Fan-selected County Championship XI revealed after final round of 2026 season

Fans have named their County Championship team of the season following the final round of the 2026 competition, voting on a side composed of two openers, three middle-order batters, one wicketkeeper, two all-rounders, two pace bowlers and a spinner.

Ricardo Vasconcelos (Northants) and Ben McKinney (Durham) were the chosen openers, with Vasconcelos receiving 38% of the votes and McKinney 31%. Vasconcelos finished as Division Two's leading scorer with 1,159 runs and six centuries, while McKinney, aged 21, recorded a career-best 244 against Gloucestershire in the second game of the season and amassed 1,044 runs at an average of more than 50. Other contenders in the opener vote were Josh Thomas (Somerset) 14%, Dom Sibley (Surrey) 7%, Rob Yates (Warwickshire) 5%, Dean Elgar (Essex) 3% and Rishi Patel (Leicestershire) 2%.

Your three middle-order picks were Joe Clarke (Notts), Tom Abell (Somerset) and David Bedingham (Durham). Clarke led the country with 1,288 runs, including four centuries and six fifties, though Notts did not retain their title; Abell finished the campaign with the season's highest individual score of 307 against Surrey, ending with 1,287 runs at an average of 71.5; Bedingham passed 1,000 runs for Durham for the fourth time. The remaining votes in this category went to Dan Lawrence (Surrey) 13%, Sam Hain (Warwickshire) 9%, Jake Lehmann (Hampshire) 6%, Jack Haynes (Notts) 3% and Miles Hammond (Gloucestershire) 1%.

James Bracey (Gloucestershire) was selected as the wicketkeeper with 44% of the vote, narrowly beating James Rew (Somerset) who had 43%. Bracey compiled 1,096 runs with five hundreds and also took 23 catches and executed two stumpings, despite Gloucestershire finishing bottom of Division Two. Other keepers on the poll were Ben Cox (Leicestershire) 7% and Chris Benjamin (Kent) 6%.

The two all-rounders chosen were Craig Overton (Somerset) and George Hill (Yorkshire). Overton polled 44% after scoring 734 runs and taking 53 wickets during 2026 at the age of 32, while Hill collected 48 wickets at an average of 18.39 and scored 748 runs including six half-centuries; other nominees included Ben Stokes (Durham) 12%, Matt Critchley (Essex) 8%, Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire) 5%, Lewis Gregory (Somerset) 4%, Martin Andersson (Derbyshire) 3% and Ryan Higgins (Middlesex) 3%.

The pace attack features Kyle Abbott (Hampshire) and Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), and Liam Patterson-White (Notts) was the chosen spinner. Abbott received 30% of the votes after taking 64 wickets at an average of 16.15 for a side that finished bottom of Division One; Bamber had 23% and was the leading wicket-taker across both divisions with 69 wickets, including four five-wicket hauls, making him the only Bears player to make the XI despite their County Championship triumph. Patterson-White led the spinner vote with 41%, claiming 42 wickets at an average of 25 and scoring an unbeaten 111 against Leicestershire; other pace vote-getters included Matthew Potts (Durham) 18%, James Anderson (Lancashire) 13%, Henry Crocombe (Sussex) 8%, Olly Stone (Notts) 5% and Ben Sanderson (Northants) 3%, and other spinners were Dom Bess (Yorkshire) 22%, Jack Leach (Somerset) 21% and Simon Harmer (Essex) 16%.

David Bedingham will return to Durham next season when they are back in Division One, completing the set of fan selections for this year's County Championship XI.