The National Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the
National Counties in English cricket. At first it was known as the ''English Industrial Estates Cup'', before being called the ''Minor Counties Knock Out Competition'' from 1986 to 1987, the ''Holt Cup'' from 1988 to 1992, the ''MCC Trophy'' from 1993 to 1998, the ''ECB 38-County Cup'' from 1999 to 2002, the ''MCCA Knockout Trophy'' from 2003 to 2005. It has been called the ''MCCA Trophy'' since 2006 until its current rebranding in 2020.
From 1998 to 2002, the competition was contested by 38 teams and included a group stage. The traditional National counties, plus
Huntingdonshire and the "cricket boards" of the 18
first-class counties, as well as a
Channel Islands team. The 2002 competition, which was won by the
Warwickshire Cricket Board, remains the only time a non-National county has won the competition. This format was discontinued after 2002 and the competition is again a purely National counties affair.
The most successful county is
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
who have won the title seven times. They are also the current champions having won the last three editions of the competition, defeating
Cumbria in the last two finals.
List of winners
Wins by county
* 7 wins:
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
* 5 wins:
Devon,
Norfolk
* 4 wins:
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
* 2 wins:
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
,
Cambridgeshire,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
,
Herefordshire
* 1 win:
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
,
Durham,
Dorset,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
,
Bedfordshire,
Warwickshire Cricket Board,
Northumberland,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
,
Shropshire,
Cornwall
See also
*
National Counties Cricket Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...
*
Friends Provident Trophy – the now defunct one-day tournament for first-class counties, which the Minor counties were once permitted to take part in
References
External links
National Counties Cricket Association Official Site
{{minor counties
English domestic cricket competitions