The 1890 English cricket season was the first in which the County Championship was held as an official competition, following agreement between MCC and the leading county clubs at a meeting in December 1889. Surrey became the first official county champions after winning nine out of fourteen games.
In Test cricket, England, captained by W. G. Grace, defeated Australia in a three-match series by 2–0 to win The Ashes. It was the 13th Test series between the teams. William Gunn of Nottinghamshire was the season's highest run-scorer (1,621); George Lohmann of Surrey took the most wickets (220).
Honours County Championship – Surrey Wisden (Five Great Wicket-Keepers) – Jack Blackham, Gregor MacGregor, Dick Pilling, Mordecai Sherwin, Henry Wood
Ashes tour
England won the three-match Test series 2–0. Only two matches were completed as one was abandoned due to persistent heavy rain:
1st Test at Lord's Cricket Ground – England won by 7 wickets 2nd Test at The Oval – England won by 2 wickets 3rd Test at Old Trafford Cricket Ground – abandoned without a ball being bowled (rain) Cumulative record - Test wins 1876–1890England18Australia10Drawn4
County Championship
Overall first-class statistics Leading batsmen 1890 English cricket season - leading batsmen Name Team(s) Matches Runs Average 100s 50sBilly Gunn England, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), North, Nottinghamshire, Players 30 1,621 34.48 3 3Arthur Shrewsbury England, North, Nottinghamshire, Players 25 1,568 41.26 2 9W. G. Grace England, Gentlemen, Gloucestershire, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South 30 1,476 28.38 1 9Billy Murdoch Australia 33 1,394 24.45 2 6Bobby Abel Surrey 32 1,226 24.03 0 9
Leading bowlers
1890 English cricket season - leading bowlers Name Team(s) Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken AverageGeorge Lohmann England, Players, South, Surrey 32 8,801 220 13.62Frederick Martin England, Kent, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South 29 8,507 190 13.05John Ferris Australia 30 7,727 186 14.28Charles Turner Australia 31 7,528 179 14.21Bobby Peel England, North, Players, Yorkshire 33 7,755 171 13.07
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Annual reviews
Further reading