Jonny Bairstow

Jonathan Marc "Jonny" Bairstow (born 26 September 1989) is an English cricketer, who plays first-class cricket for Yorkshire and England. A right-hand batsman and wicket-keeper he is the second son of former Yorkshire and England wicket-keeper David Bairstow and the half-brother of former Derbyshire player Andrew Bairstow. His maiden Test century came in the first innings of England's second test at Newlands during their 2015/2016 tour of South Africa, beating his previous best of 95 at Lord's, also against South Africa.

Biography

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1989, Bairstow displayed his early talent when he was chosen as the inaugural winner of the Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year award. This was for the form he showed in 2007 for St Peter's School, York when he scored 654 runs. During the 2008 season he played second XI cricket for Yorkshire, in six championship matches he scored 308 runs at an average of 61.60. He was called up to the first-team squad for the final County Championship match of the season against Sussex but failed to make the starting eleven. At the end of the season he signed a two-year professional contract.

England

England ⁱ/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers much of the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic; and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law – the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world – developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation.

County Championship

The County Championship (currently known as the LV= County Championship because of its sponsor, Liverpool Victoria) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and originally representing, historic counties, seventeen from England and one from Wales.

History

"Champion County"

Until 1890, the concept of an unofficial championship existed whereby various claims would be made by or on behalf of a particular club as the "Champion County", an archaic term which now has the specific meaning of an unofficial claimant for the County Championship title prior to 1890. In contrast, the term "County Champions" applies in common parlance to a team that has won the official title since 1890.

The most usual means of claiming the unofficial title was by popular or press acclaim. In the majority of cases, the claim or proclamation was retrospective, often by cricket writers using reverse analysis via a study of known results. The unofficial title was not proclaimed in every season up to 1889 because in many cases there were not enough matches or there was simply no clear candidate. Having already been badly hit by the Seven Years' War, county cricket ceased altogether during the Napoleonic Wars and there was a period from 1797 to 1824 during which no inter-county matches took place. The concept of the unofficial title has been utilised ad hoc and relied on sufficient interest being shown.

England and Wales

– in Europe  (green & dark grey)
– in the United Kingdom  (green)

England and Wales (Welsh: Cymru a Lloegr) is a jurisdiction covering England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom, which form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England and follow a single legal system, known as English law.

The devolved National Assembly for Wales (Welsh: Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) was created in 1999 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom under the Government of Wales Act 1998 and provides a degree of self-government in Wales. The powers of the Assembly were expanded by the Government of Wales Act 2006, which allows it to pass its own laws, and the Act also formally separated the Welsh Government from the Assembly. There is no equivalent body for England, which is directly governed by the Parliament and the government of the United Kingdom.

History of jurisdiction

During the Roman occupation of Britain, the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit, with the exception of the land to the north of Hadrian's Wall. At that time, all the native inhabitants of Roman Britain spoke Brythonic languages, and were all regarded as Britons, divided into numerous tribes. After the conquest, the Romans administered this region as a single unit, the province of Britain.

England and Wales Cricket Board

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council. Like many sports governing bodies in the United Kingdom it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal status which enables it to concentrate on maximising its funding of the sport rather than making a return for investors. The ECB's head offices are at Lord's Cricket Ground in London. Although the organisation is the England and Wales Cricket Board, it is referred to as the ECB not the EWCB as a result of a decision taken in the run-up to the launch of ECB in January 1997 by those from within the game given the task of overseeing the transition from the previous bodies from which ECB was formed.