1886 English cricket season

1886 English cricket season
Cricket formats Test and first-class

The 1886 English cricket season saw the temporary relegation of both Hampshire and Somerset from first-class status. It also saw England beat Australia three-nil in the Ashes series for the only time to date.

Champion County[a]

Playing record (by county)[1]

County Played Won Lost Drawn
Derbyshire 9 0 8 1
Gloucestershire 13 3 6 4
Kent 14 5 6 3
Lancashire 14 5 5 4
Middlesex 10 3 4 3
Nottinghamshire 14 7 0 7
Surrey 16 12 3 1
Sussex 12 4 6 2
Yorkshire 16 4 5 7

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1886 English season leading batsmen[2]
Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50s
Arthur Shrewsbury Nottinghamshire
England		 24 38 5 1404 227 not out 42.54 3 8
Walter Read Surrey
England		 28 46 3 1825 120 42.44 4 12
WG Grace Gloucestershire
MCC
England		 33 55 3 1846 170 35.50 4 9
Maurice Read Surrey
England		 26 43 4 1364 186 34.97 2 7
Lord Harris Kent 12 20 0 644 76 32.20 0 7

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1886 English season leading bowlers[3]
Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wickets
in innings		 10 wickets
in match
Alec Watson Lancashire 4752 1109 100 11.09 7/15 8 3
Frederick Martin Kent 1182 327 29 11.27 7/41 4 1
Tom Emmett Yorkshire 5103 1591 124 12.83 7/33 10 2
William Attewell Nottinghamshire 5094 1246 96 12.97 9/23 7 2
Tom Bowley Surrey 3899 1219 88 13.85 7/64 5 1

Australian tour

The Australians (referred to at the time as the "colonials") toured England for the fifth time in 1886; however their results did not equal those of previous tours. Of a total of thirty-nine games, they won only nine, lost eight and drew twenty-two, which is the second worst record by a touring Australian side after the 1890 team.[4]

Their poor results, including the loss of all three Tests with the last two being lost by an innings, were due to the decline of the key players, such as Fred Spofforth and Eugene Palmer who had made the 1882 team so strong, along with the absence of their former captain Billy Murdoch who was later to settle in England and assist Sussex.

George Giffen headed both the batting and bowling averages for the tourists, and achieved the rare feat of twice taking sixteen wickets in a match during the season, with sixteen for 65 against Derbyshire and sixteen for 103 against Lancashire. No player was to again achieve the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets until Giffen returned to England in 1893.

Events

Somerset did not play any other first-class counties and dropped out of the Championship until 1891.

Hampshire ceased to be a first-class county after years of difficult circumstances and poor results. They did play matches against Surrey and Sussex in 1886 but these matches are not recognised as first-class. Hampshire did not recover first-class status until the beginning of the 1895 season when they were readmitted to the Championship.

George Ulyett achieved the unusual feat of scoring 1,000 runs with an average of under twenty, with 1,005 runs in 52 innings at an average of 19.78.[2]

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

Annual reviews

External links

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