1890 English cricket season
| Cricket format | First-class cricket (3 days) |
|---|---|
| Tournament format(s) | League system |
| Champions | Surrey (1st title) |
| Participants | 8 |
| Matches played | 54 |
| Most runs |
(1,082 for Nottinghamshire)[1] |
| Most wickets |
(113 for Surrey)[2] |
The 1890 cricket season was the 293rd in England since the earliest known definite reference to cricket in January 1597 (i.e., Old Style – 1598 New Style), and the first in which the County Championship was 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. In Test cricket, England, captained by W. G. Grace, defeated Australia in a three-match series by 2–0 to win The Ashes. William Gunn of Nottinghamshire was the season's highest runscorer (1,621); George Lohmann of Surrey took the most wickets (220).
Honours
- County Championship – Surrey
- Wisden (Five Great Wicket-Keepers) – Jack Blackham, Gregor MacGregor, Dick Pilling, Mordecai Sherwin, Henry Wood
County Championship
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]
Final table
One point was awarded for a win, and one point was taken away for each loss, therefore:
- 1 for a win
- 0 for a draw
- -1 for a loss
| Team | Pld | W | T | L | D | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey | 14 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Lancashire | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Kent | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Yorkshire | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Nottinghamshire | 14 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Gloucestershire | 14 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 3 | –1 |
| Middlesex | 12 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | –5 |
| Sussex | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | –10 |
| Source:[5] | ||||||
Statistical summary
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Ashes tour
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)
Overall first-class statistics
Leading batsmen
| 1890 English cricket season - leading batsmen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| Billy Gunn | England, 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, 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, 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 |
References
- 1 2 "Batting in 1890 County Championship (Ordered by Runs)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- 1 2 "Bowling in 1890 County Championship (Ordered by Wickets)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- ↑ Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. 1889. p. 479.
- ↑ Scyld Berry (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 146th edition (2009 ed.). John Wisden & Co., Ltd. p. 542. ISBN 978-1-905625-16-1.
- 1 2 "County Championship 1890 table". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
Bibliography
- 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.