County Championship 2021: Which of the four contenders will win the title?

Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, Hampshire and Warwickshire all have a chance of being crowned County Champions come Friday

With one round remaining in the regular County Championship season, four sides have the chance to win the title.

While the two-phase format introduced for this campaign may not have been to everyone's liking, one thing that cannot be doubted is how tense a finish it has set up.

Just six-and-a-half points separate the top four teams in Division One, with Hampshire in pole position and Warwickshire, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire close behind.

Hampshire lead the table on 58.5, which is 3.5 better than Warwickshire (55), four better than Lancashire (54.5) and 6.5 better than Notts (52).

There's bound to be plenty of number crunching and 'as-it-stands table' discussions taking place once play gets under way from 10:30 BST on Tuesday, but before then, BBC Sport takes you through the four contenders and their title credentials.

Lancashire (3rd) v Hampshire (1st) - Aigburth, Liverpool

Lancashire, one of the traditional great powerhouses of English county cricket, went 77 years without an outright Championship title until winning in 2011 - a season spent in Liverpool with Aigburth as their base while Emirates Old Trafford was under redevelopment.

Tom Bailey (right) took five wickets in Lancashire's win against Somerset last week

Now, 10 years on, back at Aigburth for their final game, last week's comprehensive win over Somerset at Taunton has given them the chance of a 10th title.

Division One leaders Hampshire will be looking to make up for the pain of their T20 Blast Saturday lunchtime exit in Birmingham when they somehow clutched defeat from the jaws of victory in their semi-final with Somerset.

It will be a much-changed team though. Only five of the players who played in last week's three-day Championship win over Notts - skipper James Vince, Liam Dawson, James Fuller, Brad Wheal and Joe Weatherley - played at Edgbaston.

Lancashire-born Keith Barker and Pakistan paceman Mohammad Abbas are among those expected to return.

Hampshire have only won the county title twice - in 1961 and after that not since their great days of Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge in 1973.

A team that also contained stalwarts like Trevor Jesty, David Turner, Mike Taylor, Peter Sainsbury and Bob Stephenson, captained by Richard Gilliat, did not lose a game and won comfortably, by 31 points from Surrey.

But possibly the most memorable story of all was a year later in 1974 after they had been further strengthened by the arrival of West Indies paceman Andy Roberts, when, in a horrendously wet summer, they did not win it.

Instead, they were robbed by the weather, having their final three games, all at home, all ruined by rain and they lost the title by two points to Worcestershire, who they had beaten by an innings a month earlier.

Hampshire led the table by two points going into the final match but had their game at home to Yorkshire at Dean Park, Bournemouth, totally washed out.

Worcestershire, although rain affected themselves, got enough cricket in to bowl out Essex for 84 on a first-day turner at Chelmsford, Pears captain Norman Gifford taking 7-15 to help pick up four precious bowling points and tilt the top of the table.

Warwickshire (2nd) v Somerset (6th) - Edgbaston

Division One backmarkers Somerset return to the scene of Saturday night's T20 Blast defeat by Kent.

What sort of mood they are in dictates whether they will be able to give second-placed Warwickshire any sort of a game. But their form since the restart of the County Championship is none too encouraging.

Two innings defeats - the first by Notts, the second inside two days by Yorkshire - was followed last week by a 10-wicket loss to Lancashire.

If they maintain that sort of miserable form this week, the Bears could quickly begin to think about chilling the Birmingham bubbly.

They should be able to welcome back the vast experience of Azhar Ali, Steven Davies, James Hildreth and Jack Brooks to Saturday's beaten Edgbaston line-up.

Craig Miles (left) has taken 34 wickets for Warwickshire this season in his 10 County Championship appearances

The Bears themselves come off the back of last week's Chris Woakes-inspired win against Yorkshire in Leeds.

The centrally contracted England all-rounder is again scheduled to play, while fellow paceman Liam Norwell is expected to shake off a minor calf injury.

Nottinghamshire (4th) v Yorkshire (5th) - Trent Bridge

Just when they looked to be on a well-timed roll with wins over Somerset and Lancashire, Nottinghamshire stalled badly last week, twice being bowled out cheaply to lose to Hampshire.

Haseeb Hameed's runs for Nottinghamshire earned him an England Test recall this summer

They will likely go again with seamers Luke Fletcher, Dane Paterson and Brett Hutton leading the bowling attack and hope for valuable top-order runs from recalled England opener Haseeb Hameed, Ben Slater, Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke.

Yorkshire, 17 points off the pace, are out of contention for the title.

Even if they comfortably beat Notts, picked up the maximum 24 points and hoped that bottom club Somerset did the same to Warwickshire at Edgbaston, with eight points for a draw now, one of Lancashire or Hampshire would still finish higher than the Tykes.

The chance to head to Lord's

As well as four sides contending to get their hands on the Lord's Taverners Trophy, the top two finishers in Division One will also qualify for next week's five-day Bob Willis Trophy final.

Last season's Covid-19 curtailed red-ball competition culminated in Essex and Somerset meeting to win the trophy and the fixture has been retained this year as a final act and additional piece of silverware with crowds permitted.

The final starts on Tuesday and is set to culminate on Saturday, 2 October - if it goes the distance.

And a few other outstanding matters....

Standings in Divisions Two and Three

Division Two fixtures:

Chelmsford: Essex v Northamptonshire

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham

Kia Oval: Surrey v Glamorgan

Division Three fixtures:

Canterbury: Kent v Middlesex

Hove: Sussex v Derbyshire

Worcester: Worcestershire v Leicestershire

Playing their last game before retirement

• Surrey all-rounder Rikki Clarke

• Former Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate

• Worcestershire opener Daryl Mitchell

Leading wicket-taker contenders:

• 63: Luke Fletcher (Nottinghamshire)

• 56: Chris Rushworth (Durham)

• 54: Tim Murtagh (Middlesex)

• 53: Simon Harmer (Essex)

• 50: Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire)

Leading run scorer contenders:

• 1,132: Tom Haines (Sussex)

• 1,015: Sam Robson (Middlesex)

• 1,002: David Bedingham (Durham)

• 995: Jake Libby (Worcestershire)

• 902: Lewis Hill (Leicestershire)

• 900: Matt Critchley (Derbyshire)