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1872 English cricket season

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1872 English cricket season
1871
1873

In the 1872 cricket season, the first experiment in pitch covering was carried out. Prince's Cricket Ground opened in Chelsea, London.

Playing record (by county)

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County Played Won Lost Drawn
Derbyshire 2 0 2 0
Gloucestershire 7 3 1 3
Kent 4 0 4 0
Lancashire 4 4 0 0
Middlesex 3 0 3 0
Nottinghamshire[a] 7 2 0 5
Surrey 12 7 3 2
Sussex 6 3 2 1
Yorkshire[a] 9 2 6 1

[1]

Leading batsmen (qualification 15 innings)

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1872 English season leading batsmen[2]
Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50s
WG Grace Gloucestershire
MCC
20 32 7 1485 170 not out 57.11 6 6
Richard Daft Nottinghamshire 13 20 3 589 102 34.64 1 4
William Yardley Cambridge University
MCC
11 19 3 529 130 33.06 1 2
Henry Charlwood Sussex 16 27 4 651 80 28.30 0 5
Frederick Fryer Cambridge University 9 15 0 405 91 27.00 0 3

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)

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1872 English season leading bowlers[3]
Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wickets
in innings
10 wickets
in match
William McIntyre Lancashire 857 232 41 5.65 7/23 7 3
George Wootton MCC 1239 359 37 9.70 7/14 5 2
David Buchanan Gentlemen 1210 374 35 10.68 7/78 4 1
Arthur Ridley Oxford University 844 332 31 10.70 6/23 3 0
George Howitt MCC
Middlesex
1238 427 38 11.23 6/36 4 0

Events

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  • An experiment took place at Lord's to study the effects of covering the pitch before the start of a match, the first time this is known to have been tried.[4] Unlike the recently introduced heavy roller which became universally used by 1880 and produced significant changes in the game by eliminating previously ubiquitous shooters, covering was for a long time severely rejected in England:[5] it was the wet summer of 1924[6] before covering as regular practice was even considered and 1959 before it was considered "acceptable".
  • 14 May: MCC lose seven wickets before their first run is scored on a sticky wicket at Lord's against James Southerton and William Marten of Surrey.[7] Their ninth wicket falls at 8 - which would have been the lowest score in an important match for sixty-two years - but the last wicket doubles the score
  • Prince's Cricket Ground hosted its first first-class match being between North and South on 16 May. Before being built on, it was generally praised for its wickets[8] and the scenery surrounding the ground.

Notes

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a Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire played a third match at the short-lived Prince's Cricket Ground, Chelsea
b Hampshire, though regarded until 1885 as first-class, played no inter-county matches between 1868 and 1869 or 1871 and 1874

References

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  1. ^ Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53 ISBN 072701868X
  2. ^ First Class Batting in England in 1872
  3. ^ First Class Bowling in England in 1872
  4. ^ Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 p. 284.
  5. ^ Rosenwater, Irving; "A History of Wicket-Covering in England"; in Preston, Norman (editor); Wisden Cricketers' Almanac; One Hundred and Seventh Edition (1970); pp. 131–146
  6. ^ Pardon, Sydney H. (editor); John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, Sixty-Second Edition (1925); Part I; p. 333
  7. ^ Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey in 1872
  8. ^ Rae, Simon; W. G. Grace: A Life; p. 106 ISBN 0571195733

Bibliography

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  • John Lillywhite’s Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1873
  • James Lillywhite’s Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1873
  • John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1873