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 matches.
Number of teams 20
Current champion Cumberland
Most successful Staffordshire
(11 titles)
2016 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

Performance by county

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

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