The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It became an official title in 1890. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and representing historic counties, seventeen from England and one from Wales.
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play matches at other grounds around the county. Lancashire was a founder member of the County Championship in 1890 and have won the competition nine times. Lancashire have won 26 major honours in its history. The club's limited overs team is called Lancashire Lightning.
The 2005 English cricket season was the 106th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Before it began, a resurgent England cricket team had won four Test series in a row, going unbeaten through the 2004 calendar year. The start of the international season saw England defeat Bangladesh 2–0 in their two-match series, winning both Tests by an innings. This was followed by a tri-nations one-day tournament that also featured Australia. Australia still started the Test series as favourites but most fans expected England to put up a challenge.
The 2006 English cricket season was the 107th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. It included home international series for England against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. England came off a winter with more Test losses than wins, for the first time since 2002-03, but still attained their best series result in India since 1985. The One Day International series against Pakistan and India both ended in losses.
1901 was the 12th season of County Championship cricket in England. Yorkshire defended their title but, unlike the previous year when they were unbeaten, they lost one game during the season to 12th-placed Somerset.
1903 was the 14th season of County Championship cricket in England. Middlesex won their first title, winning eight and losing one of their 18 games. Yorkshire, the defending champions, finished third after losing five games. Yorkshire was the only team to defeat Middlesex – at Headingley in August, Yorkshire bowled Middlesex out for 79 in the first innings, and recorded a 230-run win.
1904 was the 15th season of County Championship cricket in England. Lancashire went through the season unbeaten and clinched the Championship title. Lancashire drew ten games, but their 16 wins were still more than any other team could muster. Defending champions Middlesex fell to fourth place, losing two successive matches to Kent and Nottinghamshire in June to have a negative percentage five games into the season. They did eventually win nine games, though, which was enough to take them past everyone bar Yorkshire and Kent. Yorkshire were two losses from sharing the Championship with Lancashire, and drew with the Champions on both occasions; despite Lancashire following on in their match at Headingley, Johnny Tyldesley made an unbeaten century from number three to draw the game. However, even a win in this match could not have given Yorkshire the title.
1919 was the 26th season of County Championship cricket in England and the first since 1914. The authorities had doubted if cricket would remain popular after a four-year break and the strain of war. It was decided that County Championship matches should be reduced from three days' duration to two, but cricket had not lost its popularity and the two-day experiment was a failure. Yorkshire finished the season as champions, topping the table by four percentage points. No Test cricket was played but an Australian Imperial Forces team toured England, playing matches from mid-May until mid-September. Andy Ducat, Patsy Hendren, Percy Holmes, Herbert Sutcliffe and Ernest Tyldesley were named in the 1920 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack as the Five Cricketers of the Year for their 1919 performances.
The 1896 County Championship was the seventh officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 4 May to 31 August 1896. Yorkshire County Cricket Club claimed victory that year, winning 16 of their 26 matches and losing only three. Five of Yorkshire's players made over 1,000 runs in the season, including John Brown who was placed third nationally, while Yorkshireman Bobby Peel was sixth highest wicket taker and Schofield Haigh held one of the leading bowling averages. Although Yorkshire had a crop of players accruing these statistics, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji of Sussex took the plaudits for the most runs that year, 1,698, at the highest average, 58.55, while Surrey's Tom Richardson took the most wickets – 191, and William Attewell of Nottinghamshire returned the best average – 14.63 for his 87 wickets.
The 1898 County Championship was the ninth officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 9 May to 3 September 1898. Yorkshire County Cricket Club won their third championship title, with Middlesex finishing as runners-up for the first time.
The 1900 County Championship was the 11th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 7 May to 1 September 1900. Yorkshire County Cricket Club won their fourth championship title, remaining unbeaten throughout the season. Lancashire finished as runners-up, their best position since winning the Championship in 1897.
The 1901 County Championship was the 12th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 6 May to 4 September 1901. Yorkshire County Cricket Club won their fifth championship title, their second title in successive seasons. Middlesex finished in a distant second place.
The 1902 County Championship was the 13th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 1 May to 6 September 1902. Yorkshire County Cricket Club won their sixth championship title, their third title in successive seasons. Sussex finished in second place, their best placing yet.
The 1903 County Championship was the 14th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 4 May to 3 September 1903. Middlesex won their first championship title, ending Yorkshire's run of three successive titles. Sussex finished in second place for the second successive season.
The 1905 County Championship was the 16th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 4 May to 4 September 1905. Yorkshire won their seventh championship title, while the previous season's winners, Lancashire, finished in fourth place. The number of participants was expanded from fifteen to sixteen, with Northamptonshire gaining first-class status, having previously played with some success in the Minor Counties Championship.
The 1906 County Championship was the 17th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 3 May to 30 August 1906. Kent won its first championship title, while the previous season's winners, Yorkshire, finished in second place.
The 1907 County Championship was the 18th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 2 May to 2 September 1907. Nottinghamshire won its first championship title, while Worcestershire and Yorkshire tied for second place. The previous season's winners, Kent, finished in eighth place.
The 1908 County Championship was the 19th officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 4 May to 31 August 1908. Yorkshire won their eighth championship title, while Kent finished in second place. The previous season's winners, Nottinghamshire, finished in eighth place. In May, Yorkshire bowled out Northamptonshire for 27 and 14, the lowest aggregate in first-class cricket at that point.
The 1909 County Championship was the 20th officially organised running of the County Championship. The season ran from 3 May to 30 August 1909. Kent won their second championship title, while Lancashire finished in second place. The previous season's winners, Yorkshire, finished third.
The 2013 County Championship season, known as the LV= County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the 114th cricket County Championship season. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the others in their division both home and away. Durham were County Champions for the third time in six seasons. The top two teams from Division Two, Lancashire and Northamptonshire, gained promotion to the first division for the 2014 season, while the bottom two sides from Division One—Derbyshire and Surrey—were relegated to Division Two for 2014.
