Benson & Hedges Cup
The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one day cricket competition for English first class counties which was held from 1972 to 2002. Certain other teams such as Ireland and Combined Universities also participated at times. It was the third major one day competition to be established in England after the Sunday League and the Gillette Cup, and it was the less prestigious of the two cup competitions. The competition was played in the first half of the season. It began with four small leagues of "zonal" matches before moving on to a knock-out phase. The final was played at Lord's.
The Benson & Hedges Cup's later years coincided with a period of increasing concern that there was too much emphasis on the quantity of cricket played in England, rather than the quality. The introduction of a ban on tobacco advertising deprived the cup of its sponsor, and it was terminated in 2002 in favour of the briefer and more populist Twenty20 Cup, which was first played in 2003.
Finals
- 2002 Warwickshire beat Essex by 5 wickets
- 2001 Surrey beat Gloucestershire beat by 47 runs
- 2000 Gloucestershire beat Glamorgan by 7 wickets
- 1999 Gloucestershire beat Yorkshire by 124 runs
- 1998 Essex beat Leicestershire by 192 runs
- 1997 Surrey beat Kent by 8 wickets
- 1996 Lancashire beat Northamptonshire by 31 runs
- 1995 Lancashire beat Kent by 35 runs
- 1994 Warwickshire beat Worcestershire by 6 wickets
- 1993 Derbyshire beat Lancashire by 6 runs
- 1992 Hampshire beat Kent by 41 runs
- 1991 Worcestershire beat Lancashire by 65 runs
- 1990 Lancashire beat Worcestershire by 69 runs
- 1989 Nottinghamshire beat Essex by 3 wickets
- 1988 Hampshire beat Derbyshire by 7 wickets
- 1987 Yorkshire beat Northamptonshire - lost fewer wickets
- 1986 Middlesex beat Kent by 2 runs
- 1985 Leicestershire beat Essex by 5 wickets
- 1984 Lancashire beat Warwickshire by 6 wickets
- 1983 Middlesex beat Essex by 4 runs
- 1982 Somerset beat Nottinghamshire by 9 wickets
- 1981 Somerset beat Surrey by 7 wickets
- 1980 Northamptonshire beat Essex by 6 runs
- 1979 Essex beat Surrey by 35 runs
- 1978 Kent beat Derbyshire by 6 wickets
- 1977 Gloucestershire beat Kent by 64 runs
- 1976 Kent beat Worcestershire by 43 runs
- 1975 Leicestershire beat Middlesex by 5 wickets
- 1974 Surrey beat Leicestershire by 27 runs
- 1973 Kent beat Worcestershire by 39 runs
- 1972 Leicestershire beat Yorkshire by 5 wickets
Wins summary
- 4 Lancashire
- 3 Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Surrey
- 2 Essex, Hampshire, Middlesex, Somerset, Warwickshire
- 1 Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire