England a total of 335. Australia walked off after three minutes in their second innings, to give England the draw and the 2–1 series victory. Meanwhile, in the County Championship, Lancashire assumed the ascendancy of Division Two with an eight-wicket win over Essex which also secured their return to Division One after only one season on the lowest rung of the Championship ladder. National League losses for Worcestershire Royals and Hampshire Hawks then left four teams on 22 points in the bottom of Division One – three of them would have to go down. Nottinghamshire and Kent then faced off for the match that would decide the County Championship title, with Kent trailing by 19.5 points before the match at Trent Bridge. Kent failed to chase 420 in five hours, and Nottinghamshire recorded a 214-run win to take the Championship title. Durham and Yorkshire also secured Championship promotion with draws, while the first International 20:20 Club Championship was won by Faisalabad Wolves after a five-wicket win over Chilaw Marians in the final. In the National League, Warwickshire Bears won three matches in seven days to go third in the Division Two table before the final round, with Derbyshire Phantoms the only team that had a theoretical possibility of catching the Bears. Lancashire Lightning and Worcestershire Royals both lost in Division One, leaving them tied on points with two other teams at the bottom of the table. The final round of the Championship saw Hampshire beat the newly crowned county champions Nottinghamshire by an innings and 188 runs, their second win over Nottinghamshire in the Championship this year, but they still finished 2.5 points behind. Surrey were relegated after conceding too many bonus points to Middlesex, and a total of four innings victories were registered on the final matchday. The season ended with nine National League matches – Lancashire Lightning survived in Division One after beating Worcestershire Royals, while Gloucestershire Gladiators were relegated despite a win. Warwickshire Bears confirmed promotion, despite losing to Durham Dynamos, while Scottish Saltires played their last National League game, losing by eight wickets. See also References The Times, British newspaper Playfair Cricket Annual (annual) Wisden Cricketers Almanack (annual) External links The BBC Cricinfo Homepage of Surrey CCC 2005