Warwickshire need 14 points at Edgbaston to settle the County Championship title

Warwickshire start the final round of the County Championship 11 points clear, with the Division One title, a promotion place and the shape of both divisions still unsettled

The 2026 County Championship reaches its last round on Thursday, nine matches starting at 10:30am with three clubs still able to lift the Division One trophy. Warwickshire lead on 203 points, Somerset are second on 192 and defending champions Nottinghamshire third on 188.

None of the three play each other, so the title could be decided by what happens at Edgbaston, Taunton and Trent Bridge on the same afternoon.

Warwickshire need 14 points to put the matter beyond argument. Beating Leicestershire at Edgbaston would settle it outright, and so would a draw worth eight points if they gather six bonus points on the way.

Warwickshire hold the simplest route

A ninth Championship would be Warwickshire's first since 2021, and they arrive in form, having won four of their five matches since the four-day format returned and each of the last three.

Their bowlers have set the tone. No opposing side has passed 200 in any of the past six innings against them.

Captain Ed Barnard has kept the same 14 for the decider, with Chris Woakes, Ethan Bamber, Sam Hain and Will Young among them and the XI to be named at the toss.

Somerset still chasing a first Championship

Somerset have never won the competition, a gap that includes five runner-up finishes in the 2010s. They host Surrey at Taunton needing a win and then help.

If Somerset win and Warwickshire draw, the two could finish level, in which case the trophy goes to Somerset on seven wins to six.

"Coming from Somerset, we know the history of the club, and we've never won it," allrounder Craig Overton told Sky Sports.

Tom Abell begins the match 20 runs short of 1,000 for the season in Division One.

Nottinghamshire need help from two grounds

The defending champions must beat Yorkshire at Trent Bridge and then hope Warwickshire lose and Somerset fail to win.

Should Nottinghamshire draw level with Warwickshire on points, the title is theirs: they took 27 bonus points to 24 across the two meetings between the clubs.

Joe Clarke has 1,280 runs this season and needs 120 more to reach 1,400, a mark no batter has managed since Kumar Sangakkara in 2017.

Hampshire down and Leicestershire all but gone

Hampshire are already relegated, ending a stay in the top flight that began with promotion in 2014. Their match against Sussex at the Rose Bowl decides nothing.

That leaves Kyle Abbott, the division's leading wicket-taker on 62, finishing his season in a dead rubber, while Bamber sits on 60 and plays in the title match.

Leicestershire carry a 27-point deduction for the pitch rated poor during August's game against Glamorgan, and sit 19 points behind eighth-placed Essex. Saving themselves means beating Warwickshire while Essex lose heavily at Sophia Gardens.

Kent hold the advantage in Division Two

Durham have already gone up as champions on 244 points. The second promotion place is between Kent, on 192 despite a five-point deduction, and Northamptonshire on 188.

Kent host Gloucestershire at Canterbury and Northamptonshire are at Lord's against Middlesex. Kent have two more wins over the season, so matching their rivals' result is enough; Northamptonshire must outscore them by five points.

At the other end of the table Lancashire, on 103, and Gloucestershire, on 88, are playing to avoid finishing bottom. Lancashire face Durham at Old Trafford.

The nine matches run through to Sunday, by which point the Division One title, the last promotion place and the make-up of both divisions for 2027 will all be settled.

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