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.
| County Championship 1897 – Final Standings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | L | D | Pts | GC1 | 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 | |
Points system:
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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, Marylebone Cricket Club (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 |
| 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 | Marylebone Cricket Club (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 |