1881 English cricket season

Cricket season review March 2015 May 2026 1880 1880 English cricket season 1882 1882 English cricket season The 1881 English cricket season was the 18th since the legalisation of overarm bowling. There was a first outright title win by Lancashire and a strike by the Nottinghamshire professionals, led by their main bowler Alfred Shaw, over benefits and terms.note status Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1772_f_Match_List.html First-Class matches in England in 1772 CricketArchive 29 November 2025 subscription However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.Wisden Preston Hubert Hubert Preston Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 85th Sporting Handbooks Ltd London 1948 813 851705816 Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.ACS 1982 4–5 Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant.ACS 1981 1–40 For further information, see First-class cricket. Champion County unofficial a a Lancashire Playing record (by county) County Played Won Lost Drawn Derbyshire 8 2 5 1 Gloucestershire 10 4 2 4 Hampshire 2 0 2 0 Kent 10 3 7 0 Lancashire 13match b b 10 0 3 Middlesex 9match b b 3 3 3 Nottinghamshire 12 4 4 4 Surrey 14 4 9 1 Sussex 12 3 8 1 Yorkshire 16 10 3 3 Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 54 072701868X Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings) 1881 English season leading batsmenFirst Class Batting in England in 1881 Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50sA. N. Hornby LancashireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 25 38 0 1534 188 40.36 3 7W. G. Grace Gloucestershire 13 22 1 792 182 37.71 2 4Charles Leslie Oxford UniversityMiddlesex 13 23 2 741 111 not out 35.28 2 5George Ulyett Yorkshire 24 40 2 1243 112 32.71 1 9Walter Read Surrey 16 30 1 931 160 32.10 1 6 Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls) 1881 English season leading bowlersFirst Class Bowling in England in 1881 Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wicketsin innings 10 wicketsin matchAllen Hill Yorkshire 1345 437 43 10.16 6/18 2 0George Nash Lancashire 1826 557 52 10.71 7/22 4 1Alec Watson Lancashire 3504 816 69 11.82 7/37 5 2Dick Barlow Lancashire 2988 940 79 11.89 8/29 5 2Tom Emmett Yorkshire 2438 919 76 12.09 8/22 6 1 Nottinghamshire strike Nottinghamshire's professionals, led by Alfred Shaw, held a strike over playing contracts agreed by the MCC and secretary Captain Henry Holden. The players demanded security of contract for all games during the season and the right to organise their own termsKynaston, David; WG’s Birthday Party; p. 28. 1408810115 rather than those set by the MCC, which during the 1870s as county cricket grew established a strong grip on terms for professional players. The dispute meant that seven of Nottinghamshire's top players did not play for the first half of the season, and leading batsman Arthur Shrewsbury played only three first-class games all year.When cricketers went on strike Shaw and Shrewsbury used the dispute to organise an eight-month tour of Australia and New Zealand during the winter. Notable events The scheduled 18 to 20 July county match between Lancashire and Middlesex was cancelled because Harrow Wanderers booked Lord's ground and no alternative arrangement could be made to play the game. Frederick Randon Sr was struck by a delivery that resulted in his death two years later in 1883.Famous cricketers: the Randons https://www.hathernhistory.co.uk/index.php/home/news-articles-3/186-hathern-famous-cricketers-the-randons subscription 2019-06-24 www.hathernhistory.co.uk See also Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1881 Labels unofficial a aAn 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. match b bThe match between Middlesex and Lancashire at Lord's was cancelled because Harrow Wanderers had booked the ground on the same day. Notes note References Bibliography ACS Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863 1981 ACS Nottingham https://archive.acscricket.com/online_library/match_guides/bi_imp_match_guide/index.html 85045528 ACS 1982 A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles ACS Nottingham https://archive.acscricket.com/online_library/match_guides/bi_match_guide/index.html 10586869 Warner Pelham Pelham Warner Lords: 1787–1945 1946 Harrap London 877106024 Annual reviews John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1882 James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1882 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1882 Further reading Altham H. S. Harry Altham E. W. Swanton E. W. Swanton A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) 5th 1962 George Allen & Unwin London 894274808 Birley Derek Derek Birley A Social History of English Cricket 1999 Aurum Press London 978-18-54107-10-7 https://archive.org/details/socialhistoryofe0000birl_d1n5 Internet Archive Bowen Rowland Rowland Bowen Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development 1970 Eyre & Spottiswoode London 978-04-13278-60-9 Major John John Major More Than A Game 2007 HarperCollins London 978-00-07183-64-7 https://archive.org/details/morethangamestor0000majo_b8t0 Internet Archive Category:1881 in English cricket Category:English cricket seasons in the 19th century