The National Counties Cricket Championship or NCCA 3 Day Championship, formerly known as the Minor Counties Cricket Championship, is an annual season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the teams of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called National Counties (previously called the Minor Counties), county clubs that do not have first-class status.

The competition began in 1895; the honorary secretary of Worcestershire CCC, Paul Foley, was influential in its creation.

History The Minor Counties/National Counties Championship has been contested annually since 1895, apart from the two World War periods and a cancelled season in 2020 due to COVID-19. 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.

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. 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.

List of Minor Counties/National 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 Shared title - Staffordshire, - Norfolk 1913 Norfolk 1914 Staffordshire 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 Yorkshire II 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 2016 Berkshire 2017 Berkshire 2018 Berkshire 2019 Berkshire 2020 not contested 2021 Oxfordshire 2022 Berkshire 2023 Buckinghamshire 2024 shared title- Berkshire, - Staffordshire 2025 Buckinghamshire 2026 Devon

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. From 1999 the final was a three-day, two-innings match, with the match now a four-day, two-innings match.

Year Western Division Eastern Division Venue Result 1983 Buckinghamshire Hertfordshire New Road, Worcester Hertfordshire won by 2 wickets 1984 Cheshire Durham New Road, Worcester Durham won by 6 wickets 1985 Cheshire Suffolk New Road, Worcester Cheshire won by 58 runs 1986 Oxfordshire Cumberland New Road, Worcester Cumberland won by 2 wickets 1987 Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire New Road, Worcester Buckinghamshire won by losing fewer wickets 1988 Cheshire Cambridgeshire New Road, Worcester Cheshire won by 13 runs 1989 Oxfordshire Hertfordshire New Road, Worcester Oxfordshire won by 7 wickets 1990 Berkshire Hertfordshire Wardown Park, Luton Hertfordshire won by 7 wickets 1991 Oxfordshire Staffordshire Wardown Park, Luton Staffordshire won by 10 wickets 1992 Devon Staffordshire New Road, Worcester Staffordshire won by 79 runs 1993 Cheshire Staffordshire New Road, Worcester Staffordshire won by 5 wickets 1994 Devon Cambridgeshire New Road, Worcester Drawn (Devon won on 1st innings points) 1995 Devon Lincolnshire New Road, Worcester Devon won by 57 runs (single-innings match) 1996 Devon Norfolk The Maer Ground, Exmouth Devon by 168 runs 1997 Devon Bedfordshire Wardown Park, Luton Drawn (Devon won on faster scoring rate) 1998 Dorset Staffordshire Dean Park, Bournemouth Drawn (Staffordshire won on qualifying record) 1999 Dorset Cumberland Parkside Road, Kendal Cumberland won by 6 wickets 2000 Dorset Cumberland Kinson Park Road, Bournemouth Dorset won by 5 wickets 2001 Cheshire Lincolnshire Gorse Lane, Grantham Drawn (title shared) 2002 Herefordshire Norfolk Mortimer Park, Kingsland Drawn (title shared) 2003 Devon Lincolnshire Sports Ground, Cleethorpes Lincolnshire won by 8 wickets 2004 Devon Bedfordshire The Maer Ground, Exmouth Drawn (title shared) 2005 Cheshire Suffolk Ransomes and Reavell Sports Club Ground, Ipswich Drawn (title shared) 2006 Devon Buckinghamshire The Maer Ground, Exmouth Devon won by 180 runs 2007 Cheshire Northumberland Osborne Avenue, Jesmond Cheshire won by an innings and 4 runs 2008 Berkshire Lincolnshire Enborne Lodge, Newbury Berkshire won by 8 wickets 2009 Cheshire Buckinghamshire Upton Court Road, Slough Buckinghamshire won by 117 runs 2010 Dorset Lincolnshire Dean Park, Bournemouth Dorset won by 135 runs 2011 Devon Cambridgeshire The Avenue Sports Club Ground, March Devon won by 169 runs 2012 Cornwall Buckinghamshire Boscawen Park, Truro Cornwall won by 150 runs 2013 Cheshire Cambridgeshire Harecroft Road, Wisbech Cheshire won by 129 runs 2014 Wiltshire Staffordshire Salisbury and South Wiltshire Sports Club, Salisbury Staffordshire won by 28 runs 2015 Oxfordshire Cumberland Edenside, Carlisle Cumberland won by 10 wickets 2016 Berkshire Lincolnshire Sir Paul Getty's Ground, Wormsley Berkshire won by 28 runs 2017 Berkshire Lincolnshire Banbury Cricket Club Ground, Bodicote Berkshire won by 6 wickets 2018 Berkshire Lincolnshire Banbury Cricket Club Ground, Bodicote Berkshire won by an innings and 32 runs 2019 Berkshire Staffordshire Banbury Cricket Club Ground, Bodicote Berkshire won by 1 wicket 2020 Not contested, due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Oxfordshire Suffolk Tring Park Cricket Club Ground Oxfordshire won by 178 runs 2022 Berkshire Lincolnshire West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club Ground, West Bromwich Berkshire won on first innings lead 2023 Devon Buckinghamshire West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club Ground, West Bromwich Buckinghamshire won by 550 runs 2024 Berkshire Staffordshire West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club Ground, West Bromwich Drawn (title shared) 2025 Devon Buckinghamshire West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club Ground, West Bromwich Buckinghamshire won by 19 runs 2026 Devon Buckinghamshire West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club Ground, West Bromwich Devon won by 122 runs

Performance by county Bold denotes the current 20 National Counties. Club Titles National Counties Championship-winning seasons Staffordshire 1906, 1908, 1911, 1912 (shared), 1914, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2014, 2024 (shared) Buckinghamshire 1899 (shared), 1922, 1923, 1925, 1932, 1938, 1952, 1969, 1987, 2009, 2023, 2025Berkshire 1924, 1928, 1953, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024 (shared) Devon 1978, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004 (shared), 2006, 2011, 2026 Durham 1895 (shared), 1900 (shared), 1901, 1926, 1930, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1984 Lancashire II 1907, 1934, 1937, 1948, 1949, 1960, 1964 Cheshire 1967, 1985, 1988, 2001 (shared), 2005 (shared), 2007, 2013 Yorkshire II 1933, 1947, 1957, 1958, 1968, 1971 Norfolk 1895 (shared), 1905, 1910, 1912 (shared), 1913, 2002 (shared) Oxfordshire 1929, 1974, 1982, 1989, 2021 Hertfordshire 1936, 1975, 1983, 1990 Surrey II 1939, 1950, 1954, 1955 Suffolk 1946, 1977, 1979, 2005 (shared) Worcestershire 1895 (shared), 1896, 1897, 1898 Northamptonshire 1899 (shared), 1900 (shared), 1903, 1904 Cumberland 1986, 1999, 2015 Bedfordshire 1970, 1972 2004 (shared) Lincolnshire 1966, 2001 (shared), 2003 Dorset 2000, 2010 Kent II 1951, 1956 Somerset II 1961, 1965 Warwickshire II 1959, 1962 Wiltshire 1902, 1909 Cambridgeshire 1963 Cornwall 2012 Leicestershire II 1931 Middlesex II 1935 Shropshire 1973 Glamorgan 1900 (shared) Herefordshire 2002 (shared) Carmarthenshire Denbighshire Derbyshire II Essex II Glamorgan II Gloucestershire II Hampshire II Monmouthshire Northamptonshire II Northumberland Nottinghamshire II Sussex II Wales NCCC Worcestershire II

References

External links National Counties Cricket Association Official Site 'Minor Counties' to become the National Counties Cricket Association from 2020