The 1872 English cricket season was the ninth since the legalisation of overarm bowling.
The first experiment in pitch covering was carried out. Prince's Cricket Ground opened in Chelsea, London.
Playing record (by county) 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 7 2 0 5 Surrey 12 7 3 2 Sussex 6 3 2 1 Yorkshire 9 2 6 1 Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53
Leading batsmen (qualification 15 innings) 1872 English season leading batsmenFirst Class Batting in England in 1872 Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50sWG Grace GloucestershireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 20 32 7 1485 170 not out 57.11 6 6Richard Daft Nottinghamshire 13 20 3 589 102 34.64 1 4William Yardley Cambridge UniversityMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 11 19 3 529 130 33.06 1 2Henry Charlwood Sussex 16 27 4 651 80 28.30 0 5Frederick Fryer Cambridge University 9 15 0 405 91 27.00 0 3
Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls) 1872 English season leading bowlersFirst Class Bowling in England in 1872 Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wicketsin innings 10 wicketsin matchWilliam McIntyre Lancashire 857 232 41 5.65 7/23 7 3George Wootton Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 1239 359 37 9.70 7/14 5 2David Buchanan Gentlemen 1210 374 35 10.68 7/78 4 1Arthur Ridley Oxford University 844 332 31 10.70 6/23 3 0George Howitt Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)Middlesex 1238 427 38 11.23 6/36 4 0
Events 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.Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 p. 284. 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: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 it was the wet summer of 1924Pardon, Sydney H. (editor); John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, Sixty-Second Edition (1925); Part I; p. 333 before covering as regular practice was even considered and 1959 before it was considered "acceptable". 14 May: Marylebone Cricket Club (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.Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey in 1872 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 wicketsRae, Simon; W. G. Grace: A Life; p. 106 and the scenery surrounding the ground.
Labels Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire played a third match at the short-lived Prince's Cricket Ground, Chelsea Hampshire, though regarded until 1885 as first-class, played no inter-county matches between 1868 and 1869 or 1871 and 1874
Notes
References
Bibliography
Annual reviews John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1873 James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1873 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1873
Further reading