Minor Counties Cricket Championship
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| Administrator | England and Wales Cricket Board |
|---|---|
| First tournament | 1895 |
| Tournament format | two ten-team divisions home and away in 3-day matches. |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Current champion | Berkshire County Cricket Club |
| Most successful | Staffordshire (11 titles) |
The Minor Counties Cricket Championship is a season-long competition in England that is contested by those county cricket clubs that do not have first-class status.
Contents
1 History
2 List of Minor Counties Champions
2.1 Finals summary
2.2 Performance by county
3 See also
4 External links
History
The competition began in 1895 and, apart from the two World War periods, has been contested annually ever since. Since 2014, the tournament has been known as the Unicorns Championship.
Four clubs which used to play in the Minor Counties Championship have been granted first-class status – Worcestershire in 1899; Northamptonshire in 1905; Glamorgan in 1921 and Durham in 1992.
Until 1959, when the Second XI Championship was founded, most second XIs of the first-class counties used to contest the Minor Counties. A few continued to do so and the last to withdraw was Somerset 2nd XI after the 1987 season.
Since 1983, the clubs have been split into an Eastern and a Western Division. The winners of the two divisions play each other in a match at the end of the season to determine which will be the Champions.
At present, there are twenty clubs involved. Nineteen represent English counties and the other is a Wales team that represents all the Welsh counties except Glamorgan. For details, see Minor counties of English cricket.
List of Minor Counties Champions
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Finals summary
In 1983, the minor counties were divided into a Western Division and an Eastern Division, the winners of each division meeting in a final to decide the overall winner. From 1983 to 1993, the Championship was decided by a 55-over limited over match. From 1994, the final was decided by a two-day, two-innings match with certain restrictions on the first innings, and from 1999 the final has been a three-day, two-innings match and only an outright result has decided the Championship.
| Year | Western Division | Eastern Division | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Berkshire | Lincolnshire | Sir Paul Getty's Ground, Wormsley | Berkshire won by 28 runs |
| 2015 | Oxfordshire | Cumberland | Edenside, Carlisle | Cumberland won by 10 wickets |
| 2014 | Wiltshire | Staffordshire | Salisbury and South Wiltshire Sports Club, Salisbury | Staffordshire won by 28 runs |
| 2013 | Cheshire | Cambridgeshire | Harecroft Road, Wisbech | Cheshire won by 129 runs |
| 2012 | Cornwall | Buckinghamshire | Boscawen Park, Truro | Cornwall won by 150 runs |
| 2011 | Devon | Cambridgeshire | The Avenue Sports Club Ground, March | Devon won by 169 runs |
| 2010 | Dorset | Lincolnshire | Dean Park, Bournemouth | Dorset won by 135 runs |
| 2009 | Cheshire | Buckinghamshire | Upton Court Road, Slough | Buckinghamshire won by 117 runs |
| 2008 | Berkshire | Lincolnshire | Enborne Lodge, Newbury | Berkshire won by 8 wickets |
| 2007 | Cheshire | Northumberland | Osborne Avenue, Jesmond | Cheshire won by an innings and 4 runs |
| 2006 | Devon | Buckinghamshire | The Maer Ground, Exmouth | Devon won by 180 runs |
| 2005 | Cheshire | Suffolk | Ransomes and Reavell Sports Club Ground, Ipswich | Drawn (title shared) |
| 2004 | Devon | Bedfordshire | The Maer Ground, Exmouth | Drawn (title shared) |
| 2003 | Devon | Lincolnshire | Sports Ground, Cleethorpes | Lincolnshire won by 8 wickets |
| 2002 | Herefordshire | Norfolk | Mortimer Park, Kingsland | Drawn (title shared) |
| 2001 | Cheshire | Lincolnshire | Gorse Lane, Grantham | Drawn (title shared) |
| 2000 | Dorset | Cumberland | Kinson Park Road, Bournemouth | Dorset won by 5 wickets |
| 1999 | Dorset | Cumberland | Parkside Road, Kendal | Cumberland won by 6 wickets |
| 1998 | Dorset | Staffordshire | Dean Park, Bournemouth | Drawn (Staffordshire won on qualifying record) |
| 1997 | Devon | Bedfordshire | Wardown Park, Luton | Drawn (Devon won on faster scoring rate) |
| 1996 | Devon | Norfolk | The Maer Ground, Exmouth | Devon by 168 runs |
| 1995 | Devon | Lincolnshire | New Road, Worcester | Devon won by 57 runs (single innings match) |
| 1994 | Devon | Cambridgeshire | New Road, Worcester | Drawn (Devon won on 1st innings points) |
| 1993 | Cheshire | Staffordshire | New Road, Worcester | Staffordshire won by 5 wickets |
| 1992 | Devon | Staffordshire | New Road, Worcester | Staffordshire won by 79 runs |
| 1991 | Oxfordshire | Staffordshire | Wardown Park, Luton | Staffordshire won by 10 wickets |
| 1990 | Berkshire | Hertfordshire | Wardown Park, Luton | Hertfordshire won by 7 wickets |
| 1989 | Oxfordshire | Hertfordshire | New Road, Worcester | Oxfordshire won by 7 wickets |
| 1988 | Cheshire | Cambridgeshire | New Road, Worcester | Cheshire won by 13 runs |
| 1987 | Buckinghamshire | Cambridgeshire | New Road, Worcester | Buckinghamshire won by losing fewer wickets |
| 1986 | Oxfordshire | Cumberland | New Road, Worcester | Cumberland won by 2 wickets |
| 1985 | Cheshire | Suffolk | New Road, Worcester | Cheshire won by 58 runs |
| 1984 | Cheshire | Durham | New Road, Worcester | Durham won by 6 wickets |
| 1983 | Buckinghamshire | Hertfordshire | New Road, Worcester | Hertfordshire won by 2 wickets |
Performance by county
Bold denotes the current 20 Minor Counties.
| Club | Titles | Minor Counties Championship-winning seasons |
|---|---|---|
Staffordshire | 11 | 1906, 1908, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2014 |
Buckinghamshire | 9 + 1 shared | 1899 (shared), 1922, 1923, 1925, 1932, 1938, 1952, 1969, 1987, 2009 |
Durham | 7 + 2 shared | 1895 (shared), 1900 (shared), 1901, 1926, 1930, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1984 |
Devon | 7 + 1 shared | 1978, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004 (shared), 2006, 2011 |
Lancashire II | 7 | 1907, 1934, 1937, 1948, 1949, 1960, 1964 |
Cheshire | 5 + 2 shared | 1967, 1985, 1988, 2001 (shared), 2005 (shared), 2007, 2013 |
Berkshire | 5 | 1924, 1928, 1953, 2008, 2016 |
Yorkshire II | 5 | 1947, 1957, 1958, 1968, 1971 |
Hertfordshire | 4 | 1936, 1975, 1983, 1990 |
Oxfordshire | 4 | 1929, 1974, 1982, 1989 |
Surrey II | 4 | 1939, 1950, 1954, 1955 |
Norfolk | 3 + 2 shared | 1895 (shared), 1905, 1910, 1913, 2002 (shared) |
Suffolk | 3 + 1 shared | 1946, 1977, 1979, 2005 (shared) |
Worcestershire | 3 + 1 shared | 1895 (shared), 1896, 1897, 1898 |
Cumberland | 3 | 1986, 1999, 2015 |
Northamptonshire | 2 + 2 shared | 1899 (shared), 1900 (shared), 1903, 1904 |
Bedfordshire | 2 + 1 shared | 1970, 1972 2004 (shared) |
Lincolnshire | 2 + 1 shared | 1966, 2001 (shared), 2003 |
Dorset | 2 | 2000, 2010 |
Kent II | 2 | 1951, 1956 |
Somerset II | 2 | 1961, 1965 |
Warwickshire II | 2 | 1959, 1962 |
Wiltshire | 2 | 1902, 1909 |
Cambridgeshire | 1 | 1963 |
Cornwall | 1 | 2012 |
Leicestershire II | 1 | 1931 |
Middlesex II | 1 | 1935 |
Shropshire | 1 | 1973 |
Glamorgan | 0 + 1 shared | 1900 (shared) |
Herefordshire | 0 + 1 shared | 2002 (shared) |
Carmarthenshire | 0 | |
Denbighshire | 0 | |
Derbyshire II | 0 | |
Essex II | 0 | |
Glamorgan II | 0 | |
Gloucestershire II | 0 | |
Hampshire II | 0 | |
Monmouthshire | 0 | |
Northamptonshire II | 0 | |
Northumberland | 0 | |
Nottinghamshire II | 0 | |
Sussex II | 0 | |
Wales Minor Counties | 0 | |
Worcestershire II | 0 |
See also
- Minor counties of English and Welsh cricket
Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970- Playfair Cricket Annual
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
External links
- Minor Counties Cricket Association Official Site
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