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.
Earlier in the year, on 12 and 13 March, South Africa versus England at Port Elizabeth was the start of cricket in South Africa at both Test and first-class level. Domestic first-class matches began at the end of the same year. The England team, captained by future Hollywood actor C Aubrey Smith, played two Tests on the inaugural tour, at Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, winning both by comfortable margins. Lancashire spinner Johnny Briggs had match figures of 15–28 at Cape Town.
| County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points [b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucestershire | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 5.0 |
| Kent | 13 [c] | 7 | 5 | 1 | 7.5 |
| Lancashire | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 10.5 |
| Middlesex | 11 [c] | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4.5 |
| Nottinghamshire | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Surrey | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 10.5 |
| Sussex | 12 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Yorkshire | 14 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 3.0 |
| 1889 English season leading batsmen [2] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s | 50s |
| William Gunn | Nottinghamshire MCC | 26 | 40 | 5 | 1319 | 118 | 37.68 | 4 | 3 |
| Arthur Shrewsbury | Nottinghamshire | 12 | 16 | 2 | 522 | 104 | 37.28 | 1 | 3 |
| Billy Barnes | Nottinghamshire MCC | 27 | 40 | 4 | 1249 | 130 not out | 34.69 | 3 | 6 |
| Maurice Read | Surrey | 17 | 27 | 2 | 847 | 136 | 33.88 | 1 | 6 |
| WG Grace | Gloucestershire MCC | 24 | 45 | 2 | 1396 | 154 | 32.46 | 3 | 7 |
| 1889 English season leading bowlers [3] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
| William Attewell | Nottinghamshire MCC | 6817 | 1635 | 149 | 10.97 | 6/24 | 13 | 2 |
| Johnny Briggs | Lancashire | 6208 | 1647 | 140 | 11.76 | 7/22 | 14 | 3 |
| Arthur Mold | Lancashire | 3390 | 1205 | 102 | 11.81 | 7/35 | 9 | 3 |
| Alec Watson | Lancashire | 4253 | 1139 | 90 | 12.65 | 7/27 | 9 | 2 |
| Wilfred Flowers | Nottinghamshire MCC | 2385 | 702 | 55 | 12.76 | 6/53 | 4 | 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 Between 1887 and 1889 an unofficial point system of 1 point for a win and 0.5 points for a draw, devised by the "Cricket Reporting Agency", was used to determine the unofficial "Champion County"
c The match between Middlesex and Kent at Lord's was completely washed out
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It became an official title in 1890. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and representing historic counties, seventeen from England and one from Wales.
1947 was the 48th season of County Championship cricket in England. It is chiefly remembered for the batting performances of Denis Compton and Bill Edrich who established seasonal records that, with the subsequent reduction in the number of first-class matches, will probably never be broken. Their form was key to their team Middlesex winning the County Championship for the first time since 1921, although they were involved in a tight contest for the title with the eventual runners-up Gloucestershire, for whom Tom Goddard was the most outstanding bowler of the season. Compton and Edrich were assisted by the fact that it was the driest and sunniest English summer for a generation, ensuring plenty of good batting wickets.
1907 was the 18th season of County Championship cricket in England. Nottinghamshire won their first official title. England played their sixth Test series against South Africa but it was the first to be held in England.
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.
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.
1864 was the 78th season of cricket in England. It was a significant year in cricket history, as it saw the legalisation of overarm bowling and the first edition of John Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanac.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The 1890 County Championship was the first County Championship held as an official competition, following agreement between Marylebone Cricket Club (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.