The 2005 English cricket season was the 106th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Before it began, a resurgent England cricket team had won four Test series in a row, going unbeaten through the 2004 calendar year. The start of the international season saw England defeat Bangladesh 2–0 in their two-match series, winning both Tests by an innings. This was followed by a tri-nations one-day tournament that also featured Australia. Australia still started the Test series as favourites but most fans expected England to put up a challenge.
Lionel Charles Hamilton Palairet was an English amateur cricketer who played for Somerset and Oxford University. A graceful right-handed batsman, he was selected to play Test cricket for England twice in 1902. Contemporaries judged Palairet to have one of the most attractive batting styles of the period. His obituary in The Times described him as "the most beautiful batsman of all time". An unwillingness to tour during the English winter limited Palairet's Test appearances; contemporaries believed he deserved more Test caps.
Steven Michael Davies is an English first-class cricketer, a left-handed batsman who plays for Somerset. He bats in the middle order in first-class cricket and opens in limited-overs. He started as a wicket-keeper, playing ODI and Twenty20 cricket in this role for England and has stated a desire to return to this position.
Abdul-Kadeer Ali is an English first-class cricketer who is currently at minor counties side Staffordshire. He has played for Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Leicestershire as well as appearing for England A. He was capped by Gloucestershire in 2005. He is of Pakistani descent and studied at Handsworth Grammar School.
The 2006 English cricket season was the 107th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. It included home international series for England against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. England came off a winter with more Test losses than wins, for the first time since 2002-03, but still attained their best series result in India since 1985. The One Day International series against Pakistan and India both ended in losses.
Cedric Nigel Boyns is an English former cricketer who played at first-class level for a few years in the late 1970s.
1907 was the 18th season of County Championship cricket in England. Nottinghamshire won their first official title. England played their sixth Test series against South Africa but it was the first to be held in England.
Cecil Douglas Ayrton "Plug" Pullan was an Indian-born English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University and Worcestershire in the 1930s. He was born in Mahoba.
Michael Burns is an English first-class list cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer who played county cricket for Warwickshire and Somerset in a first-class career which spanned from 1992 until 2005. He also played Minor Counties cricket for Cumberland and Cornwall. An adaptable cricketer, he appeared for Cumberland and Warwickshire as a wicket-keeper, but when he moved to Somerset he developed into an aggressive batsman who bowled at medium-pace when needed.
Ronald Ernest Bird (4 April 1915 – 20 February 1985) was an English cricketer who played 195 first-class matches in the years after the Second World War. 190 of these were for Worcestershire, while the other five were for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He captained Worcestershire between 1952 and 1954, though he had acted as such on many occasions during the previous two seasons when official captain Bob Wyatt was unavailable. He usually batted at number four, while his fast-medium bowling was of the occasional variety: he never took a season's tally of wickets into double figures.
Edward Sainsbury was an English cricketer who represented, and captained, Somerset County Cricket Club in the late 19th century. During a 10-year first-class cricket career, he also represented Gloucestershire and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Frederick James Andrew was an English cricketer who played for Gloucestershire. He made his first-class debut against Middlesex, and also played two List A matches. A fast-medium bowler, he made his first-class debut against Middlesex in 1959. He also played two List A matches in the Gillette Cup in 1966.
Peter James Robinson is a former English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Worcestershire and Somerset during the 1960s and 1970s; he also played List A cricket for Somerset, who capped him in 1966. He is the nephew of England Test cricketer Roly Jenkins.
Sir Derrick Thomas Louis Bailey, 3rd Baronet was the son of the South African entrepreneur Sir Abe Bailey and of the pioneer aviator Dame Mary Bailey, and won fame for himself as a decorated Second World War pilot, a cricketer and a businessman. Inheriting his father's baronetcy in 1946 from his elder half-brother, he was known for the last 63 years of his life as Sir Derrick Bailey.
Frank Henry Vigar was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Essex County Cricket Club between 1938 and 1954. A right-handed batsman, and leg break bowler, Vigar served as an all-rounder with 8,858 runs at 26.28 and 241 wickets at 37.90. From his rained-off debut in 1938, Vigar went on to play 257 matches for his county. His greatest success came in the "golden summer" of 1947, where he scored 1,735 runs and took 64 wickets. A partnership with Peter Smith of 218 for the final wicket remains an Essex record.
Leo Harrison was an English first-class cricketer who played for Hampshire from 1939 to 1966. Harrison played in 396 first-class matches, 387 of which were for Hampshire. During his career Harrison made 8,854 runs at an average of 17.49 and took 578 catches and 103 stumpings.
Jack Martin Robert Taylor is an English cricketer, a right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break bowler who currently plays for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. He made his first-class debut for Gloucestershire against Derbyshire in August 2010. Taylor signed a two-year contract with Gloucestershire in February 2009. Taylor's younger brother, Matthew Taylor is also a professional player and has played more than 100 games for Gloucestershire.
Nicholas Laurence Joseph Browne is an English cricketer who plays for Essex as a left-handed batsman who bowls leg breaks.
The 2020 Bob Willis Trophy was a first-class cricket tournament held in the 2020 English cricket season, and the inaugural edition of the Bob Willis Trophy. It was separate from the County Championship, which was not held in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The eighteen county cricket teams were split into three regional groups of six, with the two group winners with the most points advancing to a final held at Lord's. The maximum number of overs bowled in a day was reduced from 96 to 90, and the team's first innings could be no longer than 120 overs.