1883 was the 97th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There was the first of four successive titles won by Notts, and the beginning of the "Great Revival" of Surrey, [1] who had been among the weaker counties since 1866.
County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
---|---|---|---|---|
Derbyshire | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Gloucestershire | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
Hampshire | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Kent | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
Lancashire | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Middlesex | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
Nottinghamshire | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
Somerset | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Surrey | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
Sussex | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
Yorkshire | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 |
1883 English season leading batsmen [3] | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s | 50s |
Walter Read | Surrey | 22 | 39 | 6 | 1573 | 168 | 47.66 | 2 | 13 |
CT Studd | Middlesex MCC | 20 | 34 | 5 | 1193 | 175 not out | 41.13 | 2 | 4 |
WG Grace | Gloucestershire MCC | 22 | 41 | 2 | 1352 | 112 | 34.66 | 1 | 9 |
Louis Hall | Yorkshire | 26 | 44 | 9 | 1180 | 127 | 33.73 | 2 | 3 |
Bunny Lucas | Middlesex MCC | 12 | 23 | 3 | 664 | 97 | 33.23 | 0 | 4 |
1883 English season leading bowlers [4] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Team | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
Alec Watson | Lancashire | 3762 | 1135 | 96 | 11.82 | 7/36 | 9 | 2 |
Alfred Shaw | Nottinghamshire | 4247 | 840 | 67 | 12.53 | 7/22 | 7 | 0 |
John Crossland | Lancashire | 2191 | 934 | 72 | 12.97 | 8/57 | 6 | 0 |
George Harrison | Yorkshire | 3143 | 1326 | 100 | 13.26 | 7/43 | 6 | 1 |
George Robinson | Oxford University | 1015 | 471 | 35 | 13.45 | 6/38 | 2 | 0 |
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.
1895 was the sixth season of County Championship cricket in England. It was the first season in which the official definition of first-class cricket was activated, following the 1894 ruling. Surrey won the championship for the fifth time in six years, despite increased competition, as the tournament was expanded from nine to fourteen teams. The points system was changed as the teams played differing numbers of matches and the new system involved division of the number of points gained by the number of matches that had ended in either a win or a loss. Draws were thus completely disregarded, as they gave zero points. Derbyshire was the best of the rookie teams, finishing in fifth place.
1888 was the 102nd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There was a complete contrast to the previous sunlit summer with its record-breaking run-getting: this time the summer was exceptionally cool and wet, resulting in the dominance of bowlers with many records for wicket-taking set.
1889 was the 103rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The number of balls per over was increased from four to five. The four-ball over had been used since time immemorial.
1878 was the 92nd season of cricket in England since the foundation of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The first official tour by an Australian team was undertaken, although it played no Test matches. A match at Old Trafford inspired a famous poem.
1865 was the 79th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). W. G. Grace made his debut as a first-class player and the new Lancashire County Cricket Club played its first match.
1869 was the 83rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The Cambridgeshire club went into demise, thougha team called Cambridgeshire later played in two specially arranged matches, in 1869 against Yorkshire and in 1871 against Surrey. After that, Cambridgeshire ceased to be a first-class team. The problem was attributed to the lack of available amateurs to back up the famous trio of Bob Carpenter, the first Tom Hayward and George Tarrant, along with the absence of useful patronage and the difficulty of obtaining membership which led to a debt deemed unpayable.
1871 was the 85th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Derbyshire County Cricket Club became a first-class club and the last matches were played by Cambridgeshire, who in the days of Bob Carpenter, the first Tom Hayward and George Tarrant had been one of the leading cricket counties.
In the 1872 cricket season, the first experiment in pitch covering was carried out. Prince's Cricket Ground opened in Chelsea, London.
1874 was the 88th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). W. G. Grace become the first player to perform the “double” in an English season. In 21 first-class matches, he scored 1,664 runs and took 140 wickets.
1876 was the 90th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Gloucestershire reclaimed the unofficial "Champion County" title. A relatively dry summer and improvements to pitches via the heavy roller saw several batting records broken.
1880 was the 94th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The second tour by a representative Australian team was undertaken and they took part in the (retrospective) first Test match to be played in England. County cricket was dominated by the Nottinghamshire bowlers Alfred Shaw and Fred Morley.
1882 was the 96th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). England lost to Australia in the match which gave rise to the Ashes.
1884 was the 98th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Australia toured England to compete for the Ashes. It was the seventh test series between the two sides. Fred Spofforth, an overseas bowler, took the most wickets, but England avenged its loss to the touring Australians in 1882 winning 1 test to 0.
1885 was the 99th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It was the third in succession in which Nottinghamshire was proclaimed the champion county.
1886 was the 100th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Poor results caused the temporary relegation of both Hampshire and Somerset from first-class status. England beat Australia three-nil in the Test series.
1887 was the 101st season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Surrey was the leading county for the first time in over twenty years, a status they would retain until 1892.
The Australia national cricket team toured England in 1884. The team is officially termed the Fourth Australians, following three previous tours in the 1878, 1880 and 1882 seasons. The 1884 tour was a private venture by the thirteen players who each invested an agreed sum to provide funding, none of Australia's colonial cricket associations being involved. Billy Murdoch captained the team and George Alexander acted as player-manager. The Australians played a total of 32 matches in England, 31 of which have first-class status.
Two English cricket teams toured Australia in 1887–88. They are generally known as A. Shrewsbury's XI and G. F. Vernon's XI. Shrewsbury's XI also visited New Zealand in March.
Variations in published cricket statistics have come about because there is no official view of the status of cricket matches played in Great Britain prior to 1895 or in the rest of the world prior to 1947. As a result, historians and statisticians have compiled differing lists of matches that they recognise as (unofficially) first-class. The problem is significant where it touches on some of the sport's first-class records, especially in regards to the playing career of W. G. Grace.
An England cricket team toured Australia, New Zealand and the United States between September 1881 and March 1882. The tour was privately organised by the professional players James Lillywhite, junior, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury. In all matches other than Tests, the team was called A. Shaw's XI. In Australia, the tour itinerary consisted of seven first-class matches, including a four-match Test series against Australia. The Test series was won 2–0 by Australia with two matches drawn. The Ashes, which began later in 1882, were not at stake. None of the matches in either New Zealand or the United States have been ascribed first-class status.