National Counties Cricket Championship

The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously called the minor counties) that do not have first-class status.

NCCA 3 Day Championship
AdministratorEngland and Wales Cricket Board
First edition1895
Tournament formattwo ten-team divisions
home and away in 3-day matches.
Number of teams20
Current championBuckinghamshire County Cricket Club
Most successfulStaffordshire
(13 titles)

History

The competition began in 1895, with the Worcestershire honorary secretary Paul Foley being influential in its creation.[1] It has been contested annually ever since apart from the two World War periods, and cancellation in 2020 due to COVID-19.[2] From 2014 to 2019 the tournament was 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. Until 1983 all clubs competed in a single league. Teams played varying numbers of matches and did not play all other counties, so the table was ranked according to average points gained per match. The team with the highest average won the championship, except in a year when the top two counties had not played each other. In this case the second-placed team in the table had the right to challenge the leaders to a match to decide the championship. The second-placed team had to win this Challenge Match to take the title, with the league leaders being declared champions if they won or the game was drawn.

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/National Counties Champions
  • 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
  • 2016 Berkshire
  • 2017 Berkshire
  • 2018 Berkshire
  • 2019 Berkshire
  • 2020 not contested
  • 2021 Oxfordshire
  • 2022 Berkshire
  • 2023 Buckinghamshire

Finals summary

In 1983, the then 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 overs 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
1983BuckinghamshireHertfordshireNew Road, WorcesterHertfordshire won by 2 wickets
1984CheshireDurhamNew Road, WorcesterDurham won by 6 wickets
1985CheshireSuffolkNew Road, WorcesterCheshire won by 58 runs
1986OxfordshireCumberlandNew Road, WorcesterCumberland won by 2 wickets
1987BuckinghamshireCambridgeshireNew Road, WorcesterBuckinghamshire won by losing fewer wickets
1988CheshireCambridgeshireNew Road, WorcesterCheshire won by 13 runs
1989OxfordshireHertfordshireNew Road, WorcesterOxfordshire won by 7 wickets
1990BerkshireHertfordshireWardown Park, LutonHertfordshire won by 7 wickets
1991OxfordshireStaffordshireWardown Park, LutonStaffordshire won by 10 wickets
1992DevonStaffordshireNew Road, WorcesterStaffordshire won by 79 runs
1993CheshireStaffordshireNew Road, WorcesterStaffordshire won by 5 wickets
1994DevonCambridgeshireNew Road, WorcesterDrawn (Devon won on 1st innings points)
1995DevonLincolnshireNew Road, WorcesterDevon won by 57 runs (single-innings match)
1996DevonNorfolkThe Maer Ground, ExmouthDevon by 168 runs
1997DevonBedfordshireWardown Park, LutonDrawn (Devon won on faster scoring rate)
1998DorsetStaffordshireDean Park, BournemouthDrawn (Staffordshire won on qualifying record)
1999DorsetCumberlandParkside Road, KendalCumberland won by 6 wickets
2000DorsetCumberlandKinson Park Road, BournemouthDorset won by 5 wickets
2001CheshireLincolnshireGorse Lane, GranthamDrawn (title shared)
2002HerefordshireNorfolkMortimer Park, KingslandDrawn (title shared)
2003DevonLincolnshireSports Ground, CleethorpesLincolnshire won by 8 wickets
2004DevonBedfordshireThe Maer Ground, ExmouthDrawn (title shared)
2005CheshireSuffolkRansomes and Reavell Sports Club Ground, IpswichDrawn (title shared)
2006DevonBuckinghamshireThe Maer Ground, ExmouthDevon won by 180 runs
2007CheshireNorthumberlandOsborne Avenue, JesmondCheshire won by an innings and 4 runs
2008BerkshireLincolnshireEnborne Lodge, NewburyBerkshire won by 8 wickets
2009CheshireBuckinghamshireUpton Court Road, SloughBuckinghamshire won by 117 runs
2010DorsetLincolnshireDean Park, BournemouthDorset won by 135 runs
2011DevonCambridgeshireThe Avenue Sports Club Ground, MarchDevon won by 169 runs
2012CornwallBuckinghamshireBoscawen Park, TruroCornwall won by 150 runs
2013CheshireCambridgeshireHarecroft Road, WisbechCheshire won by 129 runs
2014WiltshireStaffordshireSalisbury and South Wiltshire Sports Club, SalisburyStaffordshire won by 28 runs
2015OxfordshireCumberlandEdenside, CarlisleCumberland won by 10 wickets
2016BerkshireLincolnshireSir Paul Getty's Ground, WormsleyBerkshire won by 28 runs
2017BerkshireLincolnshireBanbury Cricket Club Ground, BodicoteBerkshire won by 6 wickets
2018BerkshireLincolnshireBanbury Cricket Club Ground, BodicoteBerkshire won by an innings and 32 runs
2019BerkshireStaffordshireBanbury Cricket Club Ground, BodicoteBerkshire won by 1 wicket
2021OxfordshireSuffolkTring Park Cricket Club GroundOxfordshire won by 178 runs
2022BerkshireLincolnshireWest Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club Ground, West BromwichBerkshire won on first innings lead
2023BuckinghamshireDevonWest Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club Ground, West BromwichBuckinghamshire won by 550 runs

Performance by county
  • Bold denotes the current 20 National Counties.
Club Titles National Counties Championship-winning seasons
Staffordshire 12 + 1 shared 1906, 1908, 1911, 1912 (shared), 1914, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2014
Buckinghamshire 10 + 1 shared 1899 (shared), 1922, 1923, 1925, 1932, 1938, 1952, 1969, 1987, 2009, 2023
Berkshire 9 1924, 1928, 1953, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
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 6 1933, 1947, 1957, 1958, 1968, 1971
Norfolk 3 + 3 shared 1895 (shared), 1905, 1910, 1912 (shared), 1913, 2002 (shared)
Oxfordshire 5 1929, 1974, 1982, 1989, 2021
Hertfordshire 4 1936, 1975, 1983, 1990
Surrey II 4 1939, 1950, 1954, 1955
Suffolk 3 + 1 shared 1946, 1977, 1979, 2005 (shared)
Worcestershire 3 + 1 shared 1895 (shared), 1896, 1897, 1898
Northamptonshire 2 + 2 shared 1899 (shared), 1900 (shared), 1903, 1904
Cumberland 3 1986, 1999, 2015
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

References
  1. "A brief history of Worcestershire". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  2. "Lincolnshire CCC reveal plans following the cancellation of National Counties campaign". Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
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