1881 English cricket season

The 1881 English cricket season saw a first outright title win by Lancashire, but is best known for a strike by the Nottinghamshire professionals, led by champion slow bowler Alfred Shaw, over benefits and terms.^[1]

Champion County^[a]

Lancashire

Playing record (by county)^[2]

County	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
Derbyshire	8	2	5	1
Gloucestershire	10	4	2	4
Hampshire	2	0	2	0
Kent	10	3	7	0
Lancashire	13^[b]	10	0	3
Middlesex	9^[b]	3	3	3
Nottinghamshire	12	4	4	4
Surrey	14	4	9	1
Sussex	12	3	8	1
Yorkshire	16	10	3	3

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1881 English season leading batsmen^[3]
Name	Team	Matches	Innings	Not outs	Runs	Highest score	Average	100s	50s
Monkey Hornby	Lancashire MCC	25	38	0	1534	188	40.36	3	7
WG Grace	Gloucestershire	13	22	1	792	182	37.71	2	4
Charles Leslie	Oxford University Middlesex	13	23	2	741	111 not out	35.28	2	5
George Ulyett	Yorkshire	24	40	2	1243	112	32.71	1	9
Walter Read	Surrey	16	30	1	931	160	32.10	1	6

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1881 English season leading bowlers^[4]
Name	Team	Balls bowled	Runs conceded	Wickets taken	Average	Best bowling	5 wickets in innings	10 wickets in match
Allen Hill	Yorkshire	1345	437	43	10.16	6/18	2	0
George Nash	Lancashire	1826	557	52	10.71	7/22	4	1
Alec Watson	Lancashire	3504	816	69	11.82	7/37	5	2
Dick Barlow	Lancashire	2988	940	79	11.89	8/29	5	2
Tom Emmett	Yorkshire	2438	919	76	12.09	8/22	6	1

Nottinghamshire strike

Nottinghamshire’s professionals, led by Alfred Shaw, held a strike over playing contracts agreed by the MCC and secretary Captain Henry Holden. The players demanded security of contract for all games during the season and the right to organise their own terms^[5] rather than those set by the MCC, which during the 1870s as county cricket grew established a strong grip on terms for professional players.^[5]

The dispute meant that seven of Nottinghamshire’s top players did not play for the first half of the season, and leading batsman Arthur Shrewsbury played only three first-class games all year.^[1] Shaw and Shrewsbury used the dispute to organise an eight-month tour of Australia and New Zealand during the winter.^[1]

Notable events

The scheduled 18 to 20 July county match between Lancashire and Middlesex was cancelled because Harrow Wanderers booked Lord’s ground and no alternative arrangement could be made to play the game.

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.
^b The match between Middlesex and Lancashire at Lord’s was cancelled because Harrow Wanderers had booked the ground on the same day.

References

1 2 3 When cricketers went on strike
↑ Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 54 ISBN 072701868X
↑ First Class Batting in England in 1881
↑ First Class Bowling in England in 1881
1 2 Kynaston, David; WG’s Birthday Party; p. 28. ISBN 1408810115

Annual reviews

John Lillywhite’s Cricketer’s Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1882
James Lillywhite’s Cricketers’ Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1882
John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack 1882

External links

CricketArchive – season summaries

English cricket seasons

Historic era

1597 to 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824

Pre-County Championship era

1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

County Championship era

1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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