Nottinghamshire win the GC Inter-Counties (Division 1)

[<<] [>>] by Jonathan Powe at Southwick
31st August 2021 (GC - Championships)

Nottinghamshire swept all before them in Division 1 of the GC Inter-County Championship at Southwick on 21-22 August, winning 11/11 matches and dropping only 4 of their 33 games over the course of the weekend.

Notts were always going to be strong favourites with four -4 players (Ian Burridge, Rachel Gee, Will Gee and James Death) but it was an impressive performance nonetheless. The Yorkshire & Durham team (Richard M Smith, Robert Wilkinson, Callum Johnson, Daniel Gott and Stuart Smith) gave them a good run for their money and so the Notts v Y&D clash first thing on Sunday morning became a crucial match for both teams. Notts claimed the honours 2-1, but the situation at the top of the table may have looked rather different had Daniel Gott taken the 13^th hoop in his game against Ian Burridge. Small margins. In the end, Y&D came 2^nd overall with 9/11 match wins, followed closely by Sussex (8/11), Northamptonshire (7/11) and Essex (6/11).

At the bottom of the table, five teams (Dorset, Kent, Hampshire, Glamorgan and Somerset) were battling to stay out of the relegation zone in their final few matches on Sunday. Once the dust had settled (which included awarding two games to Glamorgan due to Surrey fielding two players in the final round who had not played the correct ratio of singles/doubles games), it was Kent and Somerset who sat in the bottom two places and therefore join Division 2 in 2022.

Sussex CCC and their team of helpers were warmly thanked by Ian Burridge for the tight hoops, the quality of their lawns and their excellent hospitality.

Next year, the Divisions will switch locations for a 2-year stint. Division 1 will be held at Cheltenham and Sussex CCC will host Division 2.

The detailed results can be found on Croquet Scores here: https://croquetscores.com/2021/gc/inter-county-championship-division-1