1979 County Championship

{{Infobox cricket tournament

| administrator =

| cricket format = First-class cricket

| tournament format = League system

| champions = Essex

| count =

| participants =

| matches =

| most runs =

| most wickets =

| previous_year = 1978

| previous_tournament = 1978 County Championship

| next_year = 1980

| next_tournament = 1980 County Championship

}}

The 1979 Schweppes County Championship was the 80th officially organised running of the County Championship. Essex won their first Championship title.{{cite book|last=Engel|first=Matthew|title=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2004, pages 493-494|year=2004|publisher=John Wisden & Company Ltd|isbn=0-947766-83-9}}

Ten matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled and are not included in the table. The number of points awarded for a tie was increased from 5 to 6 points and the number of points awarded to a side batting last in a drawn match with the scores level also increased from 5 to 6 points.{{cite book|last=Wynne-Thomas|first=Peter|title=The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records|year=1983|publisher=Hamlyn Publishing Group|isbn=0-600-34667-6}} The Championship was sponsored by Schweppes for the second time.

Table

12 points for a win
6 points to each side for a tie
6 points to side still batting in a match in which scores finish level
Bonus points awarded in first 100 overs of first innings
Batting: 150 runs - 1 point, 200 runs - 2 points 250 runs - 3 points, 300 runs - 4 points
Bowling: 3-4 wickets - 1 point, 5-6 wickets - 2 points 7-8 wickets - 3 points, 9-10 wickets - 4 points
No bonus points awarded in a match starting with less than 8 hours' play remaining.
The two first innings limited to a total of 200 overs. The side batting first limited to 100 overs. Any overs up to 100 not used by the side batting first could be added to the overs of the side batting second.
Position determined by points gained. If equal, then decided on most wins.
Each team plays 22 matches.

width=175 \|Team !width=20 abbr="Played" \|Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" \|Won !width=20 abbr="Lost" \|Lost !width=20 abbr="Drawn" \|Drawn !width=20 abbr="Bonus points" \|Batting bonus !width=20 abbr="Bonus points" \|Bowling bonus !width=20 abbr="Points" \|Points
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" \|+ County Championship table
style="background:#ccffcc;" \|style="text-align:left;"\|Essex	21	13	4	4	56	69	281
style="text-align:left;"\|Worcestershire	21	7	4	10	58	62	204
style="text-align:left;"\|Surrey	21	6	3	12	50	70	192
style="text-align:left;"\|Sussex	20	6	4	10	47	65	184
style="text-align:left;"\|Kent	22	6	3	13	49	60	181
style="text-align:left;"\|Leicestershire	21	4	5	12	60	68	176
style="text-align:left;"\|Yorkshire	21	5	3	13	52	63	175
style="text-align:left;"\|Somerset	21	5	1	15	56	53	171
style="text-align:left;"\|Nottinghamshire	19	6	4	9	43	54	169
style="text-align:left;"\|Gloucestershire	20	5	4	11	53	54	167
style="text-align:left;"\|Northamptonshire	21	3	6	12	59	58	153
style="text-align:left;"\|Hampshire	21	3	9	9	39	66	141
style="text-align:left;"\|Lancashire	22	4	4	14	37	55	140
style="text-align:left;"\|Middlesex	20	3	3	14	44	60	140
style="text-align:left;"\|Warwickshire	21	3	7	11	46	51	133
style="text-align:left;"\|Derbyshire	21	1	6	14	46	60	118
style="text-align:left;"\|Glamorgan	21	0	10	11	35	58	93

References

Category:1979 in English cricket

Category:County Championship seasons