| Cricket Format: | 2 days |
| Tournament Format: | League system |
| Champions: | Worcestershire |
| Count: | 2 |
| Participants: | 16 |
| Matches: | 54 |
| Most Runs: | Arthur Croome (431 for Berkshire) |
| Most Wickets: | (62 for Buckinghamshire) |
| Previous Year: | 1896 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1896 Minor Counties Championship |
| Next Year: | 1898 |
| Next Tournament: | 1898 Minor Counties Championship |
The 1897 Minor Counties Championship was the third running of the Minor Counties Cricket Championship, and ran from 7 June to 28 August 1897. Having been unbeaten for the entire season, Worcestershire won their second consecutive outright title,[1] having also shared the title in 1895.[2] Staffordshire were level in the table with Worcestershire, but played an insufficient number of matches to be considered co-champions.[1] Sixteen teams competed in the championship, with Cornwall, Dorset and Monmouthshire all competing for the first time, though none of them played the minimum of eight matches.
The leading run-scorer, Arthur Croome of Berkshire,[3] also had the highest individual score of the season, 158 against Hertfordshire.[4] The leading wicket-taker for the second consecutive season, Buckinghamshire's George Nash,[5] took three ten wicket match hauls, including 16/74 against Oxfordshire.[6]
| width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Draw" | D | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts | width=20 abbr="Finished matches" | Fin | %Fin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcestershire | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 100.00 | |||||||
| Staffordshire | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | |||||||
| Glamorgan | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 60.00 | |||||||
| Durham | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 50.00 | |||||||
| Buckinghamshire | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 42.86 | |||||||
| Wiltshire | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 42.86 | |||||||
| Norfolk | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 33.33 | |||||||
| Northumberland | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | |||||||
| Berkshire | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | —1 | 7 | —14.29 | |||||||
| Northamptonshire | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | —1 | 3 | —33.33 | |||||||
| Hertfordshire | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | —4 | 6 | —66.67 | |||||||
| Oxfordshire | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | —4 | 6 | —66.67 | |||||||
| Cambridgeshire | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | —5 | 5 | —100.00 | |||||||
| Cornwall | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | —2 | 2 | —100.00 | |||||||
| Dorset | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | —1 | 1 | —100.00 | |||||||
| Monmouthshire | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | —3 | 3 | —100.00 | |||||||
| Source: CricketArchive |