1864 English cricket season
The 1864 English cricket season was an important year in cricket history, as it saw the legalisation of overarm bowling and the first edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
Inter-county cricket
The first-class county teams in 1864 were Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Notts, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire. The unofficial concept of a "champion county" took a new turn when periodicals began publishing tables of inter-county results, although there was still no formal or agreed method of deciding positions in the table. Haygarth usually refers to 'generally agreed' when announcing the Champion County. [1]
Events
- Law 10 was rewritten by the MCC to allow a bowler to bring his arm through at any height providing he kept it straight and did not throw the ball. The issue of overarm bowling had crystallised in the Willsher-Lillywhite incident of August 1862.
- 12 January – formation of Lancashire CCC at a meeting in Manchester.
- 27-29 January – Otago v. Canterbury at Dunedin was the start of first-class cricket in New Zealand.
- Madras v. Calcutta was the start of first-class cricket in India.
- First issue of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
- 6-7 June – Middlesex CCC played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at Islington
- 7-8 July – Hampshire CCC played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at the Antelope Ground, Southampton
- 11-12 July – First appearance of WG Grace in a "big" match, though his first-class debut would not occur till the following season.[4]
- MCC finally purchased the freehold of Lord's Cricket Ground for £18,333 6s 8d with money advanced by William Nicholson.
Leading batsmen
William Mortlock was the leading runscorer with 855 @ 34.20
Leading bowlers
James Grundy was the leading wicket-taker with 99 @ 11.31
External sources
Annual reviews
- Fred Lillywhite, The Guide to Cricketers, Lillywhite, 1865
- John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1865
- Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 8 (1863-1864), Lillywhite, 1865
Notes
- ^ First Class Cricket Matches 1864 - ACS - Nottingham
- ^ Table of inter-county results according to Rowland Bowen: see CricInfo
- ^ "wins minus losses", as used during the first few official County Championship seasons
- ^ Scorecard of Surrey Club and Ground v South Wales Cricket Club.
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English cricket seasons: 1864 to 1889
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to 1815 • 1816–1863 • 1864–1889 • 1890–1918 • 1919–1945 • 1946–1968 • 1969–2000 • from 2001
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