1878 English cricket season

Champion County

• Undecided

Playing record (by county)

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

Notable events

Main article: Australian cricket team in England in 1878

• Australia made the inaugural first-class tour of England by an overseas team.
• 25 – 27 July: Lancashire versus Gloucestershire at Old Trafford. This was the first time Gloucestershire visited Old Trafford and it caused ground records to be established. The match was drawn after rain interruptions. It has a special place because it ultimately formed the nostalgic inspiration for the famous poem At Lord's by Francis Thompson. In the second innings, the famed "run-stealers" A. N. Hornby and Dick Barlow shared an opening stand of 108, with Hornby going on to score 100. He also became involved in a ferocious argument with WG when a contentious "run-out" was claimed after the batsmen had stopped running because the ball had crossed the boundary. The run-out was finally overruled after WG even went so far as to ask the (Lancashire home) crowd if it had been a four after all. He knew all along that a four had been scored.
• 4 July: Allan Steel becomes the first bowler to take 100 wickets in his first full season of first-class cricket. He played one match in 1877.
• 31 July: Official formation of Northants County Cricket Club at a meeting in the George Hotel, Kettering.
• Alfred Shaw and Fred Morley bowl unchanged through five matches during the season. No other pair has ever managed more than three.
• Shaw becomes the second bowler after James Southerton in 1870 to top 200 wickets in a season.

Labels

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.

Middlesex, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire were all seen as having some claims to the "Championship", but the general consensus was that none of these teams could claim superiority

Notes

References

Bibliography

Annual reviews

• John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1879
• James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1879
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1879

References

1. "First-Class matches in England in 1772". CricketArchive.
2. Wisden. (1948). "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack". Sporting Handbooks Ltd.
3. Wynne-Thomas, Peter; ''The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records''; p. 53 {{ISBN. 072701868X
4. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1878_f_Batting_by_Average.html First Class Batting in England in 1878]
5. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1878_f_Bowling_by_Average.html First Class Bowling in England in 1878]
6. Webber, Roy; ''The Playfair Book of Cricket Records''; p. 177. Published 1951 by Playfair Books.
7. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2206.html Gentlemen v Players at the Oval in 1878]
8. Frindall, Bill (editor); ''The Wisden Book of Cricket Records'' (Fourth edition); pp. 285–289. {{ISBN. 0747222037