The 1889 English cricket season was the 26th since the legalisation of overarm bowling. The number of balls per over was increased from four to five. The four-ball over had been used since time immemorial.

Earlier in the year, on 12 and 13 March, South Africa versus England at Port Elizabeth was the start of cricket in South Africa at both Test and first-class level. Domestic first-class matches began at the end of the same year. England, captained by future Hollywood actor C Aubrey Smith, played two Tests on the inaugural tour, at Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, winning both by comfortable margins. Lancashire spinner Johnny Briggs had match figures of 15–28 at Cape Town.

Honours Champion County – Surrey, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire (shared) Wisden (Nine Great Professional Batsmen) – Bobby Abel, Billy Barnes, Billy Gunn, Louis Hall, Robert Henderson, Maurice Read, Arthur Shrewsbury, Frank Sugg, Albert Ward

Playing record (by county) County Played Won Lost Drawn Points Gloucestershire 14 3 7 4 5.0 Kent 13 7 5 1 7.5 Lancashire 14 10 3 1 10.5 Middlesex 11 3 5 3 4.5 Nottinghamshire 14 9 2 3 10.5 Surrey 14 10 3 1 10.5 Sussex 12 1 10 1 1.5 Yorkshire 14 2 10 2 3.0 Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 54

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings) 1889 English season leading batsmenFirst Class Batting in England in 1889 Name Team Matches Innings Not outs Runs Highest score Average 100s 50sWilliam Gunn NottinghamshireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 26 40 5 1319 118 37.68 4 3Arthur Shrewsbury Nottinghamshire 12 16 2 522 104 37.28 1 3Billy Barnes NottinghamshireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 27 40 4 1249 130 not out 34.69 3 6Maurice Read Surrey 17 27 2 847 136 33.88 1 6WG Grace GloucestershireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 24 45 2 1396 154 32.46 3 7

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls) 1889 English season leading bowlersFirst Class Bowling in England in 1889 Name Team Balls bowled Runs conceded Wickets taken Average Best bowling 5 wicketsin innings 10 wicketsin matchWilliam Attewell NottinghamshireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 6817 1635 149 10.97 6/24 13 2Johnny Briggs Lancashire 6208 1647 140 11.76 7/22 14 3Arthur Mold Lancashire 3390 1205 102 11.81 7/35 9 3Alec Watson Lancashire 4253 1139 90 12.65 7/27 9 2Wilfred Flowers NottinghamshireMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 2385 702 55 12.76 6/53 4 1

Notable events In May and June, the flooding and waterlogging of Lord's caused three games to be abandoned without a ball bowled - the first recorded instance in English cricket. Declarations of an innings were permitted for the first time on the third day of a match. The first captain to declare was John Shuter against Gloucestershire on 8 June.Surrey v Gloucestershire in 1889 20 to 22 June – Middlesex and Yorkshire break the 1876 record for the highest aggregate of runs in a first-class match in England, totalling 1,295 over the three days to surpass the previous English record by 78 runs.Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 27. Published 1951 by Playfair Books. The use of an unofficial points system by the "Cricket Reporting Agency", which had begun in 1887, reached farcical levels when Surrey, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire finished tied on 10.5 points. This led to the devising in December of the first official County Championship in 1890.

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. Between 1887 and 1889 an unofficial point system of 1 point for a win and 0.5 points for a draw, devised by the "Cricket Reporting Agency", was used to determine the unofficial "Champion County" The match between Middlesex and Kent at Lord's was completely washed out

Notes

References

Bibliography

Annual reviews James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1890 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1890

Further reading