| Previous Year: | 1900 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1900 English cricket season |
| Next Year: | 1902 |
| Next Tournament: | 1902 English cricket season |
1901 was the 12th season of County Championship cricket in England. Yorkshire defended their title but, unlike the previous year when they were unbeaten, they lost one game during the season to 12th-placed Somerset.
Middlesex finished second, winning six of their eight finished games, but had the highest percentage of draws of anyone save Essex. Once again, Ranjitsinhji scored more than 2,000 runs for Sussex and, with 2,000 runs from C. B. Fry as well, the team finished fourth in the table behind third-placed Lancashire, whose England Test batsman Johnny Tyldesley scored 2,605 runs.
See main article: South African cricket team in England in 1901. South Africa made its second tour of England in 1901, following the inaugural tour in 1894. This time, the team played first-class cricket, mainly against county opposition, but no Test matches.
South Africa played 15 first-class games with 5 wins, 9 defeats and 1 tied match. Their overall record was 25 matches, 13 wins, 9 defeats, 2 draws and 1 tied match.
See main article: 1901 County Championship.
The final County Championship table is shown below. One point was awarded for a win, none for a draw, and minus one for a loss. Positions were decided on percentage of points over completed games.
| County Championship 1901 - Final Standings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | L | D | A | Pts | GC1 | Pts/GC (as %) | |
| 1 | 28 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 21 | 90.48 | |
| 2 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 50.00 | |
| 3 | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 37.50 | |
| 4 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 33.33 | |
| 5 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 27.27 | |
| 6 | 28 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7.69 | |
| =7 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.00 | |
| =7 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0.00 | |
| 9 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 1 | -1 | 11 | -9.09 | |
| 10 | 22 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 1 | -1 | 9 | -11.11 | |
| 11 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 1 | -3 | 17 | -17.65 | |
| =12 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 1 | -6 | 14 | -42.86 | |
| =12 | 18 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 1 | -6 | 14 | -42.86 | |
| 14 | 24 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 0 | -7 | 13 | -53.85 | |
| 15 | 20 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | -13 | 13 | -100.00 | |
Points system:
| 1901 County Championship - leading batsmen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s | |
| 28 | 2605 | 60.58 | 8 | 13 | |||
| 23 | 2382 | 74.43 | 9 | 10 | |||
| 27 | 2264 | 50.31 | 5 | 14 | |||
| 21 | 2067 | 76.55 | 7 | 8 | |||
| 25 | 2039 | 58.25 | 2 | 17 | |||
| 1901 County Championship - leading bowlers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Matches | Balls bowled | Wickets taken | Average | |
| 27 | 6934 | 196 | 13.59 | |||
| 27 | 5093 | 135 | 16.75 | |||
| 24 | 6055 | 126 | 20.00 | |||
| 22 | 5700 | 118 | 22.56 | |||
| 18 | 5460 | 115 | 23.25 | |||
| 24 | 5726 | 115 | 23.65 | |||
| 1901 English cricket season - leading batsmen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s | |
| 38 | 3309 | 55.15 | 7 | 21 | |||
| 29 | 3147 | 78.67 | 13 | 10 | |||
| England, Lancashire, Players, Under 30s | 35 | 3041 | 55.29 | 9 | 14 | ||
| 36 | 2535 | 50.70 | 2 | 21 | |||
| 27 | 2468 | 70.51 | 8 | 10 | |||
| 1901 English cricket season - leading bowlers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Balls bowled | Wickets taken | Average |
| 37 | 9391 | 251 | 15.12 | ||
| 36 | 6813 | 183 | 16.38 | ||
| 29 | 7735 | 176 | 21.78 | ||
| 32 | 7762 | 159 | 23.25 | ||
| 27 | 6814 | 142 | 19.50 | ||