1956 was the 57th season of County Championship cricket in England. It is memorable for the performances of Jim Laker, especially his unique feat in taking a world record 19 wickets in the Old Trafford Test Match. He took a total of 46 wickets in the five Tests, a record in an England-Australia series. In May, he had taken all ten wickets in the Australian first innings in their match against Surrey, assisting Surrey to become the first county side since 1912 to defeat the Australians. Surrey won the County Championship for the fifth successive year to create a new record of consecutive titles won by one county.
Honours
editTest series
edit| Cumulative record - Test wins | 1876-1956 |
|---|---|
| England | 62 |
| Australia | 70 |
| Drawn | 41 |
County Championship
editLeading batsmen
editKen Mackay topped the averages with 1103 runs @ 52.52
Leading bowlers
editTony Lock topped the averages with 155 wickets @ 12.46
References
editAnnual reviews
editFurther reading
edit- Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
- Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
- Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975