Northumberland won the Inter-Counties Championship with a day in hand - Avon relegated despite winning half their matches

[<<] [>>] by Dave Kibble
30th May 2001 (AC - Championships)

Northumberland won Division 1 and Nottinghamshire won Division 2 with more than 150 players taking part in the four day festival of croquet in Sussex.

Avon, Suffolk and Bedfordshire were relegated to the second division.

Nottinghamshire, Sussex and Middlesex were promoted to the first division.

As the final day dawned, in division 1, Northumberland were the clear winners and every other county was fighting against relegation! A 10-way tie added a never before seen level of enthusiasm to the final day's play. Six of the ten teams finished on 5 out of 10 matches and the "number of games" won rule was applied to let Avon go down but for one game. In the final round match of Gloucestershire vs. Cheshire (2-1) Gloucestershire needed the match and Cheshire one game for either of them to avoid relegation.

Chris Williams expertly managed this highly complex tournament.