ECB 40
CountriesEngland England
Wales Wales
Scotland Scotland
Netherlands Netherlands
AdministratorECB
Format40 overs
First edition2010
Latest edition2013
Tournament formatGroup stage and knockout
Number of teams21
Current championNottinghamshire Outlaws

The ECB40, last known as the Yorkshire Bank 40 (YB40) for sponsorship reasons, was a forty-over limited overs cricket competition for the English first-class counties. It began in the 2010 English cricket season as a replacement for the Pro40 and Friends Provident Trophy competitions. Yorkshire Bank were the last sponsors, taking over the naming rights from their parent company Clydesdale Bank for the 2013 edition.[1] Warwickshire won the inaugural tournament. The competition was replaced by a 50-over tournament, to bring the domestic game in line with the international game from 2014 on—the Royal London One-Day Cup.[2]

History

In 2009, in light of the growth of Twenty20 cricket with the Twenty20 Cup, Indian Premier League and ICC World Twenty20, the ECB realised that the Pro40 and Friends Provident Trophy were attracting less interest. Plans began to consolidate the List A competitions into a single 40-over trophy. The competition began in the 2010 English cricket season with Clydesdale Bank, previously sponsor of the Twenty20 Cup, agreeing to a three-year sponsorship.[3] John Perera, ECB commercial director, stated that "We are delighted to welcome Clydesdale Bank as the title sponsor for the 40-over competition particularly as it gives us an opportunity to build on an already strong working relationship. The Clydesdale Bank 40 is an exciting new competition and the format is designed to comfortably fit into the busy family weekend."[3] Ireland and Scotland, were asked to compete, following their entry in the Friends Provident Trophy, but Ireland declined in order to concentrate on their growing international commitments; The Netherlands took their place.[4][5] A new team, the Unicorns cricket team, was formed of contractless county players to compete, unpaid,[5] alongside the 18 first-class counties, Scotland and the Netherlands.[6]

Warwickshire beat Somerset in the final of the inaugural 2010 tournament. The format for the 2011 competition was kept the same, despite calls for the number of county matches to be reduced; fewer group matches were proposed for the 2012 season, with the addition of a quarter-final knock-out round.[7] Unicorns competed, and held a fresh set of trials over the winter period.[8]

Participating teams and format

The competition contained three groups of seven. A random draw was used to place the teams into groups. The top team of each group, together with the second best team across all three groups, progressed to two semi-finals, the winners of which faced off in the final for the trophy. The participating teams were the 18 first-class counties plus Scotland, Netherlands and Unicorns.

Results

Year Final
Held at Winners Runners-up Result
2010
Details 		Lord's, London, on 18 September 2010 Warwickshire Bears
200 for 7 (39 overs) 		Somerset
199 (39 overs) 		Warwickshire won by 3 wickets
Scorecard
2011
Details 		Lord's, London, on 17 September 2011 Surrey Lions
189 for 5 (27.3 overs) 		Somerset
214 (39.2 overs) 		Surrey won by 5 wickets (D/L)
Scorecard
2012
Details 		Lord's, London, on 15 September 2012 Hampshire Royals
244 for 5 (40 overs) 		Warwickshire Bears
244 for 7 (40 overs) 		Hampshire won by losing fewer wickets (scores level)
Scorecard
2013
Details 		Lord's, London, on 21 September 2013 Nottinghamshire Outlaws
244 for 8 (40 overs) 		Glamorgan Dragons

157 (33 overs)

Nottinghamshire won by 87 runs
Scorecard

Records

Team

Individual

Sponsors

References

  1. ^ "Yorkshire Bank to sponsor 40-over competition". European Central Bank. 5 February 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Groups drawn for new List A comp". European Central Bank. 21 September 2013. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Clydesdale Bank 40 unveiled". European Central Bank. 15 February 2010. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  4. ^ "Ireland decline ECB's 40-over invite". Cricinfo blogs. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  5. ^ a b Geoffrey Dean, Ivo Tennant, Patrick Kidd. Dispute overshadows first sighting of Unicorns, 2 May 2010, www.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved on 3 May 2010.
  6. ^ Bolton, Paul Wes Durston to play for Unicorns, 8 April 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 2 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Changes in county cricket schedule put off until 2012". BBC Sport. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  8. ^ "Clydesdale Bank 40 groups revealed". ecb.co.uk. 2 November 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  9. ^ "Surrey v Glamorgan in 2010". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  10. ^ "Kent v Sussex Scorecard". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Group A: Netherlands v Worcestershire at The Hague, Jun 8, 2012". espnCricinfo. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  12. ^ "Essex v Scotland in 2013". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  13. ^ "Batting and Fielding in Clydesdale Bank 40 2010 (Ordered by Runs)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  14. ^ "Gloucestershire v Essex in 2010". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  15. ^ "Bowling in Yorkshire Bank 40 2013 (Ordered by Wickets)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
Categories