1998 County Championship

1998 County Championship
Dates	17 April – 20 September 1998
Administrator	England and Wales Cricket Board
Cricket format	First-class cricket
Tournament format	League system
Champions	Leicestershire (3rd title)
Participants	18
Matches	153
Most runs	John Crawley, (Lancashire); 1,681
Most wickets	Courtney Walsh, (Gloucestershire); 106
	← 1997 1999 →

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

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

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:

Most wins
Fewest losses
Most points in head-to-head contests
Most wickets taken over whole season
Most runs scored over whole season

	Team	P	W	L	D	Bat	Bowl	Pts
1	Leicestershire	17	11	0	6	47	51	292
2	Lancashire	17	11	1	5	30	56	277
3	Yorkshire	17	9	3	5	47	63	269
4	Gloucestershire	17	11	5	1	23	65	267
5	Surrey	17	10	5	2	38	57	261
6	Hampshire	17	6	5	6	27	61	202
7	Sussex	17	6	7	4	30	63	201
8	Warwickshire	17	6	8	3	35	60	200
9	Somerset	17	6	7	4	30	54	192
10	Derbyshire	17	6	7	4	28	55	191
11	Kent	17	5	5	7	18	59	178
12	Glamorgan	17	4	6	7	36	55	176
13	Worcestershire	17	4	6	7	32	59	176
14	Durham	17	3	9	5	30	65	158
15	Northamptonshire	17	4	5	8	31	52	146
16	Nottinghamshire	17	3	10	4	20	60	140
17	Middlesex	17	2	9	6	28	52	130
18	Essex	17	2	11	4	16	58	118

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.
- 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 off an over by Surrey's Alex Tudor, breaking the English first-class record of 36 by Garfield Sobers from 1968.

Notes

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

References

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

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[morewickets-6] 1 2 Glamorgan finished ahead of Worcestershire by virtue of having taken more wickets over the whole season.

[7] Northamptonshire lost 25 points for preparing a pitch deemed unsuitable for first-class cricket

[9] This includes four runs for two no-balls

[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.

[Brittanic-5] 1 2 Engel, Matthew, ed. (1999). "Brittanic Assurance County Championship, 1998". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (136th ed.). pp. 436–438.

[8] Engel, Matthew, ed. (1999). "Northamptonshire in 1998". Wisden Cricketer's Almanack (136th ed.). pp. 593–594.

[10] Engel, Matthew, ed. (1999). "Lancashire in 1998". Wisden Cricketer's Almanack (136th ed.). p. 553.

v t e 1998 English cricket season
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County cricket in 1998	Derbyshire Durham Essex Glamorgan Gloucestershire Hampshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Middlesex Northamptonshire Nottinghamshire Somerset Surrey Sussex Warwickshire Worcestershire Yorkshire