II
 * 2019 Hampshire II
 * 2020 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
 * 2021 Hampshire II
 * 2022 Yorkshire II
 * 2023 Leicestershire II

List of Second XI Trophy Winners

 * 2001	Surrey II
 * 2002	Kent II
 * 2003	Hampshire II
 * 2004	Worcestershire II
 * 2005	Sussex II
 * 2006	Warwickshire II
 * 2007 Middlesex II
 * 2008	Hampshire II
 * 2009 Yorkshire II
 * 2010 Essex II
 * 2011 Nottinghamshire II
 * 2012 Lancashire II
 * 2013 Lancashire II
 * 2014 Leicestershire II
 * 2015 Derbyshire II
 * 2016 Lancashire II
 * 2017 Yorkshire II
 * 2018 Middlesex II
 * 2019	Kent II

List of Second XI T20 Winners

 * 2011 Sussex II
 * 2012 England U19
 * 2013 Surrey II
 * 2014 Leicestershire II
 * 2015 Middlesex II
 * 2016 Middlesex II
 * 2017 Sussex II
 * 2018 Lancashire II
 * 2019 Glamorgan II
 * 2021 Warwickshire II
 * 2022 Glamorgan II
 * 2023 Derbyshire II

General sources

 * Playfair Cricket Annual 2007
 * Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2007