The 1897 Minor Counties Championship was the third running of the Minor Counties Cricket Championship, and ran from 7 June to 28 August 1897. Having been unbeaten for the entire season, Worcestershire won their second consecutive outright title, having also shared the title in 1895. Staffordshire were level in the table with Worcestershire, but played an insufficient number of matches to be considered co-champions. Sixteen teams competed in the championship, with Cornwall, Dorset and Monmouthshire all competing for the first time, though none of them played the minimum of eight matches.
The leading run-scorer, Arthur Croome of Berkshire, also had the highest individual score of the season, 158 against Hertfordshire. The leading wicket-taker for the second consecutive season, Buckinghamshire's George Nash, took three ten wicket match hauls, including 16/74 against Oxfordshire.
Table One point was awarded for a win, and one point was taken away for each loss. Final placings were decided by dividing the number of points earned by the number of completed matches (i.e. those that ended in a win or a loss), and multiplying by 100. TeamPldWLDPtsFin%FinWorcestershire1070377100.00Staffordshire 210111100.00Glamorgan84133560.00Durham83142450.00Buckinghamshire85213742.86Wiltshire105233742.86Norfolk84222633.33Northumberland8224040.00Berkshire10343—17—14.29Northamptonshire8125—13—33.33Hertfordshire8152—46—66.67Oxfordshire 6150—46—66.67Cambridgeshire 6051—55—100.00Cornwall 2020—22—100.00Dorset 2011—11—100.00Monmouthshire 4031—33—100.00Source: CricketArchive
Notes denotes the Champion team(s). denotes a team that failed to play the minimum of eight matches. These teams are sometimes omitted from the table altogether.
Averages Most runs Aggregate Average Player County 431 25.35 Arthur Croome Berkshire 430 35.83 Richard Lowe Glamorgan 415 37.72 George Simpson Northumberland 411 34.25 Ted Arnold Worcestershire 396 24.75 Leopold Collins BerkshireSource: Most wickets Aggregate Average Player County 62 14.62 George Nash Buckinghamshire 61 10.57 Ted Arnold Worcestershire 57 11.73 George Thompson Northamptonshire 55 11.18 Mat Wright Buckinghamshire 54 10.75 Albert Bird WorcestershireSource:
References
External links Minor Counties Championship 1897 at CricketArchive