1890 County Championship

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1890 County Championship
Cricket format First-class cricket (3 days)
Tournament format(s) League system
Champions Surrey (1st title)
Participants8
Matches54
Most runs Arthur Shrewsbury
(1,082 for Nottinghamshire) [1]
Most wickets George Lohmann
(113 for Surrey) [2]
1891

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.

Contents

Constitution of the official championship

The official County Championship was constituted in a meeting at Lord's on 10 December 1889 which was called to enable club secretaries to determine the 1890 fixtures. While this was going on, representatives of the eight leading county clubs held a private meeting to discuss the method by which the County Championship should in future be decided. A majority were in favour of "ignoring drawn games altogether and settling the championship by wins and losses." [3] Under this system defeats were subtracted from victories and the county with the highest total were champions. The new competition, which had official sanction, began in the 1890 season and initially featured Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire.

1890 County Championship

The 1890 County Championship was the first officially organised edition. It ran from 12 May to 28 August. Surrey, who had been unofficially proclaimed "Champion County" by sections of the press after the previous season, [4] became the first official champions by winning nine of their fourteen matches. [5]

Fixtures

May

12–14 May 1890
v
Yorkshire won by 8 Wickets
 
 
194 (123.2 Overs)
James Cranston 101
Ted Wainwright 4/37 (21 Overs)
330 (151.4 Overs)
George Ulyett 107
Edward Grace 3/59 (24.4 Overs)
178 (86.2 Overs)
Octavius Radcliffe 61
Robert Peel 4/76 (37 Overs)
43/2 (18.3 Overs)
Robert Frank 21
Octavius Radcliffe 1/4 (3 Overs)
  • Gloucestershire won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Points: Gloucestershire -1, Yorkshire 1.
15–17 May 1890
v
Kent won by 39 runs
 
 
98 (102.2 Overs)
Charles Fox 33
George Burton 7/46 (50.2 Overs)
148 (70.2 Overs)
Andrew Stoddart 59
Walter Wright 5/53 (25.2 Overs)
183 (106.2 Overs)
Francis Marchant 56
George Burton 5/62 (38.2 Overs)
94 (77.3 Overs)
Alexander Webbe 21
Stanley Scott 21
Walter Wright 8/53 (39 Overs)
  • Middlesex won the toss and elected to field.
  • Points: Middlesex -1, Kent 1
15–17 May
v
Nottinghamshire won by an Innings and 266 runs
 
 
590 (284.4 Overs)
Arthur Shrewsbury 267
Walter Humphreys 4/72 (31 Overs)
186 (106.4 Overs)
George Bean 50
Francis Shacklock 6/87 (35.4 Overs)
138 (97.4 Overs) (f/o)
Jesse Hide 44
William Barnes 6/59 (28.4 Overs)
  • Nottinghamshire won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Points: Nottinghamshire 1, Sussex -1

Final table

One point was awarded for a win, and one point was taken away for each loss, therefore:

TeamPld W T L D Pts
Surrey 1490326
Lancashire 1470344
Kent 1460353
Yorkshire 1460353
Nottinghamshire 1450540
Gloucestershire 1450631
Middlesex 1230815
Sussex 121011010
Source: [5]

Statistical summary

Most runs
Aggregate Average PlayerCounty
1,08249.18 Arthur Shrewsbury Nottinghamshire
83236.17 W. G. Grace Gloucestershire
79834.69 James Cranston Gloucestershire
70439.11 Bobby Abel Surrey
69333.00 William Gunn Nottinghamshire
Source: [1]
Most wickets
Aggregate Average PlayerCounty
11312.66 George Lohmann Surrey
10212.08 John Sharpe Surrey
9012.90 Bobby Peel Yorkshire
8814.45 Frederick Martin Kent
8014.61 Arthur Mold Lancashire
Source: [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Batting in 1890 County Championship (Ordered by Runs)" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Bowling in 1890 County Championship (Ordered by Wickets)" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  3. Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game . 1889. p. 479.
  4. Scyld Berry (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 146th edition (2009 ed.). John Wisden & Co., Ltd. p. 542. ISBN   978-1-905625-16-1.
  5. 1 2 "County Championship 1890 table" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.

Bibliography