1896 County Championship

The 1896 County Championship was the seventh officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 4 May to 31 August 1896. Yorkshire County Cricket Club claimed victory that year, winning 16 of their 26 matches and losing only three.[1] Five of Yorkshire's players made over 1,000 runs in the season, including John Brown who was placed third nationally,[2] while Yorkshireman Bobby Peel was sixth highest wicket taker and Schofield Haigh held one of the leading bowling averages.[3] Although Yorkshire had a crop of players accruing these statistics, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji of Sussex took the plaudits for the most runs that year, 1,698, at the highest average, 58.55,[4] while Surrey's Tom Richardson took the most wickets – 191, and William Attewell of Nottinghamshire returned the best average – 14.63 for his 87 wickets.[5]

1896 County Championship
Cricket formatFirst-class cricket (3 days)
Tournament format(s)League system
ChampionsYorkshire (2nd title)
Participants14
Matches126
Most runsKumar Shri Ranjitsinhji
(1,698 for Sussex)
Most wicketsTom Richardson
(191 for Surrey)
1895
1897

Highlights

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The highest team total during 1896 was 887, made by Yorkshire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston,[6] composed of centuries from Stanley Jackson (117), Ted Wainwright (136), Bobby Peel (210*) and Lord Hawke (166).[7] The latter two were both career bests. In contrast, the lowest team total was 45 when Surrey were routed by only two Middlesex bowlers.[8] WG Grace's 301 against Sussex was the highest score of the season,[9] while there were three hat-tricks for Richardson, Jack Hearne and Walter Mead.[10] Richardson also took the season's best match figures, 15/113 against Leicestershire,[11] while Mead took 9/75 – the best innings figures of the season.[12]

Table

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  • One point was awarded for a win, and one point was taken away for each loss. Final placings were decided by dividing the number of points earned by the number of completed matches (i.e. those that ended in win or loss), and multiplying by 100.
Team Pld W T L D A Pts Fin %Fin
Yorkshire 26 16 0 3 7 0 13 19 68.42
Lancashire 22 11 0 4 7 0 7 15 46.67
Middlesex 16 8 0 3 5 0 5 11 45.45
Surrey 26 17 0 7 2 0 10 24 41.67
Essex 12 5 0 4 3 0 1 9 11.11
Nottinghamshire 16 5 0 5 6 0 0 10 0.00
Derbyshire 16 4 0 6 6 0 −2 10 –20.00
Hampshire 16 5 0 8 3 0 −3 134 –23.07
Kent 18 5 0 9 4 0 −4 14 –28.57
Gloucestershire 18 5 0 10 3 0 −5 15 –33.33
Somerset 16 3 0 7 6 0 −4 10 –40.00
Warwickshire 18 3 0 8 7 0 −5 11 –45.45
Leicestershire 14 2 0 8 4 0 −6 10 –60.00
Sussex 18 2 0 9 7 0 −7 11 –63.64
Source:[1]

Leading averages

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Most runs
Aggregate Average Player County
1,698 58.55 Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji Sussex
1,565 53.96 WG Grace Gloucestershire
1,556 45.76 John Brown Yorkshire
1,520 42.22 Bobby Abel Surrey
1,278 39.93 Frank Sugg Lancashire
Source:[2]
Most wickets
Aggregate Average Player County
191 15.46 Tom Richardson Surrey
130 17.20 Arthur Mold Lancashire
122 19.77 Johnny Briggs Lancashire
118 17.95 Jack Hearne Middlesex
101 21.84 Charlie Townsend Gloucestershire
Source:[5]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b "County Championship 1896 Table". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Batting and Fielding in County Championship 1896 (Ordered by Runs)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Bowling in County Championship 1896 (Ordered by Average)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Batting and Fielding in County Championship 1896 (Ordered by Average)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Bowling in County Championship 1896 (Ordered by Average)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  6. ^ "County Championship 1896 – Highest Team Totals". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  7. ^ "Scorecard: Warwickshire v Yorkshire, County Championship 1896". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  8. ^ "Scorecard: Surrey v Middlesex, County Championship 1896". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  9. ^ "County Championship 1896 – Centuries". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  10. ^ "County Championship 1896 – Hat-Tricks". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  11. ^ "County Championship 1896 – Ten Wickets in a Match". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  12. ^ "County Championship 1896 – Five Wickets in an Innings". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
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