1890 English cricket season

1890 English cricket season

← 1889 1891 →

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. ^{[1] [2]}

In Test cricket, England, captained by W. G. Grace, defeated Australia in a three-match series by 2–0 to win The Ashes. It was the 13th Test series between the sides. ^[1] William Gunn of Nottinghamshire was the season's highest run-scorer (1,621); George Lohmann of Surrey took the most wickets (220). ^{[note 1]}

Honours

• County Championship – Surrey
• Wisden (Five Great Wicket-Keepers) – Jack Blackham, Gregor MacGregor, Dick Pilling, Mordecai Sherwin, Henry Wood

Ashes tour

Main article: Australian cricket team in England in 1890

England won the three-match Test series 2–0. Only two matches were completed as one was abandoned due to persistent heavy rain:

• 1st Test at Lord's Cricket Ground – England won by 7 wickets
• 2nd Test at The Oval – England won by 2 wickets
• 3rd Test at Old Trafford Cricket Ground – abandoned without a ball being bowled (rain)

Cumulative record - Test wins	1876-1890
England	18
Australia	10
Drawn	4

County Championship

Main article: 1890 County Championship

Overall first-class statistics

Leading batsmen

1890 English cricket season - leading batsmen
Name	Team(s)	Matches	Runs	Average	100s	50s
Billy Gunn	England, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), North, Nottinghamshire, Players	30	1,621	34.48	3	3
Arthur Shrewsbury	England, North, Nottinghamshire, Players	25	1,568	41.26	2	9
W. G. Grace	England, Gentlemen, Gloucestershire, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South	30	1,476	28.38	1	9
Billy Murdoch	Australia	33	1,394	24.45	2	6
Bobby Abel	Surrey	32	1,226	24.03	0	9

Leading bowlers

1890 English cricket season - leading bowlers
Name	Team(s)	Matches	Balls bowled	Wickets taken	Average
George Lohmann	England, Players, South, Surrey	32	8,801	220	13.62
Frederick Martin	England, Kent, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South	29	8,507	190	13.05
John Ferris	Australia	30	7,727	186	14.28
Charles Turner	Australia	31	7,528	179	14.21
Bobby Peel	England, North, Players, Yorkshire	33	7,755	171	13.07

Notes

1. Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources. ^[3] 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. ^[4] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status. ^[5] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant. ^[6] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

1. Wynne-Thomas, Peter (1983). The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records. Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN   0-600-34667-6.
2. Engel, Matthew (2004). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2004. John Wisden & Company Ltd. pp. 493–494. ISBN   0-947766-83-9.
3. "First-Class matches in England in 1772" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
4. Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC   851705816.
5. ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
6. ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   85045528.
• ACS (1982). A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   10586869.
• Warner, Pelham (1946). Lords: 1787–1945. London: Harrap. OCLC   877106024.

Annual reviews

• Lillywhite. James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly) (1891 ed.). Lillywhite.
• Wisden. Pardon, Charles (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 28th edition (1891 ed.). London: John Wisden & Co. Ltd.

Further reading

• Altham, H. S.; Swanton, E. W. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (5th ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC   894274808.
• Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press. ISBN   978-18-54107-10-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN   978-04-13278-60-9.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.