1864 English cricket season

Inter-county cricket

The first-class county teams in 1864 were: Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Notts, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire. The unofficial concept of a "champion county" took a new turn when periodicals began publishing tables of inter-county results, although there was still no formal or agreed method of deciding positions in the table. Haygarth usually refers to 'generally agreed' when announcing the Champion County.

Events

• Law 10 was rewritten by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to allow a bowler to bring his arm through at any height providing he kept it straight and did not throw the ball. The issue of overarm bowling had crystallised in the Willsher-Lillywhite incident of August 1862.
• 12 January – formation of Lancashire County Cricket Club at a meeting in Manchester.
• 27–29 January – Otago v. Canterbury at Dunedin was the start of first-class cricket in New Zealand.
• Madras v. Calcutta was the start of first-class cricket in India.
• First issue of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. It was titled John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack until the 1937 edition.
• 6–7 June – Middlesex County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at Islington
• 9 June – Playing for MCC against Oxford University, H.E. Bull becomes only the second player, and the first since 1827, to be dismissed hit the ball twice in a first-class game.
• 7–8 July – Hampshire County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at the Antelope Ground, Southampton
• 11–12 July – First appearance of WG Grace in a "big" match, though his first-class debut would not occur until the following season.
• MCC finally purchased the freehold of Lord's Cricket Ground for £18,333 6s 8d with money advanced by William Nicholson.

Leading batsmen (qualification 10 innings)

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)

Notes

References

Bibliography

Annual reviews

• Fred Lillywhite, The Guide to Cricketers, Lillywhite, 1865
• John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1865
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1865

References

1. "First-Class matches in England in 1772". CricketArchive.
2. Wisden. (1948). "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack". Sporting Handbooks Ltd.
3. First Class Cricket Matches 1864 - ACS - Nottingham
4. Table of inter-county results according to [[Rowland Bowen]]: see ESPNcricinfo
5. "wins minus losses", as used during the first few official [[County Championship]] seasons
6. Wynne-Thomas, Peter; ''The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records''; p. 93 {{ISBN. 072701868X
7. [http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/539622.html Nottingham v Sheffield in 1827]
8. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/1/1320.html Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University in 1864]
9. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/108/108379.html Scorecard of Surrey Club and Ground v South Wales Cricket Club.]
10. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1864_f_Batting_by_Average.html First Class Batting in England in 1864]
11. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1864_f_Bowling_by_Average.html First Class Bowling in England in 1864]