The 1890 County Championship marked the start of official league cricket in England. Following a meeting at Lord's in December 1889, eight teams committed to a formal competition to decide the champion county. Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex, and Yorkshire made up the inaugural field of participants.
The format relied on a simple points system to rank the eight clubs. Teams earned one point for every victory and lost one point for every defeat, while drawn games resulted in zero points. Over the course of 54 matches played between May and August, this system determined the overall standings.
Surrey secured the title of first official County Champions. They finished the season with a strong record, winning nine of their fourteen matches. This victory served as a formal recognition of their status after they had been unofficially labelled the top county in previous years.
Individual performances shaped the season as much as team results. Arthur Shrewsbury of Nottinghamshire topped the run charts, finishing the summer with 1,082 runs. George Lohmann led the bowling figures for the champions, Surrey, by claiming 113 wickets across the tournament.
| Team | Pld | W | T | L | D | Pts |
| Surrey | 14 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Lancashire | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Kent | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Yorkshire | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Nottinghamshire | 14 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Gloucestershire | 14 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 3 | -1 |
| Middlesex | 12 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | -5 |
| Sussex | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | -10 |
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