1864 English cricket season explained
| Previous Year: | 1863 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1863 English cricket season |
| Next Year: | 1865 |
| Next Tournament: | 1865 English cricket season |
1864 was the 78th season of cricket in England (since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)). 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.
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 County Cricket Club 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. It was titled John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanac until the 1937 edition.
- 6–7 June - Middlesex County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at Islington
- 9 June - Playing for MCC against Oxford University, H.E. Bull becomes only the second player,[4] and the first since 1827,[5] to be dismissed hit the ball twice in a first-class game.[6]
- 7–8 July - Hampshire County Cricket Club 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 until the following season.[7]
- MCC finally purchased the freehold of Lord's Cricket Ground for £18,333 6s 8d with money advanced by William Nicholson.
Leading batsmen (qualification 10 innings)
| 1864 English season leading batsmen[8] |
|---|
| width=200 | Name | width=250 | Team | width=70 | Matches | width=70 | Inns | width=50 | Not outs | width=50 | Runs | width=50 | Hig score | width=50 | 100s | width=50 | Av |
|---|
| Yorkshire | 6 | 11 | 5 | 255 | 99* | 0 | 42.50 |
| | 15 | 25 | 4 | 824 | 119 | 2 | 39.23 |
| | 18 | 25 | 0 | 855 | 105 | 1 | 34.20 |
| Cambridgeshire | 8 | 12 | 0 | 355 | 66 | 0 | 29.58 |
| Cambridgeshire | 8 | 11 | 1 | 270 | 52 | 0 | 27.00 | |
Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)
| 1864 English season leading bowlers[9] |
|---|
| width=200 | Name | width=250 | Team | width=70 | Balls | width=70 | Runs | width=50 | Wickets | width=50 | Best | width=50 | 5w inns | width=50 | 10w match | width=50 | Av |
|---|
| Cambridgeshire | 1610 | 590 | 67 | 7/30 | 8 | 4 | 8.80 |
| MCC & Nottinghamshire | 3466 | 1109 | 99 | 9/19 | 10 | 2 | 11.31 |
| | 1117 | 521 | 48 | 8/48 | 4 | 2 | 11.84 |
| Middlesex & Southgate | 1054 | 519 | 42 | 9/63 | 4 | 2 | 12.35 |
| Kent & All England Eleven | 3486 | 1065 | 79 | 7/47 | 6 | 0 | 13.48 | |
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 and References
- 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
- Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 93
- http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/539622.html Nottingham v Sheffield in 1827
- https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/1/1320.html Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University in 1864
- http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/108/108379.html Scorecard of Surrey Club and Ground v South Wales Cricket Club.
- http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1864_f_Batting_by_Average.html First Class Batting in England in 1864
- http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1864_f_Bowling_by_Average.html First Class Bowling in England in 1864
