| Previous Year: | 1896 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1896 English cricket season |
| Next Year: | 1898 |
| Next Tournament: | 1898 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.
See main article: 1897 County Championship.
| 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 | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 21 | 61.90 | ||
| 3 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 55.56 | ||
| 4 | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 44.44 | ||
| 5 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 16.67 | ||
| 6 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | −1 | 11 | −9.09 | ||
| 7 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | −1 | 7 | −14.29 | ||
| 7 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | −1 | 7 | −14.29 | ||
| 9 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | −3 | 11 | −27.27 | ||
| 10 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −3 | 7 | −42.86 | ||
| 11 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 4 | −6 | 12 | −50.00 | ||
| 12 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 6 | −8 | 12 | −66.67 | ||
| 13 | 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 | |
| 26 | 1833 | 50.91 | 6 | 5 | |||
| 22 | 1431 | 43.36 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 25 | 1372 | 39.20 | 5 | 4 | |||
| 26 | 1328 | 34.05 | 2 | 8 | |||
| 19 | 1318 | 42.51 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 1897 English cricket season – leading batsmen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| 32 | 2099 | 44.65 | 6 | 7 | ||
| 26 | 1940 | 45.11 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 29 | 1809 | 42.06 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 26 | 1626 | 36.95 | 3 | 12 | ||
| 32 | 1612 | 35.82 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1897 English cricket season – leading bowlers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Balls bowled | Wickets taken | Average |
| 30 | 8019 | 273 | 14.45 | ||
| 26 | 8113 | 173 | 17.72 | ||
| 28 | 6465 | 155 | 16.51 | ||
| 26 | 5703 | 129 | 21.66 | ||
| Lancashire, North of England | 29 | 5609 | 120 | 16.45 | |