1864 English cricket season
# 1864 English cricket season

1864 was the 78th season of cricket in England (since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)). It was a significant year in cricket history, as it saw the legalisation of overarm bowling and the first edition of John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanac.

## Inter-county cricket

The first-class county teams in 1864 were: Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Notts, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire. The unofficial concept of a "champion county" took a new turn when periodicals began publishing tables of inter-county results, although there was still no formal or agreed method of deciding positions in the table. Haygarth usually refers to 'generally agreed' when announcing the Champion County.

## Events

* Law 10 was rewritten by the MCC to allow a bowler to bring his arm through at any height providing he kept it straight and did not throw the ball. The issue of overarm bowling had crystallised in the Willsher-Lillywhite incident of August 1862.
* 12 January – formation of Lancashire County Cricket Club at a meeting in Manchester.
* 27–29 January – Otago v. Canterbury at Dunedin was the start of first-class cricket in New Zealand.
* Madras v. Calcutta was the start of first-class cricket in India.
* First issue of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. It was titled John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanac until the 1937 edition.
* 6–7 June – Middlesex County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at Islington
* 9 June – Playing for MCC against Oxford University, H.E. Bull becomes only the second player, and the first since 1827, to be dismissed hit the ball twice in a first-class game.
* 7–8 July – Hampshire County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at the Antelope Ground, Southampton
* 11–12 July – First appearance of WG Grace in a "big" match, though his first-class debut would not occur until the following season.
* MCC finally purchased the freehold of Lord's Cricket Ground for £18,333 6s 8d with money advanced by William Nicholson.

## Leading batsmen (qualification 10 innings)

1864 English season leading batsmen :

| Name | Team | Matches | Inns | Not outs | Runs | Hig score | 100s | Av |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| George Anderson | Yorkshire | 6 | 11 | 5 | 255 | 99* | 0 | 42.50 |
| Heathfield Stephenson | Surrey & All England Eleven | 15 | 25 | 4 | 824 | 119 | 2 | 39.23 |
| Will Mortlock | Surrey County Cricket Club | 18 | 25 | 0 | 855 | 105 | 1 | 34.20 |
| Tom Hayward Sr. | Cambridgeshire | 8 | 12 | 0 | 355 | 66 | 0 | 29.58 |
| Bob Carpenter | Cambridgeshire | 8 | 11 | 1 | 270 | 52 | 0 | 27.00 |

## Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)

1864 English season leading bowlers :

| Name | Team | Balls | Runs | Wickets | Best | 5w inns | 10w match | Av |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| George Tarrant | Cambridgeshire | 1610 | 590 | 67 | 7/30 | 8 | 4 | 8.80 |
| James Grundy | MCC & Nottinghamshire | 3466 | 1109 | 99 | 9/19 | 10 | 2 | 11.31 |
| William Fuller-Maitland | Oxford University | 1117 | 521 | 48 | 8/48 | 4 | 2 | 11.84 |
| Edward Walker | Middlesex & Southgate | 1054 | 519 | 42 | 9/63 | 4 | 2 | 12.35 |
| Edgar Willsher | Kent & All England Eleven | 3486 | 1065 | 79 | 7/47 | 6 | 0 | 13.48 |
