The Women's Area Championship was a women's

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

competition organised by the

Women's Cricket Association The Women's Cricket Association (WCA) was responsible for the running of women's cricket in England between 1926 and 1998. It was formed by a group of enthusiasts following a cricket holiday in Malvern. Forty-nine games were arranged in that firs ...

that ran from 1980 until 1996. It operated as a 55-over

limited overs cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twent ...

competition, with teams organised into a number of groups, often with a final. It was replaced in 1997 by the

Women's County Championship The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup,county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

teams, county Second XIs, regional teams and Invitational XIs. The tournament was the first formalised women's cricket competition in England, with teams having previously only played one-off and friendly matches. Between 1988 and 1994, the competition was followed by the

Women's Territorial Tournament The Women's Territorial Tournament was a women's cricket competition organised by the Women's Cricket Association that ran from 1988 until 1994. It operated predominantly as a 55-over limited overs cricket competition, with 4 regional teams playi ...

, competed for by regional sides selected from the Area Championship teams.

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

were the most successful side in the history of the Area Championship, winning six titles, including all of the last five tournaments.

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area tradi ...

and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

won three titles apiece.

History

The inaugural Women's Area Championship took place in 1980, with 12 teams taking part in four regional groups.

beat West Midlands in the final to become the first Champions. The initial twelve teams became regular competitors over the course of the tournament, briefly joined by the WCA Invitational XI in 1986 and 1989, by A Woods' XI and BA Daniels' XI in 1990 and Surrey Second XI in the final two seasons. Since 1988, the tournament was dominated by two teams:

and

. They played each other in three finals, and overall Yorkshire achieved six titles and three runners-up places in this period, and East Midlands gained three titles and four runners-up places.

Structure

The Women's Area Championship went through a variety of formats throughout its existence. Initially, teams played in four regional groups, with the winners progressing to the semi-finals. Later on, teams played in two pools, with the winners proceeding to the final. In the final two seasons of the Championship, teams were organised into two divisions with promotion and relegation, with the winner of Division One being crowned the Champions: this format was carried forward into the

Women's County Championship The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup, The teams that played in the tournament were:

Winners

References

{{Women's County Cricket in England English domestic cricket competitions Women's cricket competitions in England Recurring sporting events established in 1980 1980 establishments in England Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1996 1996 disestablishments in England

History

Structure

Winners

See also

References