1876 English cricket season

1876 was the 90th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Gloucestershire reclaimed the unofficial "Champion County" title. A relatively dry summer[1] and improvements to pitches via the heavy roller[2] saw several batting records broken.

1876 English cricket season

Champion County

[a]

Playing record (by county)

CountyPlayedWonLostTiedDrawn
Derbyshire62400
Gloucestershire85003
Hampshire43100
Kent104600
Lancashire105500
Middlesex61113
Nottinghamshire104303
Surrey122811
Sussex83401
Yorkshire105203

[3]

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1876 English season leading batsmen[4]
Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50s
WG GraceGloucestershire
MCC
26464262234462.42710
Walter GilbertGloucestershire17272907205 not out36.2821
Richard DaftNottinghamshire
All England Eleven
183029769934.8506
Ephraim LockwoodYorkshire
All England Eleven
254451261108 not out32.3319
Lord HarrisKent
MCC
1730191615431.5814

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1876 English season leading bowlers[5]
Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wickets
in innings
10 wickets
in match
William McIntyreLancashire275210168911.417/3391
Alec WatsonLancashire21616405112.547/6132
William MycroftDerbyshire
MCC
All England Eleven
309112119512.749/2592
Arthur RidleyHampshire
MCC
18857055313.306/3663
Alfred ShawNottinghamshire
MCC
All England Eleven
10526260119113.618/37218

Events

  • 14 January: Formation of Essex County Cricket Club at a meeting in the Shire Hall, Chelmsford. There had been previous county organisations in Essex going back to the 18th century, mainly around the famous Hornchurch club.
  • 20 June: At the soon-to-be-built-on Prince's Cricket Ground, Oxford University made the first total of 600 in a first-class match[6] when they scored 612 against Middlesex with William Game top scoring with 141.
  • 27 June: Game became the first Oxonian to score a century against Cambridge, scoring 109[7]
  • In August, W.G. Grace made his highest first-class score of 344, for MCC v Kent at Canterbury in August. Two days later he made 177 for Gloucestershire v Notts, and two days after that scored 318 not out for Gloucestershire v Yorkshire, the latter two innings against counties with exceptionally strong bowling attacks. Thus in three consecutive innings Grace scored 839 runs, and was only out twice. Grace's 344 was the first triple century scored in first class cricket. William Ward's 278 scored in 1820 had stood as a record for 56 years; within a week Grace had bettered it twice.
  • Grace also become the first player to score 2000 runs and take 100 wickets in a season: 2622 runs and 130 wickets in 26 matches. His feat was not equalled until Charlie Townsend in 1899.
  • Alfred Shaw became the first bowler to bowl 10,000 balls in a season, a feat he was to repeat in 1878 but was not equalled again until J.T. Hearne in 1896. His actual total of 10,526 balls was not bettered until Tich Freeman's record season in 1928.

Notes

a An unofficial seasonal title sometimes proclaimed by consensus of media and historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted. Although there are ante-dated claims prior to 1873, when residence qualifications were introduced, it is only since that ruling that any quasi-official status can be ascribed.

References

  1. England and Wales seasonal Precipitation
  2. "The Memorial biography of Dr. W.G. Grace"
  3. Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53 ISBN 072701868X
  4. First Class Batting in England in 1876
  5. First Class Bowling in England in 1876
  6. Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 18. Published 1951 by Playfair Books
  7. Caine, C. Stewart (editor); John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack; Seventieth Edition (1933); pp. 245–246

Annual reviews

  • John Lillywhite’s Cricketer’s Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1877
  • James Lillywhite’s Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1877
  • John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1877
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