The 1905 County Championship marked the 16th edition of the competition. The tournament ran from May 4 to September 4 and featured 16 teams playing first-class cricket matches scheduled for three days each. Northamptonshire joined the fold for this season, gaining first-class status after success in the Minor Counties Championship.
Yorkshire secured their seventh championship title during this campaign. The league system used a specific points formula to determine the winner. Teams earned one point for a win and lost one point for every defeat. The final standings relied on the percentage of points earned from completed matches, meaning tied games did not factor into the final calculation.
Individual performers dominated the season alongside the team success. Yorkshire batter David Denton led the run-scoring charts, finishing with 1,963 runs. On the bowling side, Surrey player Walter Lees proved the most effective, taking 169 wickets throughout the summer.
| Team | Pld | W | T | L | D | A | Pts | Fin | %Fin |
| Yorkshire | 28 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 21 | 71.42 |
| Lancashire | 26 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 15 | 60.00 |
| Sussex | 28 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 17 | 52.94 |
| Surrey | 28 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 20 | 40.00 |
| Leicestershire | 22 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 23.07 |
| Kent | 22 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 17.64 |
| Warwickshire | 22 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 11.11 |
| Gloucestershire | 18 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.00 |
| Worcestershire | 18 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.00 |
| Nottinghamshire | 20 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | –1 | 13 | –7.69 |
| Middlesex | 18 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | –3 | 11 | –27.27 |
| Essex | 20 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | –7 | 13 | –53.84 |
| Northamptonshire | 12 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | –6 | 10 | –60.00 |
| Derbyshire | 20 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | –11 | 17 | –64.70 |
| Somerset | 18 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | –9 | 11 | –81.81 |
| Hampshire | 20 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 7 | 0 | –11 | 13 | –84.61 |
| Source: |
Squad lists and statistics via Wikipedia