1885 English cricket season

Cricket season review March 2015 May 2026 1884 1884 English cricket season 1886 1886 English cricket season The 1885 English cricket season was the 22nd since the legalisation of overarm bowling. It was the third in succession in which Nottinghamshire was proclaimed the champion county.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 Nottinghamshire Playing record (by county) Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 54 072701868X County Played Won Lost Drawn Derbyshire 9 3 4 2 Gloucestershire 14 6 7 1 Hampshire 10 2 8 0 Kent 11cancellation b b 6 3 2 Lancashire 11cancellation b b 6 3 2 Middlesex 10 2 7 1 Nottinghamshire 12 6 1 5 Somerset 6 1 5 0 Surrey 20 12 4 4 Sussex 14 3 9 2 Yorkshire 16 7 2 7 Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings) 1885 English seasonFirst Class Batting in England in 1885 Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50sArthur Shrewsbury Nottinghamshire 16 24 4 1130 224 not out 56.50 4 3Walter Read Surrey 27 42 0 1880 163 44.76 6 9WG Grace Gloucestershire 25 42 3 1688 221 not out 43.28 4 10William Gunn NottinghamshireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 27 43 3 1451 203 36.27 1 9Maurice Read Surrey 24 35 2 1137 186 not out 34.45 1 6 Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls) 1885 English seasonFirst Class Bowling in England in 1885 Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wicketsin innings 10 wicketsin matchJohnny Briggs Lancashire 2596 921 67 13.74 9/29 8 2William Attewell NottinghamshireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 5204 1218 87 14.00 6/27 6 1George Lohmann Surrey 5069 2037 142 14.34 8/18 9 3Alec Hearne Kent 2574 928 64 14.50 8/35 4 1William Roller Surrey 1666 537 37 14.51 5/34 1 0 Notable events 1 June – Kent captain Lord Harris writes a letter to Lancashire concerning the "unfair" bowling of Nash and Crossland and decides not to play Lancashire unless they refrain from employing those two bowlers – the refusal is maintained even when the pair drop out.Green, Benney; Wisden Anthology 1864-1900; pp. 333-338; 978-0-354-08555-7 On 17 July, Johnny Briggs and Dick Pilling playing for Lancashire against Surrey set a record stand for the tenth wicket of 173, which stands until 1899.Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 127. Published 1951 by Playfair Books. 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. cancellation b bThe return match between Kent and Lancashire was cancelled because Lord Harris objected to the bowling of two Lancashire players 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, 1887 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1887 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:1885 in English cricket Category:English cricket seasons in the 19th century