1880 English cricket season

1880 was the 94th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The second tour by a representative Australian team was undertaken and they took part in the (retrospective) first Test match to be played in England. County cricket was dominated by the Nottinghamshire bowlers Alfred Shaw and Fred Morley.

Champion County

^[a]

Nottinghamshire

Playing record (by county)

County	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
Derbyshire	8	2	5	1
Gloucestershire	10	4	1	5
Hampshire	2	0	2	0
Kent	10	5	3	2
Lancashire	12	6	3	3
Middlesex	8	2	4	2
Nottinghamshire	10	6	1	3
Surrey	14	2	7	5
Sussex	8	2	4	2
Yorkshire	14	5	4	5

^[1]

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1880 English season leading batsmen^[2]
Name	Team(s)	Matches	Innings	Not outs	Runs	Highest score	Average	100s	50s
WG Grace	Gloucestershire England	16	27	3	951	152	39.62	2	5
Lord Harris	Kent MCC England	16	26	2	772	123	32.16	1	5
Alexander Webbe	Middlesex England	14	24	1	708	142	30.78	1	2
Ivo Bligh	Cambridge University Kent	21	38	5	1013	105	30.69	1	8
Billy Barnes	Nottinghamshire MCC England	28	47	4	1220	143	28.37	2	5

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1880 English season leading bowlers^[3]
Name	Team	Balls bowled	Runs conceded	Wickets taken	Average	Best bowling	5 wickets in innings	10 wickets in match
Alfred Shaw	Nottinghamshire MCC England	8532	1589	186	8.54	8/31	14	5
Frederick Jellicoe	Oxford University Hampshire	1045	301	32	9.40	7/23	3	1
George Nash	Lancashire	1501	471	49	9.61	8/31	4	2
Arnold Rylott	MCC	1162	394	39	10.10	7/43	6	1
Dick Barlow	Lancashire	2439	639	62	10.30	7/16	4	1

Notable events

The first Test match in England was played at The Oval from 6 to 8 September and England won by five wickets.
Alfred Shaw achieved the lowest-ever average by any bowler taking over 100 first-class wickets.^[4] No bowler has had a single-figure average for over 100 wickets since.

Notes

^a 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.

References

^ Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 54 ISBN 072701868X
^ First Class Batting in England in 1880
^ First Class Bowling in England in 1880
^ Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 173. Published 1951 by Playfair Books

Annual reviews

John Lillywhite’s Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1881
James Lillywhite’s Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1881
John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack 1881

External links

CricketArchive – season summaries

[1] Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 54 ISBN 072701868X

[2] First Class Batting in England in 1880

[3] First Class Bowling in England in 1880

[4] Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 173. Published 1951 by Playfair Books

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