1961 County Championship

The 1961 County Championship was the 62nd officially organised running of the County Championship. Hampshire won their first ever Championship title.
For the 1961 season, the follow-on was abolished in the County Championship, when play took place on the first day of matches. Teams were able to forfeit their second innings, but none did so.

Table

12 points for a win
6 points to team still batting in the fourth innings of a match in which scores finish level
2 points for first innings lead
2 bonus points for team leading on first innings if they also score faster on runs per over in first innings
If no play possible on the first two days, and the match does not go into the second innings, the team leading on first innings scores 8 points.
Teams played either 28 or 32 matches. Therefore, a final average was calculated by dividing the points by the matches played which determined the final placings.

Team	Pld	Won	Lost	Drawn	No Decision	1st Inns Loss	1st Inns Draw	Bonus	Points	Average
Hampshire	32	19	7	6	0	1	3	32	268	8.37
Yorkshire	32	17	5	10	0	1	5	34	250	7.81
Middlesex	28	15	6	6	1	3	1	26	214	7.64
Worcestershire	32	16	9	7	0	2	3	24	226	7.06
Gloucestershire	28	11	11	5	1	2	2	18	158	5.64
Essex	28	10	8	10	0	2	4	26	158	5.64
Derbyshire	28	10	9	9	0	3	3	22	154	5.50
Sussex	32	11	10	11	0	1	8	20	170	5.31
Leicestershire	28	9	13	5	1	2	4	26	146	5.21
Somerset	32	10	15	7	0	6	3	24	162	5.06
Kent	28	8	8	12	0	1	7	20	132	4.71
Warwickshire	32	9	10	13	0	1	7	26	150	4.68
Lancashire	32	9	7	15	1	1	7	18	142	4.43
Glamorgan	32	9	12	11	0	1	4	10	128	4.00
Surrey	28	4	13	11	0	6	8	24	100	3.57
Northamptonshire	28	5	13	10	0	1	5	10	82	2.92
Nottinghamshire	28	4	20	4	0	6	2	12	76	2.71