The 1878 English cricket season is remembered for the first official tour by an Australian team, although it played no Test Matches; and for the match that inspired a famous poem.
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Australia made the inaugural first-class tour of England by an overseas team. See : Australian cricket team in England in 1878.
25 – 27 July. Lancashire versus Gloucestershire at Old Trafford. This was the first time Gloucestershire visited Old Trafford and it caused ground records to be established. The match was drawn after rain interruptions. It has a special place because it ultimately formed the nostalgic inspiration for the famous poem At Lord's by Francis Thompson. In the second innings, the famed "run-stealers" Hornby and Barlow shared an opening stand of 108, with Hornby going on to score 100. He also became involved in a ferocious argument with WG when a contentious "run-out" was claimed after the batsmen had stopped running because the ball had crossed the boundary! The run-out was finally overruled after WG even went so far as to ask the (Lancashire home!) crowd if it had been a four after all. Needless to say, he knew all along that a four had been scored.
31 July. Official formation of Northants CCC at a meeting in the George Hotel, Kettering.
George Ulyett was the leading runscorer with 1270 runs @ 27.02; next was WG Grace with 1151 @ 28.77
Alfred Shaw was the leading wicket-taker with 201 wickets @ 10.95
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