2001 County Championship
The 2001 County Championship season, known as the CricInfo Championship for sponsorship reasons, was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team plays all the others in their division both home and away. The top three teams from Division Two were promoted to the first division for 2002, while the bottom three teams from Division 1 are relegated.
Teams
Division One
Team promoted from Division Two| Team | Primary home ground | Other grounds | Captain | ||||||||||||||
| Essex | County Ground, Chelmsford | Valentines Park, Ilford Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester |  refn|Hussain was club captain; ECB-contracted, he played only one match for Essex and was not captain for that. Ronnie Irani served as the team captain.|group=nbDivision TwoTeam relegated from Division One
|