1872 English cricket season explained

Previous Year:	1871
Previous Tournament:	1871 English cricket season
Next Year:	1873
Next Tournament:	1873 English cricket season

In the 1872 cricket season, the first experiment in pitch covering was carried out. Prince's Cricket Ground opened in Chelsea, London.

Playing record (by county)

County	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
	2	0	2	0
	7	3	1	3
	4	0	4	0
	4	4	0	0
	3	0	3	0
	7	2	0	5
	12	7	3	2
	6	3	2	1
	9	2	6	1

^[1]

Leading batsmen (qualification 15 innings)

1872 English season leading batsmen^[2]
Name	Team	Matches	Innings	Not outs	Runs	Highest score	Average	100s	50s
	Gloucestershire MCC	20	32	7	1485	170 not out	57.11	6	6
	Nottinghamshire	13	20	3	589	102	34.64	1	4
	Cambridge University MCC	11	19	3	529	130	33.06	1	2
	Sussex	16	27	4	651	80	28.30	0	5
		9	15	0	405	91	27.00	0	3

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)

1872 English season leading bowlers^[3]
Name	Team	Balls bowled	Runs conceded	Wickets taken	Average	Best bowling	5 wickets in innings	10 wickets in match
	Lancashire	857	232	41	5.65	7/23	7	3
	MCC	1239	359	37	9.70	7/14	5	2
	Gentlemen	1210	374	35	10.68	7/78	4	1
		844	332	31	10.70	6/23	3	0
		1238	427	38	11.23	6/36	4	0

Events

• An experiment took place at Lord's to study the effects of covering the pitch before the start of a match, the first time this is known to have been tried.^[4] Unlike the recently introduced heavy roller which became universally used by 1880 and produced significant changes in the game by eliminating previously ubiquitous shooters, covering was for a long time severely rejected in England:^[5] it was the wet summer of 1924^[6] before covering as regular practice was even considered and 1959 before it was considered "acceptable".
• 14 May: MCC lose seven wickets before their first run is scored on a sticky wicket at Lord's against James Southerton and William Marten of Surrey.^[7] Their ninth wicket falls at 8 - which would have been the lowest score in an important match for sixty-two years - but the last wicket doubles the score
• Prince's Cricket Ground hosted its first first-class match being between North and South on 16 May. Before being built on, it was generally praised for its wickets^[8] and the scenery surrounding the ground.

Notes

Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire played a third match at the short-lived Prince's Cricket Ground, Chelsea
Hampshire, though regarded until 1885 as first-class, played no inter-county matches between 1868 and 1869 or 1871 and 1874

Bibliography

• John Lillywhite’s Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1873
• James Lillywhite’s Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1873
• John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1873

Notes and References

1. Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53
2. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1872_f_Batting_by_Average.html First Class Batting in England in 1872
3. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1872_f_Bowling_by_Average.html First Class Bowling in England in 1872
4. [Rowland Bowen]
5. Rosenwater, Irving; "A History of Wicket-Covering in England"; in Preston, Norman (editor); Wisden Cricketers' Almanac; One Hundred and Seventh Edition (1970); pp. 131–146
6. Pardon, Sydney H. (editor); John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, Sixty-Second Edition (1925); Part I; p. 333
7. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/1/1734.html Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey in 1872
8. Rae, Simon; W. G. Grace: A Life; p. 106