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. [1] 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.
Cumulative record - Test wins | 1876-1884 |
---|---|
England | 5 |
Australia | 7 |
Drawn | 4 |
County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
---|---|---|---|---|
Derbyshire | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Gloucestershire | 12 | 1 | 8 | 3 [b] |
Hampshire | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Kent | 16 | 7 | 7 | 2 |
Lancashire | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 [b] |
Middlesex | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
Nottinghamshire | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
Somerset | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Surrey | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
Sussex | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
Yorkshire | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Derbyshire's ignominy of losing every game has been repeated since in county cricket only by the same club in 1920. [2]
1884 English season leading batsmen [3] | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s | 50s |
Allan Steel | Lancashire England MCC | 16 | 28 | 3 | 967 | 148 | 38.68 | 2 | 2 |
William Scotton | Nottinghamshire England MCC | 19 | 31 | 5 | 897 | 134 | 34.50 | 2 | 3 |
WG Grace | Gloucestershire England MCC | 26 | 45 | 5 | 1361 | 116 | 34.02 | 3 | 2 |
Lord Harris | Kent England MCC | 25 | 47 | 5 | 1417 | 112 not out | 33.73 | 3 | 6 |
Billy Newham | Sussex | 12 | 23 | 0 | 741 | 137 | 32.21 | 2 | 5 |
1884 English season leading bowlers [4] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Team | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
Alfred Shaw | Nottinghamshire | 2968 | 744 | 71 | 10.47 | 8/28 | 7 | 2 |
Tom Emmett | Yorkshire England | 4128 | 1250 | 107 | 11.68 | 8/32 | 10 | 3 |
William Attewell | Nottinghamshire | 4600 | 1217 | 101 | 12.04 | 8/22 | 8 | 3 |
John Crossland | Lancashire | 2100 | 893 | 71 | 12.57 | 7/35 | 6 | 3 |
Fred Spofforth | Australians | 6308 | 2654 | 207 | 12.82 | 8/62 | 22 | 10 |
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 Lancashire and Gloucestershire scheduled for 24 to 26 July was abandoned on the announcement of the death of Mrs Grace, mother of WG and EM Grace. It is shown as a draw.
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer and rugby football administrator. He was widely rated as competing with W. G. Grace for the accolade of best batsman of the 1880s; Grace himself, when asked whom he would most like in his side, replied simply, "Give me Arthur". An opening batsman, Shrewsbury played his cricket for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and played 23 Test matches for England, captaining them in 7 games, with a record of won 5, lost 2. He was the last professional to be England captain until Len Hutton was chosen in 1952. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1890. He also organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888.
1890 was the 104th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the first in which the County Championship was held as an official competition, following agreement between MCC and the leading county clubs at a meeting in December 1889. Surrey became the first official county champions after winning nine out of fourteen games.
1893 was the fourth season of County Championship cricket in England. For the first time, the official championship was won by a team other than Surrey, who finished fifth. Yorkshire, captained by Lord Hawke won twelve matches to take the title. It was the first of a record eight championships for Hawke as a county captain.
1896 was the seventh season of County Championship cricket in England. Yorkshire won the championship title having lost only losing three of their 26 matches, setting a points percentage record with 68.42. Yorkshire's team did not possess the greatest performers statistically, such as Sussex with Ranjitsinhji, or Gloucestershire with W. G. Grace, but a well-rounded squad with four bowlers taking more than 70 wickets in the Championship and five batsmen scoring over 1000 runs gave them the title. Playing against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in May, Yorkshire scored 887 in their first innings, which is still the highest total in the history of the County Championship.
1899 was the tenth season of County Championship cricket in England. Surrey won the championship for the first time in four years, but this title was their last until 1914. Surrey's season was dominated by draws, with fourteen out of 26 games drawn, just like the season in general – especially the Australian team's tour. Four of the five Test matches were drawn during the 19th series between the sides, but Australia won the second Test at Lord's and the series 1–0. This was their first Ashes series win in England since the original match in 1882.
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.
1873 was the 87th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). In only their fourth season as a first-class team, Gloucestershire was proclaimed joint Champion County by the media and went on to claim the still unofficial title four times in five seasons.
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.
1875 was the 89th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Nottinghamshire regained its place as the unofficial "Champion County". It was in many ways the last season before pitches began to improve and produce much heavier scoring: it was definitely the last season where "dead shooters" were frequently seen at Lord's before the heavy roller made for regular bounce there.
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.
1877 was the 91st season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
1879 was the 93rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Lancashire claimed a share of the Champion County title for the first time.
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.
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.
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.
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, who had been among the weaker counties since 1866.
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.