2001 Norwich Union League
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox cricket tournament
| administrator = England and Wales Cricket Board
| cricket format = Limited overs cricket (45 overs per innings)
| tournament format = League system
| champions = Kent Spitfires
| count = 5
| participants = 18
| matches = 144
| most runs = 753 Darren Lehmann (Yorkshire){{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/0/Norwich_Union_League_2001/Batting_by_Runs.html|title=Batting and Fielding in Norwich Union League 2001 (Ordered by Runs)|work=CricketArchive|accessdate=10 May 2016}}
| most wickets = 29 Dougie Brown (Warwickshire){{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/0/Norwich_Union_League_2001/Bowling_by_Wickets.html|title=Bowling in Norwich Union League 2001 (Ordered by Wickets)|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=10 May 2016}}
| previous_year = 2000
| previous_tournament = 2000 Norwich Union National League
| next_year = 2002
| next_tournament = 2002 Norwich Union League
}}
The 2001 Norwich Union League season was a 45 over English county cricket competition; colloquially known as the Sunday League, it featured many mid-week floodlit matches. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the others in their division both home and away. The top three teams from Division Two were promoted to the first division for the 2002 season, while the bottom three sides from Division One were relegated. All eighteen counties retained the nicknames from the previous season.{{cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2001/ENG_LOCAL/NEWSWIRE/NCL1d.pdf|title=Norwich Union League: 2001 fixtures by date|work=ESPNcricinfo|accessdate=10 May 2016}}
Kent Spitfires won the League for the fifth time. Gloucestershire Gladiators, Surrey Lions and Northamptonshire Steelbacks were relegated from Division One, while Glamorgan Dragons, Durham Dynamos and Worcestershire Royals were promoted from Division Two.
Teams
| {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align: center;" |
| width=175 |Division One
!width=175 |Division Two |
|---|
| Gloucestershire Gladiators |
| Kent Spitfires |
| Leicestershire Foxes |
| Northamptonshire Steelbacks |
| bgcolor=#D0F0C0| Nottinghamshire Outlaws |
| Somerset Sabres
| bgcolor=#ffcccc| Lancashire Lightning |
| bgcolor=#D0F0C0| Surrey Lions |
| bgcolor=#D0F0C0| Warwickshire Bears
| bgcolor=#ffcccc| Sussex Sharks |
| Yorkshire Phoenix
| bgcolor=#ffcccc| Worcestershire Royals |
|valign="top"|
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |
| Icon |
|---|
| bgcolor=#D0F0C0| Team promoted from Division Two |
| bgcolor=#ffcccc| Team relegated from Division One |
|}
Standings
- Pos = Position, Pld = Played, W = Wins, T = Ties, L = Losses, NR = No Results, A = Abandonments, Pts = Points.
- Points awarded: W = 4, L = 0, T = 2, NR = 2, A = 2
{{col-start}}
{{col-2}}
=Division One=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||
| width=250 |Team
!width=20 abbr="Played" |Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" |W !width=20 abbr="Tied" |T !width=20 abbr="Lost" |L !width=20 abbr="No result" |NR !width=20 abbr="Abandoned" |A !width=20 abbr="Points" |Pts !width=20 abbr="Net Run Rate" |NRR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background:#fbd009;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Kent Spitfires C |16 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 4.264 |
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Leicestershire Foxes |16 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 7.824 |
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Warwickshire Bears |16 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 1.580 |
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Somerset Sabres |16 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 32| | |
| 4.604 | |||||||
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Nottinghamshire Outlaws |16 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 30| | |
| 8.036 | |||||||
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Yorkshire Phoenix |16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 9.656 |
| style="background:#FFCCCC;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Gloucestershire Gladiators R |16 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1.481 |
| style="background:#FFCCCC;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Surrey Lions R |16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24| | |
| 5.051 | |||||||
| style="background:#FFCCCC;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Northamptonshire Steelbacks R |16 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 14| | |
| 9.021 | |||||||
| colspan=9 align="left"|Source:.{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/Tables/0/Norwich_Union_League_2001.html|title=Norwich Union League 2001 Points Table|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=10 May 2016}} |
{{col-2}}
=Division Two=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||
| width=250|Team
!width=20 abbr="Played" |Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" |W !width=20 abbr="Tied" |T !width=20 abbr="Lost" |L !width=20 abbr="No result" |NR !width=20 abbr="Abandoned" |A !width=20 abbr="Points" |Pts !width=20 abbr="Net Run Rate" |NRR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background:#fbd009;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Glamorgan Dragons C |16 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 15.209 |
| style="background:#ace1af;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Durham Dynamos P |16 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 1.740 |
| style="background:#ace1af;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Worcestershire Royals P |16 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 9.617 |
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Hampshire Hawks |16 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 5.289 |
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Sussex Sharks |16 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 34| | |
| 1.103 | |||||||
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Lancashire Lightning |16 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 26| | |
| 3.709 | |||||||
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Essex Eagles |16 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 24| | |
| 9.923 | |||||||
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Middlesex Crusaders |16 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 20| | |
| 8.311 | |||||||
| style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|style="text-align:left;"|Derbyshire Scorpions |16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16| | |
| 7.207 | |||||||
| colspan=9 align="left"|Source:. |
{{col-2}}
{{col-end}}
Statistics
=Division One=
==Most runs==
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||
| width=125| Player
!width=125| Team !width=60 | Matches !width=60 | Innings !width=60 | Runs !width=60 | Average !width=60 | HS !width=60 | 100s !width=60 | 50s | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="left"| Darren Lehmann
| align="left"| Yorkshire | 15 | 15 | 753 | 53.78 | 191 | 2 | 4 |
| align="left"| Darren Bicknell
| align="left"| Nottinghamshire | 16 | 15 | 592 | 39.46 | 115 | 1 | 6 |
| align="left"| Ali Brown
| align="left"| Surrey | 13 | 13 | 565 | 47.08 | 130 | 3 | 1 |
| align="left"| Peter Bowler
| align="left"| Somerset | 11 | 11 | 560 | 50.90 | 104 | 1 | 5 |
| align="left"| Michael Hussey
| align="left"| Northamptonshire | 15 | 15 | 510 | 36.42 | 96* | 0 | 4 |
| colspan=9| Source: |
==Most wickets==
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||
| width=125| Player
!width=125| Team !width=60 | Matches !width=60 | Overs !width=60 | Wickets !width=60 | Average !width=60 | BBI !width=60 | 4W | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="left"| Dougie Brown
| align="left"| Warwickshire | 15 | 116.4 | 29 | 18.24 | 4/56 | 1 |
| align="left"| James Averis
| align="left"| Gloucestershire | 15 | 121.3 | 27 | 20.22 | 5/40 | 3 |
| align="left"| Martin Saggers
| align="left"| Kent | 13 | 94.4 | 25 | 16.56 | 5/22 | 1 |
| align="left"| Steffan Jones
| align="left"| Somerset | 14 | 110.4 | 22 | 25.45 | 4/40 | 1 |
| colspan=8| Source: |
=Division Two=
==Most runs==
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||
| width=125| Player
!width=125| Team !width=60 | Matches !width=60 | Innings !width=60 | Runs !width=60 | Average !width=60 | HS !width=60 | 100s !width=60 | 50s | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="left"| Richard Montgomerie
|align="left"| Sussex | 15 | 15 | 673 | 48.07 | 108 | 1 | 5 |
| align="left"| Robert Croft
| align="left"| Glamorgan | 15 | 15 | 570 | 40.71 | 114* | 1 | 5 |
| align="left"| Matthew Maynard
| align="left"| Glamorgan | 16 | 16 | 527 | 52.70 | 116* | 1 | 3 |
| align="left"| Vikram Solanki
| align="left"| Worcestershire | 15 | 14 | 502 | 41.83 | 91* | 0 | 5 |
| align="left"| Nicky Peng
| align="left"| Durham | 13 | 13 | 495 | 41.25 | 121 | 2 | 2 |
| colspan=9| Source: |
==Most wickets==
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||
| width=125| Player
!width=125| Team !width=60 | Matches !width=60 | Overs !width=60 | Wickets !width=60 | Average !width=60 | BBI !width=60 | 4W | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="left"| Andy Bichel
| align="left"| Worcestershire | 15 | 115.4 | 27 | 15.85 | 5/21 | 1 |
| align="left"| Chad Keegan
| align="left"| Middlesex | 14 | 106.5 | 26 | 17.73 | 5/17 | 2 |
| align="left"| Chris Schofield
| align="left"| Lancashire | 14 | 72.1 | 23 | 15.73 | 5/31 | 2 |
| align="left"| Stuart Lampitt
| align="left"| Worcestershire | 15 | 116 | 23 | 19.47 | 4/37 | 1 |
| colspan=8| Source: |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{2001 English cricket season}}
{{Pro40 seasons}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:2001 Norwich Union League}}
{{English-domestic-cricket-competition-stub}}