2017 English cricket season
The 2017 English cricket season was the 118th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. The season, which began on 28 March and ended on 29 September, featured two global one-day competitions played in England and Wales, the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup. England Women's team won the World Cup, defeating India Women in the final at Lord's. Pakistan beat India in the Champions Trophy final. The season included men's international tours of England by South Africa and West Indies. England played  four Test matches against South Africa and three against West Indies. Both teams also played One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) series against England whilst Ireland played a two ODI tour series against England. The season also saw the first-class counties compete in the 2017 County Championship, 2017 Royal London One-Day Cup and 2017 NatWest t20 Blast competitions. Essex won the County Championship with Nottinghamshire winning both limited overs competitions. Lancashire Women won both the Women's County Championship and the Women's Twenty20 competition. In the second season of the Women's Cricket Super League  the title was won by Western Storm who defeated Southern Vipers in the final. The Minor Counties competed for the 2017 Minor Counties Championship and MCCA Knockout Trophy, both of which were won by Berkshire County Cricket Club. Club and recreational cricket was played throughout both countries. Champions Trophy. The 2017 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England and Wales in June. Eight international men's teams competed in the tournament which was won by Pakistan who defeated India in the final at The Oval. Groups stage matches were played at The Oval, Edgbaston and at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff . Women's World Cup. The 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup was held in England in June and July. Eight international women's teams competed in the tournament on a round-robin basis. The top four teams after the round-robin stage qualified for semi-finals with the two winners reaching the final. England Women beat India Women in the final which was held at Lord's and was a sell-out. International tours. Three international men's sides toured England during the season: Ireland, South Africa and West Indies. The Irish tour was a two ODI series whilst the  other tours all featured Test cricket as well as ODI and T20I matches. There were no women's tours to England during the season. Ireland tour. The Irish team played two ODIs against England in early May in advance of the Champions Trophy. England won both matches. South Africa tour. The tour by South Africa included matches played either side of the Champions Trophy. In late May, immediately before the start of the Champions Trophy, a three match ODI series was played with England winning the series 2–1. After the tournament a three-match T20I series was played, England again  winning 2–1. The four match Test series between the two teams took place between the beginning of July and early August. England won the series 3–1. West Indies tour. The West Indies toured England in August and September. Three Test matches were played, England winning the series 2–1. The series included the first day-night Test match to be played in England. A single T20I and a five match ODI series were played after the Tests, England winning the ODI series 4–0 whilst West Indies won the T20I. The final match of the ODI series was played on 29 September  and was the final match played during the season. County Championship. The men's County Championship saw a restructuring of the divisional structure for the start of the season. Division One was reduced to eight teams at the end of the 2016 season in order to reduce the number of Championship matches each county played to 14. Ten teams competed in Division Two for the first time, meaning that Division Two sides did not play each other home and away during the season. Essex, who had been promoted from Division Two the previous season, won the County Championship. Middlesex, the  2016 Champions, and Warwickshire were relegated from Division One with their places taken by Division Two champions Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire who narrowly beat Northants to the second place spot in the division. Middelsex's relegation from Division One was controversial. The club had been deducted two points for bowling a slow over rate during a match against Surrey at The Oval at the end of August in a match which was abandoned early when a crossbow bolt was fired on to the pitch. At the time Middlesex were batting but could have declared and made up the over rate in  Surrey's second innings. They lost to Somerset on the final day of the season, with Somerset just one point above Middlesex in the table. The pitch at Taunton was investigated after Wayne Noon, the ECB cricket liaison officer at the ground for the match, marked it as "below average" for excessive spin on the first two days of the match – a factor which, it was suggested, would help Somerset's strong spin attack. No action was taken over the pitch quality after a further inspection took place, despite it being described as "doctored" and Somerset being called a "disgrace