1872 English cricket season

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1872 English cricket season
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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
Derbyshire 2 0 2 0
Gloucestershire 7 3 1 3
Kent 4 0 4 0
Lancashire 4 4 0 0
Middlesex 3 0 3 0
Nottinghamshire[a] 7 2 0 5
Surrey 12 7 3 2
Sussex 6 3 2 1
Yorkshire[a] 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
WG Grace Gloucestershire
MCC		 20 32 7 1485 170 not out 57.11 6 6
Richard Daft Nottinghamshire 13 20 3 589 102 34.64 1 4
William Yardley Cambridge University
MCC		 11 19 3 529 130 33.06 1 2
Henry Charlwood Sussex 16 27 4 651 80 28.30 0 5
Frederick Fryer Cambridge University 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
William McIntyre Lancashire 857 232 41 5.65 7/23 7 3
George Wootton MCC 1239 359 37 9.70 7/14 5 2
David Buchanan Gentlemen 1210 374 35 10.68 7/78 4 1
Arthur Ridley Oxford University 844 332 31 10.70 6/23 3 0
George Howitt MCC
Middlesex		 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[]

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

References[]

  1. ^ Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53 ISBN 072701868X
  2. ^ First Class Batting in England in 1872
  3. ^ First Class Bowling in England in 1872
  4. ^ Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 p. 284.
  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. ^ Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey in 1872
  8. ^ Rae, Simon; W. G. Grace: A Life; p. 106 ISBN 0571195733

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
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