1886 English cricket season

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1886 English cricket season
1885
1887

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. [note 1]

Contents

Ashes tour

The Australians (referred to at the time as the "colonials") toured England for the fifth time and ninth test series in 1886; [5] however their results did not equal those of previous tours. Of a total of thirty-nine games, they won only nine, lost eight and drew twenty-two, which is the second worst record by a touring Australian side after the 1890 team. [6]

Their poor results, including the loss of all three Tests with the last two being lost by an innings, were due to the decline of the key players, such as Fred Spofforth and Eugene Palmer who had made the 1882 team so strong, along with the absence of their former captain Billy Murdoch who was later to settle in England and assist Sussex.

George Giffen headed both the batting and bowling averages for the tourists, and achieved the rare feat of twice taking sixteen wickets in a match during the season, with sixteen for 65 against Derbyshire and sixteen for 103 against Lancashire. No player was to again achieve the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets until Giffen returned to England in 1893.

Cumulative record - Test wins1876-1886
England 11
Australia 9
Drawn4

Champion County

[a]

Playing record (by county)

CountyPlayedWonLostDrawn
Derbyshire 9081
Gloucestershire 13364
Kent 14563
Lancashire 14554
Middlesex 10343
Nottinghamshire 14707
Surrey 161231
Sussex 12462
Yorkshire 16457

[7]

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1886 English season leading batsmen [8]
NameTeamMatchesInningsNot outsRunsHighest scoreAverage100s50s
Arthur Shrewsbury Nottinghamshire
England
243851404227 not out42.5438
Walter Read Surrey
England
28463182512042.44412
WG Grace Gloucestershire
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)
England
33553184617035.5049
Maurice Read Surrey
England
26434136418634.9727
Lord Harris Kent 122006447632.2007

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1886 English season leading bowlers [9]
NameTeamBalls bowledRuns concededWickets takenAverageBest bowling5 wickets
in innings
10 wickets
in match
Alec Watson Lancashire 4752110910011.097/1583
Frederick Martin Kent 11823272911.277/4141
Tom Emmett Yorkshire 5103159112412.837/33102
William Attewell Nottinghamshire 509412469612.979/2372
Thomas Bowley Surrey 389912198813.857/6451

Events

Somerset did not play any other first-class counties and dropped out of the Championship until 1891.

Hampshire ceased to be a first-class county after years of difficult circumstances and poor results. They did play matches against Surrey and Sussex in 1886 but these matches are not recognised as first-class. Hampshire did not recover first-class status until the beginning of the 1895 season when they were readmitted to the Championship.

George Ulyett achieved the unusual feat of scoring 1,000 runs with an average of under twenty, with 1,005 runs in 52 innings at an average of 19.78. [8]

Labels

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.

Notes

  1. Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources. [1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective. [2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status. [3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant. [4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

  1. "First-Class matches in England in 1772" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  2. Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC   851705816.
  3. ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
  4. ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
  5. Wynne-Thomas, Peter (1983). The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records. Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN   0-600-34667-6.
  6. Series Review
    The Australians in England - 1886
  7. Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 54 ISBN   072701868X
  8. 1 2 First Class Batting in England in 1886
  9. First Class Bowling in England in 1886

Bibliography

Annual reviews

Further reading