Hi
You ask a very good question. There has been a lot of criticism of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over the last few years for precisely this reason: people who are new to the game find it extremely hard to get to grips with county cricket and keep track of what is happening.
The term 'County Cricket' covers all the cricket played by the 18 first-class counties. The 18 are, in alphabetical order: Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Yorkshire.
For the last few seasons (including this one) there have been 4 main competitions: the County Championship, the Friends Provident Trophy, the Twenty20 Cup, and the Pro40. There are in addition to these the 2nd XI Championship, the Second Eleven Trophy, the Minor Counties Championship, and the MCCA Trophy (I think, but am not sure, that 'MCCA' stands for 'Minor Counties Cricket Association').
Basically, very few people follow the 2nd XI Championship, the Second Eleven Trophy, the Minor Counties Championship, or the MCCA Trophy. None of them receives much coverage in the media and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who knows who is doing well and who is doing badly.
The County Championship has two divisions, with 9 teams in each. Each year, the bottom two sides in Division 1 are relegated to Division 2, and the top two sides in Division 2 are promoted to Division 1. Each team plays 16 matches: you play each of the teams in your division home and away. All matches last 4 days, with 96 overs bowled each day. Other than that, it is just like Test cricket, with each side having 2 innings. The points system is quite complicated, and many feel that the ECB should simplify it. You get 14 points for a win, 4 for a draw, and 0 for a defeat. However, there is a bonus points system, which works as follows. In your first innings, you are awarded points for making a certain number of runs: you get 1 point if you make between 20 and 250, 2 points if you make between 250 and 300, 3 points if you make between 300 and 350, 4 points if you make between 350 and 400, and 5 points if you make more than 400. There is one condition: the bonus points system is only in operation for the first 120 overs of the innings, so if you want all 5 batting bonus points, you must score at least 400 hundred in the first 120 overs of your innings. If you end up with 560 after, say 175 overs, but after 120 overs you only had 389, then you'll only be awarded 4 bonus points.
There are also 3 bowling points available in the opposition's first innings: you get 1 point for taking 3 - 5 wickets (again, in the first 120 overs), 2 points for taking 6 - 8, and 3 points for taking at least 9.
So, you can, in principle, pick up 8 points from a game that you lose, since you keep your bonus points whether you win, lose, or draw: you can collect 5 batting bonus and points and 3 bowling bonus points even if you go on to lose.
If you'd like me to explain the other competitions, please email me, but they're going to be revamping the Twenty20 Cup and scrapping the Friends Provident Trophy and Pro40 (I think they're going to replace one of these competitions with a new one-day competition). The plan for next season is to keep the County Championship as it is - 2 divisions; 9 teams in each; 2 down from Division 1, 2 up from Division 2 each season; 4 days for each game; and 16 games a season - but expand the Twenty20 Cup and bring in a new one-day competition (I think either 40 overs or 50) to replace the outgoing Friends Provident Trophy and Pro40.
The hope is that the players will get more rest between matches and the public will find it easier to follow what is happening. Sky Sports will cover all 3 competitions, especially the revamped Twenty20 Cup and the new one-day competition.
I really hope that things are a bit clearer now, but I appreciate that it is a nightmare trying to understand County Cricket. If there's anything else you'd like me to try to explain, please just email me.
Good luck :-)