The Women's Area Championship was a women's cricket competition organised by the Women's Cricket Association that ran from 1980 until 1996. It operated as a 55-over limited overs cricket competition, with teams organised into a number of groups, often with a final. It was replaced in 1997 by the Women's County Championship.
The teams competing in the Championship were a variety of county teams, county Second XIs, regional teams and Invitational XIs. The tournament was the first formalised women's cricket competition in England, with teams having previously only played one-off and friendly matches. Between 1988 and 1994, the competition was followed by the Women's Territorial Tournament, competed for by regional sides selected from the Area Championship teams.
Yorkshire were the most successful side in the history of the Area Championship, winning six titles, including all of the last five tournaments. East Midlands and Middlesex won three titles apiece.
History The inaugural Women's Area Championship took place in 1980, with 12 teams taking part in four regional groups. Middlesex beat West Midlands in the final to become the first Champions. The initial twelve teams became regular competitors over the course of the tournament, briefly joined by the WCA Invitational XI in 1986 and 1989, by A Woods' XI and BA Daniels' XI in 1990, and by Surrey Second XI in the final two seasons. After 1988, the tournament was dominated by two teams: Yorkshire and East Midlands. They played each other in three finals, and overall Yorkshire achieved six titles and three runners-up places in this period, and East Midlands gained three titles and four runners-up places.
Structure The Women's Area Championship went through a variety of formats throughout its existence. Initially, teams played in four regional groups, with the winners progressing to the semi-finals. Later on, teams played in two pools, with the winners proceeding to the final. In the final two seasons of the Championship, teams were organised into two divisions with promotion and relegation, with the winner of Division One being crowned the Champions: this format was carried forward into the Women's County Championship. The teams that played in the tournament were:
Team First Last Titles Ref A Woods' XI 1990 1990 0 BA Daniels' XI 1990 1990 0 East Anglia 1980 1996 0 East Midlands 1980 1996 3 Kent 1980 1996 2 Kent Second XI 1985 1985 0 Lancashire and Cheshire 1980 1996 0 Middlesex 1980 1996 3 Surrey 1980 1996 0 Surrey Second XI 1994 1996 0 Sussex 1980 1996 0 Thames Valley 1980 1996 0 WCA Invitational XI 1986 1989 0 West 1980 1996 0 West Midlands 1980 1996 1 Yorkshire 1980 1996 6 Yorkshire Second XI 1980 1996 0
Winners
Season Winner Runner-up Ref 1980 Middlesex West Midlands 1981 Middlesex East Midlands 1982 West Midlands East Anglia 1983Not held 1984Not held 1985 Middlesex Kent 1986 Kent West 1987 Kent East Midlands 1988 Yorkshire Surrey 1989 East Midlands Surrey 1990 East Midlands Yorkshire 1991 East Midlands Yorkshire 1992 Yorkshire East Midlands 1993 Yorkshire East Midlands 1994 Yorkshire East Midlands 1995 Yorkshire East Midlands 1996 Yorkshire West Midlands
See also Women's County Championship Women's Territorial Tournament
Notes
References