{{Short description|none}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}} {{Use British English|date=March 2014}} {{Infobox cricket tournament | previous_year = 1980 | previous_tournament = 1980 English cricket season | next_year = 1982 | next_tournament = 1982 English cricket season }} The '''1981 English cricket season''' was the 82nd in which the County Championship had been an official competition. A change of sponsorship ended the Gillette Cup and the knockout competition became the NatWest Trophy, which lasted for twenty years. Australia toured England to compete for the Ashes and England won the series 3–1. Nottinghamshire won a close struggle for the County Championship title, defeating Sussex by two points.
==Honours== *'''County Championship''' - Nottinghamshire *'''NatWest Trophy''' - Derbyshire *'''Sunday League''' - Essex *'''Benson & Hedges Cup''' - Somerset *'''Minor Counties Championship''' - Durham *'''Second XI Championship''' - Hampshire II *'''Wisden''' - Terry Alderman, Allan Border, Richard Hadlee, Javed Miandad, Rod Marsh
==Test Series== {{main|Australian cricket team in England in 1981}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! width="150" | Cumulative record - Test wins ! width="50" | 1876-1981 |- |style="text-align:left;"|England |82 |- |style="text-align:left;"|Australia |93 |- |style="text-align:left;"|Drawn |71 |}
==Sri Lankan tour== The second tour of England by the Sri Lankan team took place in 1981. Sri Lanka had not yet achieved Test status. The team played 13 first-class matches and 11 of these were drawn. In their other two games, the Sri Lankans won one and lost one.
==County Championship== {{main|1981 County Championship}}
==NatWest Trophy== {{main|1981 NatWest Trophy}}
==Benson & Hedges Cup== {{main|1981 Benson & Hedges Cup}}
==Sunday League== {{main|1981 John Player League}}
==References== <references/>
==External links== * [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/1981_ENG.html CricketArchive match lists]
==Further reading== * Playfair Cricket Annual 1982 * Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1982
{{1981 English cricket season}} {{English cricket seasons}} {{County Championship seasons}} {{Friends Provident Trophy seasons}} {{Pro40 seasons}} {{Benson & Hedges Cup seasons}} {{Ashes Test series}} {{International cricket tours of England}}
Category:English cricket seasons in the 20th century English Cricket Season, 1981 Cricket season Category:1981 in English cricket