Minor Counties Cricket Championship

Minor Counties Cricket Championship

Administrator	England and Wales Cricket Board
First tournament	1895
Tournament format	two ten-team divisions home and away in 3-day ๆๆๆmatches.
Number of teams	20
Current champion	Staffordshire
Most successful	Staffordshire (11 titles)
2015 Minor Counties Championship

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.

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

1895 Shared title. - Durham, - Norfolk, - Worcestershire 1896 Worcestershire 1897 Worcestershire 1898 Worcestershire 1899 Shared title - Northamptonshire, - Buckinghamshire 1900 Shared title - Durham, - Glamorgan, - Northamptonshire 1901 Durham 1902 Wiltshire 1903 Northamptonshire 1904 Northamptonshire 1905 Norfolk 1906 Staffordshire 1907 Lancashire II 1908 Staffordshire 1909 Wiltshire 1910 Norfolk 1911 Staffordshire 1912 in abeyance 1913 Norfolk 1914 undecided 1915 – 1919 not contested 1920 Staffordshire 1921 Staffordshire 1922 Buckinghamshire 1923 Buckinghamshire

1924 Berkshire 1925 Buckinghamshire 1926 Durham 1927 Staffordshire 1928 Berkshire 1929 Oxfordshire 1930 Durham 1931 Leicestershire II 1932 Buckinghamshire 1933 undecided 1934 Lancashire II 1935 Middlesex II 1936 Hertfordshire 1937 Lancashire II 1938 Buckinghamshire 1939 Surrey II 1940 – 1945 not contested 1946 Suffolk 1947 Yorkshire II 1948 Lancashire II 1949 Lancashire II 1950 Surrey II 1951 Kent II 1952 Buckinghamshire 1953 Berkshire 1954 Surrey II 1955 Surrey II 1956 Kent II 1957 Yorkshire II 1958 Yorkshire II 1959 Warwickshire II 1960 Lancashire II

1961 Somerset II 1962 Warwickshire II 1963 Cambridgeshire 1964 Lancashire II 1965 Somerset II 1966 Lincolnshire 1967 Cheshire 1968 Yorkshire II 1969 Buckinghamshire 1970 Bedfordshire 1971 Yorkshire II 1972 Bedfordshire 1973 Shropshire 1974 Oxfordshire 1975 Hertfordshire 1976 Durham 1977 Suffolk 1978 Devon 1979 Suffolk 1980 Durham 1981 Durham 1982 Oxfordshire 1983 Hertfordshire 1984 Durham 1985 Cheshire 1986 Cumberland 1987 Buckinghamshire 1988 Cheshire 1989 Oxfordshire 1990 Hertfordshire 1991 Staffordshire 1992 Staffordshire

1993 Staffordshire 1994 Devon 1995 Devon 1996 Devon 1997 Devon 1998 Staffordshire 1999 Cumberland 2000 Dorset 2001 shared title - Cheshire, - Lincolnshire 2002 shared title - Herefordshire, - Norfolk 2003 Lincolnshire 2004 shared title - Bedfordshire, - Devon 2005 shared title - Cheshire, - Suffolk 2006 Devon 2007 Cheshire 2008 Berkshire 2009 Buckinghamshire 2010 Dorset 2011 Devon 2012 Cornwall 2013 Cheshire 2014 Staffordshire 2015 Cumberland

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
Yorkshire II	5	1947, 1957, 1958, 1968, 1971
Berkshire	4	1924, 1928, 1953, 2008
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