History

Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of 20 minor county cricket clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. The team plays in the NCCA Championship, NCCA Knockout Trophy and NCCA Twenty20 Cup.

Honours

Minor Counties Championship (13): 1906, 1908, 1911,1912*,1914, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998 & 2014 (*1912 Shared with Norfolk)

MCCA Knockout Trophy (2): 1991 & 1993 (runners-up in 1992, 2009 & 2016)

NCCA Twenty20 Cup (1): 2023

Origin of county club

The earliest known reference to cricket being played in Staffordshire is as late as 1817.

The present Staffordshire county club was founded on 24 November 1871 and took part in the first Minor Counties Championship in 1895. It then lapsed for four years as it could not arrange sufficient fixtures, but has been a member continuously since 1900.

County club history

Staffordshire has won the Minor Counties Championship 13 times, more than any other county. It won the title outright in 1906, 1908, 1911, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998 and 2014.

The 1912 title is shared with Norfolk as the title challenge match was not played.

Staffordshire’s years of great success before and after the First World War were in part due to the great bowler, Sydney Barnes, who played for the county from 1904 to 1914 and from 1924 to 1934 (when he was 61). He took 1,441 wickets at an average of 8.15 runs each. Barnes was not playing for the county in 1920 or 1921, two of Staffordshire’s title-winning seasons. The leading player then was Aaron Lockett. The most recent title in 2014 was won after a play-off final against the Western Division league leaders, Wiltshire, at the South Wilts Sports Club ground in Salisbury. Staffordshire had a chance to add to their title successes but they lost an enthralling final to Berkshire by one wicket at Banbury in 2019.

Staffordshire have also won the MCCA Knockout Trophy twice (1991 and 1993) since its inception in 1983.