# 1897 English cricket season

1897 was the eighth season of County Championship cricket in England. Lancashire won the championship for the first time, thanks mainly to only three losses in twenty-six matches. Surrey won more games, and beat Lancashire twice, but one more loss than Lancashire meant that they would have to be content with second place. They could have taken the championship if they had beaten Sussex in the last game at Hove but, after gaining a five-run lead on first innings, Surrey let Billy Murdoch, C. B. Fry and George Bean make half-centuries, and rain spoiled their chances of winning on the final day. At the bottom of the table, Derbyshire suffered a run of 16 matches without victory to finish last in the table and, with the end of the 1896 season having yielded three matches without a win, Derbyshire's streak ran to 19 matches without a win.

## Honours

* County Championship – Lancashire
* Minor Counties Championship – Worcestershire
* Wisden – Frederick Bull, Willis Cuttell, Frank Druce, Gilbert Jessop, Jack Mason

## County Championship
### Final table

County Championship 1897 – Final Standings :
| | Team | P | W | L | D | Pts | GC$^1$ | Pts/GC (as %) |
| 1 | Lancashire | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 68.42 |
| 2 | Surrey | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 21 | 61.90 |
| 3 | Essex | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 55.56 |
| 4 | Yorkshire | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 44.44 |
| 5 | Gloucestershire | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 16.67 |
| 6 | Sussex | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | −1 | 11 | −9.09 |
| 7 | Middlesex | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | −1 | 7 | −14.29 |
| 7 | Warwickshire | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | −1 | 7 | −14.29 |
| 9 | Hampshire | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | −3 | 11 | −27.27 |
| 10 | Nottinghamshire | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −3 | 7 | −42.86 |
| 11 | Somerset | 16 | 3 | 9 | 4 | −6 | 12 | −50.00 |
| 12 | Kent | 18 | 2 | 10 | 6 | −8 | 12 | −66.67 |
| 13 | Leicestershire | 14 | 1 | 10 | 3 | −9 | 11 | −81.82 |
| 14 | Derbyshire | 16 | 0 | 9 | 7 | −9 | 9 | −100.00 |
* $^1$ Games completed
Points system:
* 1 for a win
* 0 for a draw, a tie or an abandoned match
* -1 for a loss

### Most runs in the County Championship

1897 County Championship – leading batsmen :
| Name | Team | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| Bobby Abel | Surrey | 26 | 1833 | 50.91 | 6 | 5 |
| Jack Brown | Yorkshire | 22 | 1431 | 43.36 | 3 | 6 |
| Ted Wainwright | Yorkshire | 25 | 1372 | 39.20 | 5 | 4 |
| David Denton | Yorkshire | 26 | 1328 | 34.05 | 2 | 8 |
| Ranjitsinhji | Sussex | 19 | 1318 | 42.51 | 3 | 6 |

### Most wickets in the County Championship

1897 County Championship – leading bowlers :
| Name | Team | Matches | Balls bowled | Wickets taken | Average |
| Tom Richardson | Surrey | 26 | 6990 | 238 | 14.23 |
| Johnny Briggs | Lancashire | 26 | 5770 | 140 | 16.38 |
| Frederick Bull | Essex | 16 | 4365 | 109 | 20.38 |
| Willis Cuttell | Lancashire | 26 | 519 | 102 | 17.77 |
| John Hearne | Middlesex | 16 | 5333 | 102 | 18.52 |

## Overall first-class statistics
### Leading batsmen

1897 English cricket season – leading batsmen :
| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| Bobby Abel | Players, South of England, Surrey | 32 | 2099 | 44.65 | 6 | 7 |
| Ranjitsinhji | Gentlemen, MCC, Sussex | 26 | 1940 | 45.11 | 5 | 7 |
| Jack Brown | North of England, Players, Yorkshire | 29 | 1809 | 42.06 | 3 | 9 |
| George Brann | Gentlemen, South of England, Sussex | 26 | 1626 | 36.95 | 3 | 12 |
| Ted Wainwright | North of England, Players, Yorkshire | 32 | 1612 | 35.82 | 5 | 6 |

### Leading bowlers

1897 English cricket season – leading bowlers :
| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Balls bowled | Wickets taken | Average |
| Tom Richardson | Players, South of England, Surrey | 30 | 8019 | 273 | 14.45 |
| John Hearne | MCC, Middlesex, Players | 26 | 8113 | 173 | 17.72 |
| Johnny Briggs | Lancashire | 28 | 6465 | 155 | 16.51 |
| Cyril Bland | South of England, Sussex | 26 | 5703 | 129 | 21.66 |
| Willis Cuttell | Lancashire, North of England | 29 | 5609 | 120 | 16.45 |