1912 was the 23rd season of County Championship cricket in England. The much-criticised Triangular Tournament of Test Matches was held between England, Australia and South Africa. The contest was affected by one of the wettest summers on record and was never repeated. England retained the Ashes, having defeated Australia in one Test.
Honours County Championship – Yorkshire Minor Counties Championship – in abeyance Wisden (special commemoration) – John Wisden
Test series
England won one of its matches against weakened Australia 1–0 with two drawn. Against South Africa, England won all three matches. Despite the loss of seven key players due to a major dispute with management and professional commitments, Australia beat South Africa 2–0 with one match drawn. Cumulative record 1876–1912England40Australia35Drawn19
County Championship
CountyPlayedWonLostFirst InningsPoints %WonLostNo resultPossObtd1Yorkshire281317431259072.002Northamptonshire18101241856070.583Kent261453311258265.604Lancashire2282435855564.705Middlesex2074522905257.776Hampshire2473446905156.667Surrey26756531155850.438Nottinghamshire1855521854249.419Warwickshire2265344904347.4410Sussex286106421305240.0011Gloucestershire1838115651929.2312Derbyshire1827234701927.1413Leicestershire223132221002323.0014Somerset1628132701622.8515Essex1818234701420.0016Worcestershire20110063851112.94Details as recorded in John Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack Five points were awarded for a win. Three points were awarded for "winning" the first innings of a drawn match. One point was awarded for "losing" the first innings of a drawn match. Matches in which no result was achieved on the first innings were not included in calculating maximum possible points. Final placings were decided by calculating the percentage of possible points.
Minor Counties Championship Carmarthenshire dropped out of the competition for this season. Following a recommendation by Earl Norman in November 1911, the system used between 1907 and 1911 of grouping the Minor Counties by division was abandoned for 1912, and each county had to play minimum of four other counties.
In an unfortunate sequel to the season that would be repeated in 1933, the championship was listed as "in abeyance". According to the rules, Norfolk and Staffordshire, who finished first and second but had not met during the season, should have played a challenge match. However, Norfolk first said they could not play due to flooding at the end of August. Then Norfolk found that when the match was to be played, many of its best players had got away and the club could not raise a team. Originally it was thought Staffordshire would win the Championship by default, but after a lengthy inquiry the Minor Counties Cricket Association ruled on 26 September that the Championship would not be awarded, viewing the circumstances Norfolk were placed in as "exceptional". +1912 Minor Counties Championship tableCountyPlayedWonFirst inningsPoints%WonLostNo resultPossObtd1Norfolk87100403895.002Staffordshire125304403485.003Surrey Second Eleven73211302273.334Buckinghamshire63110301963.335Hertfordshire9 3410452862.226Durham83121352057.14Northumberland82311352057.148Cornwall84020402255.00Devon83210402255.009Glamorgan83101351851.4211Kent Second Eleven83021351748.57Lincolnshire72210351748.5713Dorset80401351234.2814Wiltshire81130401127.5015Berkshire7111035925.7116Cambridgeshire9023045920.00Monmouthshire8102135720.0018Bedfordshire8102040717.5019Suffolk7013035617.1420Cheshire800313538.57 Five points were awarded for a win. Three points were awarded for "winning" the first innings of a drawn match. One point was awarded for "losing" the first innings of a drawn match. Matches in which no result was achieved on the first innings were not included in calculating maximum possible points. Final placings were decided by calculating the percentage of possible points.
Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings) 1912 English season leading batsmenNameTeamMatchesInningsNot outsRunsHighest scoreAverage100sC. B. FryHampshire152621728258 not out72.007Alexander JohnstonHampshire14201104417554.943Warren BardsleyAustralians365262365184 not out51.418Phil MeadHampshire3452141933160 not out50.867Charlie MacartneyAustralians33491218720848.066Jack SharpLancashire24343137521144.354RanjitsinhjiSussex19282111317642.804David DentonYorkshire38544212722142.546Reggie SpoonerLancashire33493193913042.157Frank WoolleyKent35495182711741.522
Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls) 1912 English season leading bowlersNameTeamMatchesBalls bowledRuns concededWickets takenAverageBest bowling5 wicketsin innings10 wicketsin matchSydney BarnesEngland1123207826911.338/2983Douglas CarrKent1115537336112.018/3672Colin BlytheKent285517218317812.268/26168Schofield HaighYorkshire374882154112512.329/25113Sydney SmithNorthamptonshire223354126910012.698/3982Harry DeanLancashire276360221616213.678/59145Frank WoolleyKent354236180212614.307/25111Frank TarrantMiddlesexMCC315644207014014.787/40143Sid PeglerSouth Africans347721288518915.267/31173Aubrey FaulknerSouth Africans366091251416315.427/67164
Notes
References
Annual reviews John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1913
External links CricketArchive – season summaries