1864 in sports
# 1864 in sports

1864 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Association football

Events

* 7 December — Notts County, then called Notts FC, is formally established and remains the oldest club in the Football League

## Australian rules football

* Carlton Football Club was founded in Victoria on July.

## Baseball

National championship

* National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn Atlantics

Events

* The Atlantic club of Brooklyn, New York suffers only one early tie. One match is at Rochester against the Young Canadian club of Woodstock, Ontario, 75–11.
* New rules empower the umpire to "call" balls (bad pitches) and eventually award first base on balls, practically limiting the number of pitches and the length of each batsman's turn.

## Boxing

Events

* Tom King retires and the English Championship becomes vacant till 1866.
* American Champion Joe Coburn tries unsuccessfully to set up a fight with former English Champion Jem Mace. There are challenges to Coburn from Mike McCoole and Jimmy Elliott.

## Cricket

Events

* Law 10 is rewritten by MCC to allow a bowler to bring his arm through at any height providing he keeps it straight and does not "throw" the ball. The issue of overarm bowling has crystallised in the Willsher-Lillywhite incident of August 1862.
* The concept of a champion county gains popularity when newspapers begin to publish tables of inter-county match results
* 12 January — formation of Lancashire County Cricket Club at a meeting in Manchester
* 27–29 January — Otago v. Canterbury at Dunedin is the start of first-class cricket in New Zealand
* Madras v. Calcutta is the start of first-class cricket in India
* First issue of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

England

* Most runs – Will Mortlock 855 @ 34.20 (HS 105)
* Most wickets – James Grundy 99 @ 11.31 (BB 9–19)

## Golf

Major tournaments

* British Open – Tom Morris senior

## Horse racing

Events

* Inaugural running of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Springs, New York is won by Kentucky

England

* Grand National – Emblematic
* 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Tomato
* 2,000 Guineas Stakes – General Peel
* The Derby – Blair Athol
* The Oaks – Fille de l'Air
* St. Leger Stakes – Blair Athol

Australia

* Melbourne Cup – Lantern

Canada

* Queen's Plate – Brunette

## Rowing

The Boat Race

* 19 March — Oxford wins the 21st Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Other events

* 29 July — Yale wins the fifth Harvard–Yale Regatta, its first victory. The Race is resumed after three years off although the American Civil War will continue to next April.

## Rugby football

Events

* Foundation of Huddersfield RLFC which is the oldest Rugby Football League member
