1998 County Championship

1998 County Championship
Cricket formatFirst-class cricket
Tournament formatLeague system
ChampionsLeicestershire

The 1998 Britannic Assurance County Championship was the 99th officially organised running of the County Championship. Leicestershire won the title,[1][2] and were the first undefeated Champion since Hampshire in 1973.[3]

The Championship was sponsored by Britannic Assurance for the fifteenth and last time.[4]

Table

  • 16 points for a win
  • 8 points to each team for a tie
  • 8 points to team still batting in a match in which scores finish level
  • 3 points for a draw
  • Bonus points awarded in first 120 overs of first innings
    • Batting:
      • 200 runs – 1 point
      • 250 runs – 2 points
      • 300 runs – 3 points
      • 350 runs – 4 points
    • Bowling:
      • 3 or 4 wickets – 1 point,
      • 5 or 6 wickets – 2 points
      • 7 or 8 wickets – 3 points
      • 9 or 10 wickets – 4 points
  • No bonus points awarded in a match starting with less than 8 hours' play remaining. A one-innings match is played, with the winner gaining 12 points.
  • Position determined by points gained.
    • If equal, then decided by the following tiebreakers in order:[5]
  1. Most wins
  2. Fewest losses
  3. Most points in head-to-head contests
  4. Most wickets taken over whole season
  5. Most runs scored over whole season
County Championship table
Team Pld Won Lost Drawn Batting bonus Bowling bonus Points
1 Leicestershire1711064751292
2 Lancashire1711153056277
3 Yorkshire179354763269
4 Gloucestershire1711512365267
5 Surrey1710523857261
6 Hampshire176562761202
7 Sussex176743063201
8 Warwickshire176833560200
9 Somerset176743054192
10 Derbyshire176742855191
11 Kent175571859178
12[i] Glamorgan174673655176
13[i] Worcestershire174673259176
14 Durham173953065158
15 Northamptonshire174583152146[ii]
16 Nottinghamshire1731042060140
17 Middlesex172962852130
18 Essex1721141658118

Notable events

  • May 23–24: Northamptonshire's second innings total of 712 against Glamorgan at Northampton was the highest second-innings total in English first-class cricket, surpassing Cambridge University's 703 for 9 against Sussex in 1890.[6]
    • Malachy Loye's 322 during this innings was the highest innings played by any batsman during a second innings in English first-class cricket, surpassing Emrys Davies' 287 for Glamorgan against Gloucestershire in 1939.
  • June 21: Andrew Flintoff of Lancashire takes 38 runs[iii] off an over by Surrey's Alex Tudor, breaking the English first-class record of 36 by Garfield Sobers from 1968.[7]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Glamorgan finished ahead of Worcestershire by virtue of having taken more wickets over the whole season.[5]
  2. ↑ Northamptonshire lost 25 points for preparing a pitch deemed unsuitable for first-class cricket
  3. ↑ This includes four runs for two no-balls

References

  1. ↑ Engel, Matthew, ed. (2004). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (141st ed.). John Wisden & Company Ltd. pp. 493–494. ISBN 0-947766-83-9.
  2. ↑ Lee, Alan (21 September 1998). "Leicestershire united in triumph". The Times. London.
  3. ↑ Engel, Matthew, ed. (1998). "Leicestershire in 1998". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (136th ed.). p. 559.
  4. ↑ "That's out: the sponsors who walked". The Guardian. 20 August 1999. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  5. 1 2 Engel, Matthew, ed. (1999). "Brittanic Assurance County Championship, 1998". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (136th ed.). pp. 436–438.
  6. ↑ Engel, Matthew, ed. (1999). "Northamptonshire in 1998". Wisden Cricketer's Almanack (136th ed.). pp. 593–594.
  7. ↑ Engel, Matthew, ed. (1999). "Lancashire in 1998". Wisden Cricketer's Almanack (136th ed.). p. 553.
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