The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians

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The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Statisticians, the words "and Historians" were added in 1992 but it has continued to use the initialism 'ACS'.

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The ACS headquarters were formerly in Nottingham, opposite Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, but relocated to Cardiff in 2006. [1] . Since the Covid crisis in 2020, all ACS Committee meetings are held on-line and therefore there is no physical base for the organisation.

Although constituted in England, the ACS has a worldwide membership and is open to anyone with a relevant interest. The ACS and its members enjoy, interpret & publish research into cricket statistics & history. Several of the world's leading statisticians and historians are members of the ACS including David Kendix , Andy Zaltzman and Andrew Hignell

The ACS celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023 with a highly successful event at Leicestershire CCC [] where contributions were received from all over the world.

The ACS remains a successful and highly active publisher of cricket books. In 2025 it published the 'ACS Women's International Cricket Year Book' collated by Philip Bailey, which is the first of its kind.

Other 2025 publications include:

[All are available at https://shop.acscricket.com/ ACS Shop]

Every quarter the ACS publishes its journal 'The Cricket Statistician' which features detailed articles on cricket hisotry and statistics as well as book reviews and much more.

The ACS offers an active on-line forum for its members to discuss statistical and historical matters.

The ACS Sub-Stack feed has become an important source of writing on cutting edge current and historical cricketing matters. Subscribe by going to: ACS SubStack

The ACS presents an annual award called 'The Brooke Lambert Award' for the Statistician or Historian of the Year. In 2025 this was awarded to Andrew Radd, a doyen of Northamptonshire cricket history and long-time cricket commentator on BBC Northamptonshire.

Brooke Lambert Award

The ACS runs a selection of auctions for cricket books and related material for its members through a calendar year.

The ACS website is a considerable source of historic and current cricketing data and is regularly used by cricket broadcasters, writers, players and supporters all over the world.

The ACS has a large on-line following through its active social-media platforms including:

The current ACS officers consist of:

David Kendix (President), John Bryant (Chair), Garry Wallace (Treasurer), Andrew Hignell (Secretary), Huw Nathan (Membership), Jeremy Lonsdale (Publications), Peter Hardy (Communications), Derek Noakes, John Winnifrith, Rodney Ulyate, Ric Finlay and Keith Walmsley

Origin

Following the formal definition of first-class cricket by the then Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) in May 1947, and particularly given ICC's statement that the definition does not have retrospective effect, a number of cricket statisticians became interested in developing an agreed list of matches played before 1947 from which to compile accurate first-class records.

Roy Webber published his Playfair Book of Cricket Records in 1951 and stated his view that first-class cricket records (i.e., for statistical purposes) should not include matches played before 1864. [2] In this first edition, Webber accepted the records used by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , including those that summarised the career of W G Grace. In his second edition (1961), Webber challenged many existing views about match status and produced, inter alia, an alternative career record for Grace that did not include some of the matches Wisden recognised as first-class.

There was some support among cricket statisticians, including Bill Frindall, for Webber's basic arguments but there were (and remain) differences of opinion about his commencement date and about the details of his recommended match list. The controversial cricket historian Rowland Bowen wrote a lengthy critique of Webber's sources in 1961. [3] Bowen then started Cricket Quarterly (1963–70), devoted to cricket statistics, which included among its contributors some of the original ACS members.

The ACS itself was founded by Robert Brooke and Dennis Lambert, two of Bowen's contributors, by means of advertisements in the October 1972 issues of The Cricketer and Playfair Cricket Monthly. These attracted a nucleus of some 50 members who formed the association in 1973. [4]

Scope of activities

The ACS is committed to providing its members with enjoyment, interpretation & published research into cricket statistics & history.

As a result the ACS has sought to compile details of all known historically significant matches, and has widened its scope to include details of other competitions such as the Minor Counties Cricket Championship and the Second XI Championship in England. The bulk of its research concerns those matches that are officially or unofficially recognised as first-class or List A limited overs cricket. The findings have been published in-house in various guides (see list below) and in the Association's quarterly journal The Cricket Statistician. The Who's Who of first-class Cricketers is one of the few commercially published works.

Like Roy Webber and Bill Frindall, the ACS has no official position in terms of deciding the status of cricket matches. Any classification it publishes is merely its own opinion, as is the case with all other cricket writers. However, in 2006, the ICC asked the ACS to provide a comprehensive List A limited overs matchlist since the commencement of List A matches in 1963, and this has since been used as a basis for all official records. [5]

ACS publications

The ACS publishes its many findings in-house, most typically in the form of paperback books. Many books are issued in series format. The publications include the following:

See also

References

Bibliography

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