1895 English cricket season

Cricket season review March 2015 March 2015 1894 1894 English cricket season 1896 1896 English cricket season The 1895 English cricket season featured the sixth edition of the County Championship. It was the first season in which the official definition of first-class cricket was activated, following the 1894 ruling.note status Any match listed in the ACS' Important Match Guide (1981) is historically important, and therefore of the highest standard, whether or not a scorecard might exist. The same applies to numerous matches discovered by researchers since 1981.ACS 1981 1–40 For further information, see First-class cricket. Surrey won the championship for the fifth time in six years, despite increased competition, as the tournament was expanded from nine to fourteen teams. The points system was changed as the teams played differing numbers of matches and the new system involved division of the number of points gained by the number of matches that had ended in either a win or a loss. Draws were thus completely disregarded, as they gave zero points. Derbyshire was the best of the rookie teams, finishing in fifth place. Another championship made its bow as this season was the first to stage the Minor Counties Championship. The inaugural title was shared by three teams: Durham, Norfolk and Worcestershire. In the early part of the season, improved batting conditions and long spells of dry weather enabled much heavier scoring than in previous seasons. There were a number of very large scores up until mid-July, when Archie MacLaren played his famous innings of 424 for Lancashire against Somerset at Taunton. After that, rain returned and most pitches from 20 July onwards were "sticky wickets", with the result that bowlers dominated the latter part of the season. Charlie Townsend in particular was able to generate prodigious spin of the ball on these treacherous pitches and took 122 wickets in the last 11 county games. Other established bowlers like Peel, Richardson, Mold and Briggs were very difficult to bat against. At the age of 46 (when the season began), W. G. Grace enjoyed a remarkable career revival and was the leading run-scorer in all first-class matches, averaging over 50. He became the first player ever to score 1,000 runs during the month of May and also the first to reach the career landmark of one hundred first-class centuries. Honours County Championship - Surrey Minor Counties Championship - Durham, Norfolk, Worcestershire (shared title) Wisden - WG Grace County Championship 1895 County Championship Final table County Championship 1895 - Final Standings Team P W L D A Pts GC1 Pts/GC (as %) 1 Surrey 2617451132161.902 Lancashire 2214431101855.563 Yorkshire 261475072133.334 Gloucestershire 18864201414.295 Derbyshire 16 5 4 7 0 1 9 11.116 Middlesex 1866600120.006Warwickshire 18 6 6600120.008Somerset 186831-214-14.299 Essex 16 5 7 4 0 -2 12 -16.6710Hampshire 16 6 9 1 0 -3 15 -20.0011 Sussex 185940-41428.5712 Leicestershire 16 3 10 3 0-7 13 -53.8512Nottinghamshire 1831050-713-53.8514Kent 1831140-814-57.14 1 Games completed Points system: 1 for a win 0 for a draw, a tie or an abandoned match -1 for a loss Most runs in the County Championship 1895 County Championship - leading batsmen Name Team Matches Runs Average 100s 50sBobby Abel Surrey 26 1787 51.05 4 6Albert Ward Lancashire 21 1446 43.81 1 11WG Grace Gloucestershire 18 1424 50.85 4 3Ranjitsinhji Sussex 18 1364 41.33 2 10John Tunnicliffe Yorkshire 26 1167 27.13 2 6 Most wickets in the County Championship 1895 County Championship - leading bowlers Name Team Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken AverageTom Richardson Surrey 25 6773 239 13.78Arthur Mold Lancashire 21 6484 182 13.71Bobby Peel Yorkshire 24 6884 136 14.80George Herbert Hirst Yorkshire 26 5516 130 16.93Charlie Townsend Gloucestershire 12 3376 124 12.58 Overall first-class statistics Leading batsmen 1895 English cricket season - leading batsmen Name Team(s) Matches Runs Average 100s 50sWG Grace England, Gentlemen, Gloucestershire, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South of England 29 2346 51.00 9 5Bobby Abel Players, South of England, Surrey 32 2057 44.71 5 6Albert Ward England, Lancashire, North of England, Players 27 1790 42.61 2 12Ranjitsinhji England, Sussex 21 1775 49.30 4 11Andrew Stoddart Gentlemen, I Zingari, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Middlesex, South of England 25 1622 37.72 2 11 Leading bowlers 1895 English cricket season - leading bowlers Name Team(s) Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken AverageTom Richardson Players, South of England Surrey 31 8456 290 14.37Arthur Mold England, Lancashire, North of England, Players 27 8143 213 15.96Bobby Peel North of England, Players, Yorkshire 32 8509 180 14.97Walter Mead England, Essex, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South of England 23 6034 179 14.55George Herbert Hirst North of England, Yorkshire 32 6312 150 17.06 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 James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1896 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1896 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:1895 in English cricket 1895