The Second Eleven Championship group stage picks back up today, 17 August, and that matters for anyone tracking which county academies are producing players ready for a first-team call up. Surrey go into the final third of the season as defending champions, but Warwickshire, Lancashire, Durham and Yorkshire have all posted strong results already, and the group standings are far from settled. Here’s the full schedule, every result so far, the groups, and how the competition actually works.

Second Eleven Championship 2026 Schedule and Results

Matches have run since April, with a heavy dose of rain affected draws through June slowing the race for the final. The table below covers every fixture from the opening round through to the September final, played and still to come.

Date	Match	Venue	Result
13 Apr	Warwickshire v Northamptonshire	Birmingham	Warwickshire won by 8 wickets
21 Apr	Hampshire v Yorkshire	Southampton	Hampshire won by 6 wickets
5 May	Northamptonshire v Lancashire	Dunstable	Lancashire won by 332 runs
5 May	Surrey v Durham	New Malden	Durham won by 7 wickets
8 Jun	Derbyshire v Sussex	Denby	Match drawn
8 Jun	Durham v Kent	Gosforth	Durham won by 7 wickets
8 Jun	Lancashire v Middlesex	Newton-le-Willows	Match drawn
8 Jun	Leicestershire v Essex	Kibworth	Match drawn
8 Jun	Somerset v Gloucestershire	Taunton	Match drawn
8 Jun	Surrey v Nottinghamshire	New Malden	Match drawn
8 Jun	Worcestershire v Hampshire	Kidderminster	Match drawn
8 Jun	Yorkshire v Glamorgan	Sheffield	Match drawn
15 Jun	Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire	Rockhampton	Match drawn
15 Jun	Middlesex v Warwickshire	Richmond	Warwickshire won by an innings and 95 runs
15 Jun	Somerset v Kent	Taunton	Kent won by 206 runs
15 Jun	Sussex v Northamptonshire	Horsham	Northamptonshire won by 134 runs
15 Jun	Worcestershire v Leicestershire	Halesowen	Worcestershire won by 6 wickets
15 Jun	Yorkshire v Essex	Leeds	Yorkshire won by 143 runs
16 Jun	Lancashire v Derbyshire	Great Crosby	Lancashire won by 7 wickets
13 Jul	Worcestershire v Glamorgan	Bromsgrove	Match drawn
17 Aug	Derbyshire v Northamptonshire	Repton	Match drawn
17 Aug	Glamorgan v Essex	Abergavenny	Glamorgan won by 259 runs
17 Aug	Middlesex v Sussex	Radlett	Middlesex won by 90 runs
17 Aug	Warwickshire v Lancashire	Birmingham	Lancashire won by an innings and 18 runs
18 Aug	Gloucestershire v Durham	Cheltenham	Gloucestershire won by 9 wickets
18 Aug	Leicestershire v Hampshire	Loughborough	Match drawn
18 Aug	Nottinghamshire v Somerset	Nottingham	Somerset won by 29 runs
18 Aug	Surrey v Kent	New Malden	Kent won by 100 runs
24 Aug	Derbyshire v Middlesex	Belper	Match drawn
24 Aug	Durham v Nottinghamshire	Darlington	Nottinghamshire won by 207 runs
24 Aug	Essex v Hampshire	Billericay	Hampshire won by 5 wickets
24 Aug	Kent v Gloucestershire	Canterbury	Gloucestershire won by 167 runs
24 Aug	Leicestershire v Glamorgan	Loughborough	Match drawn
24 Aug	Sussex v Warwickshire	Horsham	Match yet to begin
25 Aug	Somerset v Surrey	Taunton	Match yet to begin
25 Aug	Worcestershire v Yorkshire	Kidderminster	Match yet to begin
31 Aug	Durham v Somerset	Venue to be confirmed	Match yet to begin
31 Aug	Essex v Worcestershire	Billericay	Match yet to begin
31 Aug	Northamptonshire v Middlesex	Dunstable	Match yet to begin
31 Aug	Warwickshire v Derbyshire	Birmingham	Match yet to begin
1 Sep	Glamorgan v Hampshire	Newport	Match yet to begin
1 Sep	Gloucestershire v Surrey	Alveston	Match yet to begin
1 Sep	Nottinghamshire v Kent	Nottingham	Match yet to begin
1 Sep	Sussex v Lancashire	Horsham	Match yet to begin
1 Sep	Yorkshire v Leicestershire	Leeds	Match yet to begin
8 Sep	Final	TBC	Match yet to begin

(Source: ECB)

Nine of the twenty completed matches ended in draws, most of them during a soggy run of fixtures on 8 June. That run of weather kept several groups tight going into the summer, since a draw hands out fewer points than a win and leaves counties bunched together rather than pulling clear.

Second Eleven Championship 2026 Groups and Teams

All 18 first-class counties enter a second XI, and organisers split them into three groups of six for the group stage. Cricket Insider UK has laid out every group below.

Group	Teams
Group 1	Derbyshire, Lancashire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Warwickshire
Group 2	Essex, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire
Group 3	Durham, Gloucestershire, Kent, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey

(Source: ECB)

Group 1 has already thrown up the most one sided results, with Warwickshire winning twice by big margins. Group 3 tells a different story, since draws and tight finishes have kept Surrey, Durham and Kent close together.

Second Eleven Championship 2026 Format

The England and Wales Cricket Board runs the competition as a genuine first-class pathway, and each match follows the same three or four day structure county fans know from the senior County Championship.

• Sides earn points for wins and draws.
• Batting and bowling bonus points get picked up in the early overs of each innings.
• The two best placed counties across all three groups go through to the final, rather than one qualifier per group.
• That final runs from 8 to 11 September, though organisers haven’t confirmed a venue yet.

Beyond the trophy, the competition works as a proving ground. Coaches use these matches to judge which academy players and returning first-teamers deserve a genuine chance in the senior side.

(Source: ECB)

Surrey Defend Their Second Eleven Championship Title

Surrey’s second XI head into the closing rounds as reigning champions after beating Worcestershire by 201 runs in last year’s final at Loughborough. That win capped a strong run for the club’s development sides and gave Surrey their most recent piece of second XI silverware.

This year places Surrey back in Group 3 alongside Durham, Kent, Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire and Somerset, a group that has produced more draws than outright results so far. Holding the title doesn’t guarantee anything though, and Surrey will need to win matches in August to book a return trip to the final.

(Source: The Kia Oval)

Also Read

• England Cricket Team 2026-27 Full Fixtures
• Second Eleven Championship 2026 Schedule

Warwickshire and Lancashire Lead the Chase for Surrey’s Crown

Surrey carry the Second Eleven Championship title into the closing weeks, but the group stage still has plenty to decide before the 8 September final. Warwickshire have won twice already, including an innings victory over Middlesex, while Lancashire’s 332 run win over Northamptonshire stands as the biggest margin of the season.

With eighteen fixtures still to play across three tight groups, this final stretch decides who reaches Loughborough for the showpiece, and gives every young player involved a genuine shot at first-team recognition. Cricket Insider UK will keep this schedule updated as results come in.