County Championship permutations: Warwickshire attempt to seal Division One title with Somerset and Nottinghamshire still in contention

Warwickshire are the clear favourites to claim the Division One title for the first time since 2021.

They begin the final round 11 points clear at the top of the table and know that victory at home over Leicestershire will confirm them as champions.

Warwickshire could also win the title if they draw or lose, depending on the results of second-placed Somerset and third-placed Nottinghamshire.

Somerset, who trail Warwickshire by 11 points, must win their home fixture against Surrey and hope that Warwickshire either draw and claim three fewer bonus points than them, or lose.

If Somerset won, Warwickshire drew and the sides were tied on points, Somerset would claim the title by having seven victories to Warwickshire's six.

Nottinghamshire go into the final round with only an outside chance as they sit 15 points back from Warwickshire.

They must beat Yorkshire at home but also need Warwickshire to lose and Somerset to draw or lose.

It's possible that Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire could finish tied on points with the same number of wins, losses and draws, which would see the title decided by which of the pair claimed more points in their two fixtures against each other this season.

That would be Nottinghamshire, who outpointed Warwickshire 27-24 by achieving more bonus scoring as the sides drew both of their clashes.

Leicestershire and Essex in battle for survival

With Hampshire's relegation from Division One already confirmed, Leicestershire and Essex are the other two sides at risk of going down.

Ninth-placed Leicestershire are 19 points behind eighth-placed Essex, which makes the former a heavy favourite to be relegated.

Leicestershire must achieve an upset victory over league leaders Warwickshire, and hope that Essex lose at Glamorgan.

Kent and Northamptonshire in tight promotion duel

Durham, helped by the presence of former England captain Ben Stokes, sealed promotion as Division Two champions with two games to spare.

However, the battle for the second promotion place is a thrilling one with Kent leading Northamptonshire by just four points going into their final fixtures.

Kent host bottom side Gloucestershire, while Northamptonshire are away to mid-table Middlesex at Lord's.

Given Kent have already sealed the tiebreaker between the sides because they have two more victories, Northamptonshire must outscore them by five points to be promoted.

That would be difficult to achieve in the event both sides won, so Northamptonshire are likely to need to better Kent's result to leapfrog them.

Gloucestershire do have some additional motivation to upset Kent, with the away side needing a victory, or draw with bonus points, to have a chance of getting off the bottom of the table.