Northamptonshire had been perennial strugglers in the county championship in the years leading up to the Second World War, with consecutive finishes of 17th, 17th, …

The 1930s had been a decade of toil for Leicestershire CCC. Only once had they risen into the top 10 in the County Championship (6th …

In the years leading up the war Kent had mostly hovered around the middle of the county championship table, with consecutive finishes of 10th, 8th, …

With no particularly outstanding players in either the batting or bowling departments, Hampshire CCC had performed modestly in the years leading up to the war, …

Gloucestershire had proved to be a force in county cricket in the years leading up to the war, with two 4th placed finishes in 1936 …

1940 – Glamorgan had enjoyed the most recent elevation to first-class status of the seventeen sides which competed in the pre-war county championship. It is …

Derbyshire CCC had been one of the strongest counties in the pre-war years. Consecutive finishing positions of 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 5th and 9th attested to …

From the high point of winning the county championship in 1929, the years leading up to the war had seen Nottinghamshire struggle to compete with …

By 1939, English cricket was facing a polarisation of financial fortunes between the county and international game. Surrey, traditionally one of the strongest counties, was …

Middlesex CCC had had a successful if frustrating run up to the war. In five seasons they had finished 3rd once and 2nd on no …