1890 County Championship
The 1890 County Championship was the first County Championship held as an official competition, following agreement between Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the leading county clubs at a meeting in December 1889. Surrey became the first official county champions after winning nine out of fourteen games.
| Cricket format | First-class cricket (3 days) |
|---|---|
| Tournament format(s) | League system |
| Champions | Surrey (1st title) |
| Participants | 8 |
| Matches | 54 |
| Most runs | Arthur Shrewsbury (1,082 for Nottinghamshire)[1] |
| Most wickets | George Lohmann (113 for Surrey)[2] |
Constitution of the official championship
The official County Championship was constituted in a meeting at Lord's on 10 December 1889 which was called to enable club secretaries to determine the 1890 fixtures. While this was going on, representatives of the eight leading county clubs held a private meeting to discuss the method by which the County Championship should in future be decided. A majority were in favour of "ignoring drawn games altogether and settling the championship by wins and losses."[3] Under this system defeats were subtracted from victories and the county with the highest total were champions. The new competition, which had official sanction, began in the 1890 season and initially featured Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire.
1890 County Championship
The 1890 County Championship was the first officially organised edition. It ran from 12 May to 28 August. Surrey, who had been unofficially proclaimed "Champion County" by sections of the press after the previous season,[4] became the first official champions by winning nine of their fourteen matches.[5]
Fixtures
May
|
12–14 May 1890 |
Gloucestershire (H) |
v |
Yorkshire won by 8 Wickets |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
15–17 May 1890 |
Middlesex (H) |
v |
Kent won by 39 runs |
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
15–17 May |
Nottinghamshire (H) |
v |
Nottinghamshire won by an Innings and 266 runs |
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Final table
One point was awarded for a win, and one point was taken away for each loss, therefore:
- 1 for a win
- 0 for a draw
- -1 for a loss
| Team | Pld | W | T | L | D | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey | 14 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Lancashire | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Kent | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Yorkshire | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Nottinghamshire | 14 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Gloucestershire | 14 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 3 | –1 |
| Middlesex | 12 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | –5 |
| Sussex | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | –10 |
| Source:[5] | ||||||
Statistical summary
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References
- "Batting in 1890 County Championship (Ordered by Runs)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- "Bowling in 1890 County Championship (Ordered by Wickets)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. 1889. p. 479.
- Scyld Berry (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 146th edition (2009 ed.). John Wisden & Co., Ltd. p. 542. ISBN 978-1-905625-16-1.
- "County Championship 1890 table". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
Bibliography
- Lillywhite. James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly) (1891 ed.). Lillywhite.
- Wisden. Pardon, Charles (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 28th edition (1891 ed.). London: John Wisden & Co. Ltd.
External links
- Cricket in England in 1890
- 1890 County Championship at CricketArchive