1881 was the 95th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There was a first outright title win by Lancashire and a strike by the Nottinghamshire professionals, led by their main bowler Alfred Shaw, over benefits and terms. [1]
| County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derbyshire | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Gloucestershire | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Hampshire | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Kent | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Lancashire | 13 [b] | 10 | 0 | 3 |
| Middlesex | 9 [b] | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Nottinghamshire | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Surrey | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| Sussex | 12 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| Yorkshire | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 |
| 1881 English season leading batsmen [3] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s | 50s |
| A. N. Hornby | Lancashire MCC | 25 | 38 | 0 | 1534 | 188 | 40.36 | 3 | 7 |
| W. G. Grace | Gloucestershire | 13 | 22 | 1 | 792 | 182 | 37.71 | 2 | 4 |
| Charles Leslie | Oxford University Middlesex | 13 | 23 | 2 | 741 | 111 not out | 35.28 | 2 | 5 |
| George Ulyett | Yorkshire | 24 | 40 | 2 | 1243 | 112 | 32.71 | 1 | 9 |
| Walter Read | Surrey | 16 | 30 | 1 | 931 | 160 | 32.10 | 1 | 6 |
| 1881 English season leading bowlers [4] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
| Allen Hill | Yorkshire | 1345 | 437 | 43 | 10.16 | 6/18 | 2 | 0 |
| George Nash | Lancashire | 1826 | 557 | 52 | 10.71 | 7/22 | 4 | 1 |
| Alec Watson | Lancashire | 3504 | 816 | 69 | 11.82 | 7/37 | 5 | 2 |
| Dick Barlow | Lancashire | 2988 | 940 | 79 | 11.89 | 8/29 | 5 | 2 |
| Tom Emmett | Yorkshire | 2438 | 919 | 76 | 12.09 | 8/22 | 6 | 1 |
Nottinghamshire's professionals, led by Alfred Shaw, held a strike over playing contracts agreed by the MCC and secretary Captain Henry Holden. The players demanded security of contract for all games during the season and the right to organise their own terms [5] rather than those set by the MCC, which during the 1870s as county cricket grew established a strong grip on terms for professional players. [5]
The dispute meant that seven of Nottinghamshire's top players did not play for the first half of the season, and leading batsman Arthur Shrewsbury played only three first-class games all year. [1] Shaw and Shrewsbury used the dispute to organise an eight-month tour of Australia and New Zealand during the winter. [1]
a An unofficial seasonal title sometimes proclaimed by consensus of media and historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted. Although there are ante-dated claims prior to 1873, when residence qualifications were introduced, it is only since that ruling that any quasi-official status can be ascribed.
b The match between Middlesex and Lancashire at Lord's was cancelled because Harrow Wanderers had booked the ground on the same day.