1997 Women's County Championship

The 1997 Women's County One-Day Championship was the inaugural cricket Women's County Championship season, succeeding the Women's Area Championship. It took place in July and saw 7 county teams, 3 county Second XIs and 6 regional teams compete in a series of divisions. Yorkshire Women won the title, topping Division 1 unbeaten.

1997 Women's County Championship
Administrator(s)Women's Cricket Association
Cricket format50 over
Tournament format(s)League system
ChampionsYorkshire (1st title)
Participants16
Most runsJane Smit (429)
Most wicketsHelen Pack (11)
1998

Competition format

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Teams played matches within a series of divisions with the winners of the top division being crowned County Champions. Matches were played using a one day format with 50 overs per side.

The championship works on a points system with positions within the divisions being based on the total points. Points were awarded as follows:[1]

Win: 12 points.
Tie: 6 points.
Loss: Bonus points.
No Result: 11 points.
Abandoned: 11 points.

Up to five batting and five bowling points per side were also available.

Teams

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The 1997 Championship consisted of 16 teams, with Divisions One and Two consisting of six teams apiece and Division Three with four teams. Teams played each other once.

Division One East Anglia Kent Surrey West Midlands West of England Yorkshire
Division Two East Midlands Lancashire and Cheshire Middlesex Thames Valley Sussex Yorkshire Second XI
Division Three Derbyshire Hampshire Surrey Second XI Sussex Second XI

Qualifier

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5 July 1997 (1997-07-05)
Scorecard
Surrey Second XI
76 (47.1 overs)
v
Yorkshire Second XI
85 (47.2 overs)
Enid Bakewell 19 (89)
Joanne de Tute 5/19 (9 overs)
Alison Elder 26 (77)
Enid Bakewell 3/11 (10 overs)
Yorkshire Second XI won by 9 runs
Queens' and Robinson College Grounds, Cambridge
Umpires: Alan Fox and John Hayes
  • Surrey Second XI won the toss and elected to field.
  • Yorkshire Second XI to compete in Division Two.

Division One

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Team Pld W L T A Bat Bowl Ded Pts
Yorkshire (C) 5 5 0 0 0 21 20 0 101
West Midlands 5 3 2 0 0 15 17.5 0 68.5
Surrey 5 3 2 0 0 19 12 0 67
West of England 5 2 3 0 0 17 12 0 53
Kent 5 1 4 0 0 16.5 15 0 43.5
East Anglia (R) 5 1 4 0 0 17 5 0 34

Source: Cricket Archive[2]

Division Two

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Team Pld W L T A Bat Bowl Ded Pts
Thames Valley (P) 5 4 1 0 0 19 16.5 0 83.5
Lancashire and Cheshire 5 3 2 0 0 18.5 20.5 0 75
East Midlands 5 3 2 0 0 20 15.5 0 71.5
Yorkshire Second XI 5 3 2 0 0 15.5 17 0 68.5
Middlesex 5 1 4 0 0 16 10 0 38
Sussex 5 1 4 0 0 12 13 0 37

Source: Cricket Archive[2]

Division Three

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Team Pld W L T A Bat Bowl Ded Pts
Derbyshire (P) 3 3 0 0 0 11 10.5 0 57.5
Surrey Second XI 3 2 1 0 0 10.5 10.5 0 45
Hampshire 3 1 2 0 0 8 8.5 0 28.5
Sussex Second XI 3 0 3 0 0 6.5 2.5 0 9

Source: Cricket Archive[2]

Statistics

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Most runs

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Player Team Matches Innings Runs Average HS 100s 50s
Jane Smit East Midlands 5 5 429 143.00 136 2 2
Ruth Lupton Surrey 5 5 296 74.00 151* 1 1
Claire Taylor Thames Valley 5 5 296 98.66 97 0 3
Lucy McGrother Lancashire and Cheshire 5 5 276 69.00 95* 0 2
Mandy Freeman Surrey 5 5 226 45.20 104 1 1

Source: CricketArchive[3]

Most wickets

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Player Team Balls Wickets Average BBI 5w
Helen Pack West Midlands 300 11 9.18 4/21 0
Amanda Beehag Surrey Second XI 101 9 6.44 6/12 1
Debra Stock Thames Valley 281 9 12.77 4/14 0
Allyson Byrne Lancashire and Cheshire 240 9 16.11 3/23 0
Karen Smithies East Midlands 227 8 10.25 6/15 1

Source: CricketArchive[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Women's County Championship 1997 Tables". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Women's County Championship 1997 Tables, Cricket Archive.
  3. ^ "Batting and Fielding in Women's County Championship 1997 (Ordered by Runs)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Bowling in Women's County Championship 1997 (Ordered by Wickets)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 20 March 2021.