1864 English cricket season
Encyclopedia
The 1864 English cricket season was an important year in cricket history, as it saw the legalisation of overarm bowling
and the first edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
.
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. Most tables were therefore ordered alphabetically and any views about a championship at this time are purely subjective.
Overarm bowling
In cricket, overarm bowling refers to a delivery in which the bowler's hand is above shoulder height. This is in contrast to a roundarm delivery, where the hand is between shoulder height and waist height; and an underarm delivery where the bowler's hand is below waist height.After roundarm was...
and the first edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
.
Inter-county cricket
The first-classFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
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. Most tables were therefore ordered alphabetically and any views about a championship at this time are purely subjective.
| Team | P | W | L | D | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surrey Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions... |
8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Cambridgeshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy.The club is based at The Avenue... |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Sussex Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a... |
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Middlesex Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the... |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws... |
7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |
| 6 | Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure.... |
7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| 7 | Hampshire Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it... |
4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 8 | Kent Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent... |
7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
Events
- Law 10 was rewritten by the MCCMarylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
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 CCC at a meeting in Manchester.
- 27-29 January – Otago v. Canterbury at DunedinDunedinDunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
was the start of first-class cricket in New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. - Madras v. Calcutta was the start of first-class cricket in IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. - First issue of Wisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
. - 6-7 June – Middlesex CCC played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at Islington
- 7-8 July – Hampshire CCC played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at the Antelope GroundAntelope GroundThe Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St...
, Southampton - 11-12 July – First appearance of WG Grace in a "big" match, though his first-classFirst-class cricketFirst-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut would not occur till the following season. - MCC finally purchased the freehold of Lord's Cricket GroundLord's Cricket GroundLord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
for £18,333 6s 8d with money advanced by William Nicholson.
Leading bowlers
James Grundy was the leading wicket-taker with 99 @ 11.31External sources
Annual reviews
- Fred LillywhiteFred LillywhiteFrederick Lillywhite was a sports outfitter and cricketing entrepreneur, who organised the first overseas cricket tour by an English team and published a number of reference works about cricket.-Cricketing dynasty:...
, The Guide to Cricketers, Lillywhite, 1865 - John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1865
- Arthur HaygarthArthur HaygarthArthur Haygarth was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians....
, Scores & Biographies, Volume 8 (1863-1864), Lillywhite, 1865