The competition began in 1895, with the Worcestershire honorary secretary Paul Foley being influential in its creation.
Four clubs which used to play in the Minor Counties Championship have been granted first-class status – Worcestershire in 1899; Northamptonshire in 1905; Glamorgan in 1921 and Durham in 1992.
The team with the highest average won the championship, except in a year when the top two counties had not played each other.
In this case the second-placed team in the table had the right to challenge the leaders to a match to decide the championship.
The second-placed team had to win this Challenge Match to take the title, with the league leaders being declared champions if they won or the game was drawn.