The 1874 English cricket season was the 11th since the legalisation of overarm bowling. W. G. Grace become the first player to perform the “double” in an English season. In 21 first-class matches, he scored 1,664 runs and took 140 wickets.

Champion County

Gloucestershire

Playing record (by county) Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53 County Played Won Lost Drawn Derbyshire 4 3 0 1 Gloucestershire 6 4 1 1 Kent 4 1 2 1 Lancashire 6 1 3 2 Middlesex 6 1 4 1 Nottinghamshire 8 5 3 0 Surrey 10 3 6 1 Sussex 8 1 5 2 Yorkshire 12 8 3 1

Leading batsmen (qualification 15 innings) 1874 English season leading batsmenFirst Class Batting in England in 1874 Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50sW. G. Grace GloucestershireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 21 32 0 1664 179 52.00 8 2Harry Jupp Surrey 21 37 2 1275 154 36.42 3 7A. N. Hornby LancashireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 8 15 2 365 72 28.07 0 3Henry Charlwood Sussex 16 30 5 701 100 28.04 1 2Fred Grace Gloucestershire 18 27 4 645 103 28.04 1 2

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls) 1874 English season leading bowlersFirst Class Bowling in England in 1874 Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wicketsin innings 10 wicketsin matchThomas Lang Oxford UniversityGloucestershire 1351 395 35 11.28 6/27 4 1Martin McIntyre NottinghamshireAll England Eleven 1002 408 36 11.33 6/18 3 0Allen Hill Yorkshire 3075 1156 105 11.44 8/48 10 5Tom Emmett Yorkshire 3790 1243 107 11.61 6/21 10 2James Southerton Surrey 4857 1576 128 12.31 8/70 13 4

Labels 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. Some sources give Derbyshire and though this was once accepted in some publications, including Wisden on the basis of the "least matches lost" principle, it has been superseded. 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, 1875 James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1875 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1875

Further reading