1905 English cricket season

Yorkshire pipped defending champions Lancashire to the County Championship title in the 1905 English cricket season, which also included a tour by the Australian cricket team. England won the 5-Test series without losing a Test, though three games were drawn.

Contents

Honours

County Championship

Yorkshire and Lancashire fought throughout the season; Lancashire were the first team to beat Yorkshire, in their ninth game, when hundreds from Reggie Spooner and Johnny Tyldesley helped Lancashire to an innings victory at Old Trafford. Lancashire went unbeaten until July, their fifteenth game, when Surrey overcame them at Aigburth, but Yorkshire were behind on the table with three losses before their match with Yorkshire at Bramall Lane. With Walter Brearley taking seven for 35 in the first innings, Lancashire took a lead of 101, but Wilfred Rhodes turned it around with 74 and four for 49. Lancashire could still have managed to take the title with wins in their final games, but a loss to Gloucestershire at Bristol while Yorkshire avoided defeat meant the title went to Yorkshire.

This season saw Northamptonshire join the Championship; they played twelve matches, beating Derbyshire and Hampshire to avoid the wooden spoon.

Final table

The final County Championship table is shown below. One point was awarded for a win, none for a draw, and minus one for a loss. Positions were decided on percentage of points over completed games.

County Championship 1905 - Final Standings
Team P W L D T A Pts GC1 Pts/GC (as %)
1 Yorkshire 28 13 3 7 0 0 15 21 71.43
2 Lancashire 26 12 3 10 0 1 9 15 60.00
3 Sussex 28 13 4 11 0 0 9 17 52.94
4 Surrey 28 14 6 6 1 1 8 20 40.00
5 Leicestershire 22 8 5 9 0 0 3 13 23.08
6 Kent 22 10 7 4 1 0 3 17 17.65
7 Warwickshire 22 5 4 13 0 1 1 9 11.11
=8 Gloucestershire 18 8 8 2 0 0 0 16 0.00
=8 Worcestershire 18 5 5 8 0 0 0 10 0.00
10 Nottinghamshire 20 6 7 7 0 0 -1 13 -7.69
11 Middlesex 18 4 7 7 0 0 -3 11 -27.27
12 Essex 20 3 10 7 0 0 -7 13 -53.85
13 Northamptonshire 12 2 8 2 0 0 -6 10 -60.00
14 Derbyshire 20 3 14 3 0 0 -11 17 -64.71
15 Somerset 18 1 10 7 0 0 -9 11 -81.82
16 Hampshire 20 1 12 7 0 0 -11 13 -84.62

Most runs in the County Championship

1905 County Championship - leading batsmen
Name Team Matches Runs Average 100s 50s
David Denton Yorkshire 28 1963 46.73 7 8
C. B. Fry Sussex 15 1912 86.90 7 10
Willie Quaife Warwickshire 22 1785 66.11 6 3
George Herbert Hirst Yorkshire 24 1713 61.17 4 8
Levi Wright Derbyshire 20 1651 43.44 4 10

Most wickets in the County Championship

1905 County Championship - leading bowlers
Name Team Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken Average
Walter Lees Surrey 27 7215 169 17.01
George Cox senior Sussex 28 8277 154 21.40
George Dennett Gloucestershire 17 5529 131 19.48
Colin Blythe Kent 22 6087 130 19.94
Wilfred Rhodes Yorkshire 25 5057 126 15.76

Ashes tour

Australia toured England in 1905, playing 35 first class matches around the British Isles. They only lost three of them, beating both champions Yorkshire and runners-up Lancashire, but two of the lost matches were Tests, and they drew the other three to lose the series 0–2. England's captain, Stanley Jackson, not only won the series, but also won the toss in all five matches and headed both the batting and the bowling averages. Australia only took a first-innings lead in one of the matches, the first, and then Archie MacLaren responded with his highest career Test score of 140 before Bernard Bosanquet took eight for 107 and bowled England to a 213-run victory. The second Test only reached the third innings, with no play possible on the final day, while Australia survived 91 overs for the loss of seven wickets in the drawn third Test. In the fourth Test, however, they lost nine wickets for 51 on the final day, after being asked to follow on 249 behind. They lost by an innings and 80 runs, thus conceding an unassailable lead in the series before the final Test, where England made 430 and 261 for six declared to draw the game. The Australians' only other loss came at Leyton to Essex in June.

Overall first-class statistics

Leading batsmen

1905 English cricket season - leading batsmen
Name Team(s) Matches Runs Average 100s 50s
C. B. Fry England, Gentlemen, Gentlemen of England, MCC, Sussex 26 2801 70.02 10 12
Tom Hayward England Players, South of England, Surrey 36 2592 44.68 5 18
David Denton England, North of England, Players, Yorkshire 37 2405 42.19 8 10
George Herbert Hirst England, North of England, Players, Yorkshire 35 2266 53.95 6 10
Willie Quaife England, Players, Warwickshire 30 2060 54.21 6 3

Leading bowlers

1905 English cricket season - leading bowlers
Name Team(s) Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken Average
Walter Lees Players, South of England, Surrey 34 8331 193 18.01
Wilfred Rhodes England, North of England, Players, Yorkshire 37 7449 182 16.95
Walter Brearley England, Gentlemen, Gentlemen of England, Lancashire 25 6292 181 19.25
George Cox senior MCC, South of England, Sussex 34 9348 170 21.87
George Dennett Gloucestershire, MCC, Players 23 6969 163 20.98

Annual reviews

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