1868 English cricket season explained

Previous Year:	1867
Previous Tournament:	1867 English cricket season
Next Year:	1869
Next Tournament:	1869 English cricket season

1868 was the 82nd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It featured the first organised group of Australian sportspeople to travel overseas, being an all-Aboriginal cricket team.

Playing record (by county)

Played	Won	Lost	Tied	Drawn
2	1	1	0	0
8	5	3	0	0
5	1	4	0	0
8	4	3	1	0
6	4	2	0	0
12	5	6	1	0
6	2	4	0	0
7	4	3	0	0

Owing to an exceptionally hot and dry summer, and the absence of the forthcoming revolution of the heavy roller,^[1] 1868 was to be the last season in which every county match was finished outright.^[2]

Leading batsmen (qualification 10 innings)

1868 English season leading batsmen^[3]
Name	Team	Matches	Innings	Not outs	Runs	Highest score	Average	100s	50s
	Gentlemen South of England	7	11	2	588	134 not out	65.33	3	2
	MCC Middlesex	13	24	5	661	165	34.78	1	3
	Sussex	13	24	6	631	126 not out	30.04	1	4
	Cambridge University Kent Middlesex	10	16	1	431	143	28.73	1	3
	Cambridge University Yorkshire	7	11	0	294	105	26.72	1	2

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)

1868 English season leading bowlers^[4]
Name	Team	Balls bowled	Runs conceded	Wickets taken	Average	Best bowling	5 wickets in innings	10 wickets in match
	MCC Middlesex	957	279	33	8.45	5/20	1	0
	Yorkshire	1628	528	60	8.80	9/34	5	1
	Yorkshire	1560	454	46	9.86	8/11	6	2
		3999	1128	113	9.98	7/44	12	6
	Middlesex Nottinghamshire	2262	734	71	10.33	6/17	6	2

Events

A team of Aboriginal Australians was the first overseas side to tour England, under the auspices of Sydney publican/cricketer Charles Lawrence. They were not a first class team.
25–26 May: Edward Tylecote hits the first recorded score of 300 in any grade of cricket with 404 for Classicals against Moderns at Clifton College^[5]
20 June: C.A. Absolom became the first player to be given out obstructing the field when playing for Cambridge University v. Surrey at The Oval.
3–5 August: Playing for South of the Thames v North of the Thames at Canterbury, W.G. Grace became the second player to score two centuries in a match after William Lambert in 1817.^[6]
The Cattle Market Ground in Islington, the original home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, was sold by its owner for development following the season. The last game, on 5 and 6 October, was between "Gentlemen of Middlesex" and a 22 called "The Clowns".^[7] Middlesex were not to have another home until the equally short-lived Prince's Cricket Ground opened.

Notes

Hampshire, though regarded until 1885 as first-class, played no inter-county matches between 1868 and 1869 or 1871 and 1874.

Annual reviews

John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1869
Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 10 (1867–1868), Lillywhite, 1869

External links

CricketArchive – season summaries

Notes and References

Green, Benny; Wisden Anthology 1864–1900 p. 604
Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53
http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1868_f_Batting_by_Average.html First Class Batting in England in 1868
http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1868_f_Bowling_by_Average.html First Class Bowling in England in 1868
Wisden, John (editor); John Wisden’s Cricketers' Almanac; Eighth Edition (1871); pp. 148–149
Rae, Simon W. G. Grace: A Life; p. 77. .
https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/343/343774.html Gentlemen of Middlesex v The Clowns in 1868