1879 was the 93rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Lancashire claimed a share of the Champion County title for the first time.
The summer was the coolest [1] and wettest [2] over the two-and-a-half centuries of climatic records in England, and during the early part of the twentieth century exceptionally wet seasons such as 1903, 1912, 1924 and 1927 were very frequently compared to 1879.
| County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derbyshire | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Gloucestershire | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Kent | 10 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| Lancashire | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Middlesex | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Nottinghamshire | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Surrey | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Sussex | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Yorkshire | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 1879 English season leading batsmen [4] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s | 50s |
| WG Grace | Gloucestershire | 18 | 28 | 3 | 880 | 123 | 35.20 | 2 | 5 |
| A. N. Hornby | Lancashire MCC | 17 | 22 | 2 | 606 | 64 not out | 30.30 | 0 | 3 |
| Alfred Lyttelton | Cambridge University Middlesex | 16 | 27 | 3 | 688 | 102 | 28.66 | 1 | 4 |
| Allan Steel | Cambridge University Lancashire | 15 | 23 | 3 | 553 | 93 | 27.65 | 0 | 3 |
| William Oscroft | Nottinghamshire | 19 | 31 | 2 | 763 | 140 | 26.31 | 1 | 3 |
| 1879 English season leading bowlers [5] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
| Arnold Rylott | MCC | 1234 | 291 | 37 | 7.86 | 6/67 | 1 | 1 |
| William Mycroft | Derbyshire MCC | 3052 | 738 | 88 | 8.38 | 8/32 | 7 | 3 |
| Alfred Shaw | Nottinghamshire MCC | 6381 | 1277 | 133 | 9.60 | 8/21 | 13 | 3 |
| Tom Emmett | Yorkshire | 1901 | 622 | 63 | 9.87 | 7/54 | 6 | 1 |
| James Lillywhite | Sussex | 1098 | 229 | 23 | 9.95 | 8/43 | 1 | 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 Hampshire, though regarded until 1885 as first-class, played no inter-county matches
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.
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.
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.
1871 was the 85th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Derbyshire County Cricket Club became a first-class club and the last matches were played by Cambridgeshire, who in the days of Bob Carpenter, the first Tom Hayward and George Tarrant had been one of the leading cricket counties.
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.
1874 was the 88th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). W. G. Grace become the first player to perform the “double” in an English season. In 21 first-class matches, he scored 1,664 runs and took 140 wickets.
1875 was the 89th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Nottinghamshire regained its place as the unofficial "Champion County". It was in many ways the last season before pitches began to improve and produce much heavier scoring: it was definitely the last season where "dead shooters" were frequently seen at Lord's before the heavy roller made for regular bounce there.
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.
1877 was the 91st season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
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.
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.