The 1865 English cricket season was the second since the legalisation of overarm bowling. W. G. Grace made his debut as a first-class player and the new Lancashire County Cricket Club played its first match.

Events 15 & 16 February: Earliest inter-colonial match in the West Indies was Barbados v. Demerara (now Guyana) at Bridgetown. This is recognised as the start of West Indian first-class cricket. 3 March: Formation of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, which became first-class in 1899.Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 182 22 June: W. G. Grace made his first-class debut playing for Gentlemen of the South v. Players of the South. This was a two-day match which his team won by an innings and 58 runs. Amazingly, he began his career with a duck: st HH Stephenson b G Bennett. However, he made up for this disappointment by taking 5-44 and 8-40 when aged just 16! Grace played in five matches during his debut season but he was still not attached to a first-class county (Gloucestershire did not become a first-class team until 1870). His other games in 1865 were for Gentlemen v. Players (twice), England v. Surrey and Gentlemen of England v. Gentlemen of Middlesex. Grace played until 1908, and remains peerless as a player and became known to history as "The Great Cricketer". A massive personality who was the sport's supreme all-rounder, but best remembered as a master batsman who conquered the uncertain pitch conditions of his early years before the heavy roller and motor mower eliminated deadly shooters and "bumping" or "flying" balls on the head.Green, Benny; Wisden Anthology 1864-1900 p. 604 His superiority over his contemporaries is astounding and only Don Bradman has a similar stature in the game's history. 18 July: The All England Eleven beat the three-year-old record for the highest first-class team total by scoring 524 against Yorkshire,Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 18. Published 1951 by Playfair Books with all eleven batsmen reaching double figures. 20 July: Lancashire County Cricket Club joined the list of teams generally accepted in the unofficial County Championship and played its initial first-class match against Middlesex at Old Trafford. 23 July: Edward Walker becomes the first bowler to twice take all ten wickets in an innings (having done so in 1859 for England against Surrey),Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 148 but despite this Lancashire win their inaugural first-class matchLancashire v Middlesex in 1865 (they would not win again until 1868) For the only time until 1895, multiple cases of all ten wickets in a first-class innings occur 10 August: Tom Humphrey becomes the first batsman to score 1,000 first-class runs in a season.Surrey v Hampshire in 1865 With the improvement of pitches this feat has been achieved every season since 1869 except the exceptionally cool and wet 1879 season. For the last time until 1972, no bowler took 100 first-class wickets, with James Lillywhite having the highest aggregate of 87First-Class Bowling by Wickets in 1865

Playing record (by county) County Played Won Lost Drawn Cambridgeshire 3 1 1 1 Hampshire 3 1 2 0 Kent 7 2 3 2 Lancashire 2 1 1 0 Middlesex 5 3 1 1 Nottinghamshire 7 6 1 0 Surrey 12 7 3 2 Sussex 7 1 4 2 Yorkshire 8 0 6 2 Wynne-Thomas; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53

Leading batsmen (qualification 10 innings) 1865 English season leading batsmenFirst Class Batting in England in 1865 Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50sWilliam Oscroft Nottinghamshire 9 13 1 518 107 43.16 1 4Richard Mitchell Oxford University 7 11 1 390 80 39.00 0 3Lord Cobham Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)Southgate 7 11 0 418 129 38.00 1 2Richard Daft NottinghamshireAll England Eleven 7 12 1 359 78 32.63 0 4George Parr NottinghamshireAll England Eleven 8 11 0 353 78 32.09 0 3

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls) 1865 English season leading bowlersFirst Class Bowling in England in 1865 Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wicketsin innings 10 wicketsin matchJem Shaw Nottinghamshire 1495 476 44 10.81 8/32 3 2John Jackson NottinghamshireAll England Eleven 1105 340 29 11.72 7/25 3 0George Wootton Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)NottinghamshireAll England Eleven 2527 977 84 11.91 10/54 8 5Thomas Hearne Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)Middlesex 1072 370 30 12.33 5/31 3 1James Lillywhite Sussex 3959 1147 87 13.18 7/30 8 2

Notes

References

Bibliography

Annual reviews Fred Lillywhite, The Guide to Cricketers, Lillywhite, 1866 John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1866 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1866

Further reading