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{{Short description|Former one-day cricket league in England}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}{{Lacking overview|date=March 2024}}{{Recentism|date=March 2024}}

factoids

| administrator = England and Wales Cricket Board| cricket format = Limited overs cricket| first = 1969| last = 2009| participants = 18 (2 leagues of 9)! Champions! Relegated! Champions! (Also) Promoted

Sussex County Cricket Club>Sussex	Essex County Cricket Club>Essex, Kent County Cricket Club	, Lancashire County Cricket Club>Lancashire (5 titles each)| website = ECB Natwest Pro40 website}}The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect large numbers of matches being played on days other than Sunday. Sunday League The Sunday League was launched in 1969, as the second one-day competition in England and Wales alongside the Gillette Cup (launched in 1963). Sponsored by John Player & Sons, the league was called John Player's County League (1969), the John Player League (1970–83), then the John Player Special League (1984–86). The 17 counties of the time played each other in a league format on Sunday afternoons throughout the season. These matches were concise enough to be shown on television, with BBC2 broadcasting one match each week in full until 1980, and then as part of the Sunday Grandstand multi-sport programme. For close finishes for the title, cameras appeared at the grounds where the contenders for the title were competing and the trophy presentation to the victorious team would be on film.Refuge Assurance replaced John Player Special as the sponsor of the competition, called the Refuge Assurance League, in 1987. In 1988 they introduced an end-of-season play-off competition known as the Refuge Assurance Cup. The top four teams of the league season qualified for this competition, with the first-placed team playing the fourth and the second-placed team playing the third, and the winners of these matches meeting in a final at a neutral venue. This competition lasted until 1991.On Friday 5 July 1991, Somerset played Lancashire at Taunton in the first Sunday League match not to be played on a Sunday.Benson and Hedges Cricket Year September 1990 to September 1991 (p. 325)The Sunday League was not sponsored in 1992 (Durham making its debut in the competition this season), but in 1993 AXA Equity and Law became the sponsor. The matches this season were 50 overs per innings. The first round of matches that took place on 9 May 1993 were the first official matches in England to be played in coloured clothing and with a white ball. The following season the competition reverted to 40 overs per innings. On Wednesday 23 July 1997 Warwickshire played Somerset at Edgbaston in the first competitive county game to be played under floodlights.Warwickshire v Somerset July 1997 – Electronic Telegraph National League The National League was launched in 1999 with the 18 first-class counties split into two divisions with three teams promoted and relegated from each. The matches were played over 45 overs and the competition was sponsored by Norwich Union. Matches were spread over the week rather than Sundays only.The counties incorporated nicknames into their official names for the National League, from 2002. For example, Kent became the 'Spitfires', Middlesex the 'Crusaders' and Lancashire were the 'Lightning'. The following season the Scotland Saltires took part in the League until 2005.The C & G Trophy was restructured, in 2006, from a knock-out competition to a round-robin league format, which took up the early part of the season. The National League was renamed the 'NatWest Pro40' and was played in the later part of the season with the teams playing each other once. Also, two teams instead of three were promoted to the first division and two relegated to the second division. A third promotion/relegation spot was determined in a play-off game between the team third from top in the second division and third from bottom team in the first. Replacement In July 2009, the ECB unveiled plans for a revamped county structure involving three competitions, one of which would replace both the Pro40 and the Friends Provident Trophy.WEB,weblink Counties could scrap 50-over cricket, ESPNcricinfo, 29 July 2009, 27 August 2009, On 27 August 2009, this new competition was announced as a 40-overs-per-innings tournament, similar to the Pro40. The ECB 40, also known as the Clydesdale Bank 40 for sponsorship reasons, would serve as one of the three competitions in county cricket for the next four years, along with the County Championship and the Friends Provident t20.WEB,weblink English game dumps 50-over cricket, ESPNcricinfo, 27 August 2009, 27 August 2009, Teams {{Recentism|section|date=March 2024}}Division 1 teams in 2009: Durham Dynamos Essex Eagles Gloucestershire Gladiators Hampshire Hawks Nottinghamshire Outlaws Somerset Sabres Sussex Sharks Worcestershire Royals Yorkshire Carnegie Division 2 teams in 2009: Derbyshire Phantoms Glamorgan Dragons Kent Spitfires Lancashire Lightning Leicestershire Foxes Middlesex Panthers Northamptonshire Steelbacks Surrey Brown Caps Warwickshire Bears Results {{Cleanup section|reason=Wrong order of years|date=March 2024}} National League{| class"wikitable" ! rowspan=2| Season! colspan=2| 1st Division! colspan=2| 2nd Division
NatWest Pro40
2009 NatWest Pro40>2009	Sussex	Not applicable	Warwickshire	Not applicable
2008 NatWest Pro40>2008	Sussex	Middlesex, Lancashire	Essex	Yorkshire
2007 NatWest Pro40>2007	Worcestershire	Warwickshire, Essex, Northamptonshire	Durham	Somerset, MiddlesexMiddlesex beat Northamptonshire in Play-Off match
2006 NatWest Pro 40>2006	Essex	Glamorgan, Durham, Middlesex	Gloucestershire	Worcestershire, HampshireHampshire beat Glamorgan in Play-Off match
totesport League
2005 totesport League>2005	Essex	Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Hampshire	Sussex	Durham, Warwickshire
2004 totesport League>2004	Glamorgan	Warwickshire, Kent, Surrey	Middlesex	Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire
National League
2003 ECB National League>2003	Surrey	Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Worcestershire	Lancashire	Northamptonshire, Hampshire
Norwich Union League
2002 Norwich Union League>2002	Glamorgan	Somerset, Durham, Nottinghamshire	Gloucestershire	Surrey, Essex
2001 Norwich Union League>2001	Kent	Gloucestershire, Surrey, Northamptonshire	Glamorgan	Durham, Worcestershire
Norwich Union National League
2000 Norwich Union National League>2000	Gloucestershire	Worcestershire, Lancashire, Sussex	Surrey	Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire
CGU National League
1999 CGU National League>1999	Lancashire	Warwickshire, Hampshire, Essex	Sussex	Somerset, Northamptonshire

Sunday League

AXA League{|1998 AXA League>1998 LancashireAXA Life League{|1997 AXA Life League>1997 WarwickshireAXA Equity & Law League{|1996 AXA Equity & Law League>1996 Surrey1995 AXA Equity & Law League>1995 Kent1994 AXA Equity & Law League>1994 Warwickshire1993 AXA Equity & Law League>1993 GlamorganSunday League{|1992 Sunday League>1992 Middlesex{|Refuge Assurance League Refuge Assurance Cup1991 Refuge Assurance League>1991 Nottinghamshire 1991 Refuge Assurance Cup >| Worcestershire1990 Refuge Assurance League>1990 Derbyshire 1990 Refuge Assurance Cup >| Middlesex1989 Refuge Assurance League>1989 Lancashire 1989 Refuge Assurance Cup >| Essex1988 Refuge Assurance League>1988 Worcestershire 1988 Refuge Assurance Cup >| Lancashire1987 Refuge Assurance League>1987 WorcestershireJohn Player Special League{|1986 John Player Special League>1986 Hampshire1985 John Player Special League>1985 Essex1984 John Player Special League>1984 EssexJohn Player League{|1983 John Player League>1983 Yorkshire1982 John Player League>1982 Sussex1981 John Player League>1981 Essex1980 John Player League>1980 Warwickshire1979 John Player League>1979 Somerset1978 John Player League>1978 Hampshire1977 John Player League>1977 Leicestershire1976 John Player League>1976 Kent1975 John Player League>1975 Hampshire1974 John Player League>1974 Leicestershire1973 John Player League>1973 Kent1972 John Player League>1972 Kent1971 John Player League>1971 Worcestershire1970 John Player League>1970 LancashireJohn Player's County League{|1969 Player's County League>1969 Lancashire

Tournaments won by county{|| 5

| 5| 5| 4| 3| 3| 3| 3| 2| 2| 1| 1| 1| 1| 1| 1| 0| 0

See also

• National League Division One in 2005
• National League Division Two in 2005
• County Championship – the domestic first class competition in England and Wales
• Friends Provident Trophy (formerly C&G Trophy) – the one-day knock out competition
• Twenty20 Cup – the short-form competition

Notes

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Official websiteweblink }}

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060718114313weblink">ECB Natwest Pro40 website
• Warwickshire v Somerset July 1997 – Electronic Telegraph

{{Cricket in England}}{{Pro40 seasons}}