The 1895 English cricket season featured the sixth edition of the County Championship. It was the first season in which the official definition of first-class cricket was activated, following the 1894 ruling. Surrey won the championship for the fifth time in six years, despite increased competition, as the tournament was expanded from nine to fourteen teams. The points system was changed as the teams played differing numbers of matches and the new system involved division of the number of points gained by the number of matches that had ended in either a win or a loss. Draws were thus completely disregarded, as they gave zero points. Derbyshire was the best of the rookie teams, finishing in fifth place.
Another championship made its bow as this season was the first to stage the Minor Counties Championship. The inaugural title was shared by three teams: Durham, Norfolk and Worcestershire.
In the early part of the season, improved batting conditions and long spells of dry weather enabled much heavier scoring than in previous seasons. There were a number of very large scores up until mid-July, when Archie MacLaren played his famous innings of 424 for Lancashire against Somerset at Taunton. After that, rain returned and most pitches from 20 July onwards were "sticky wickets", with the result that bowlers dominated the latter part of the season. Charlie Townsend in particular was able to generate prodigious spin of the ball on these treacherous pitches and took 122 wickets in the last 11 county games. Other established bowlers like Peel, Richardson, Mold and Briggs were very difficult to bat against.
At the age of 46 (when the season began), W. G. Grace enjoyed a remarkable career revival and was the leading run-scorer in all first-class matches, averaging over 50. He became the first player ever to score 1,000 runs during the month of May and also the first to reach the career landmark of one hundred first-class centuries.
Honours
County Championship - Surrey Minor Counties Championship - Durham, Norfolk, Worcestershire (shared title) Wisden - WG Grace
County Championship
Final table
County Championship 1895 - Final Standings Team P W L D A Pts GC1 Pts/GC (as %) 1 Surrey 2617451132161.902 Lancashire 2214431101855.563 Yorkshire 261475072133.334 Gloucestershire 18864201414.295 Derbyshire 16 5 4 7 0 1 9 11.116 Middlesex 1866600120.006Warwickshire 18 6 6600120.008Somerset 186831-214-14.299 Essex 16 5 7 4 0 -2 12 -16.6710Hampshire 16 6 9 1 0 -3 15 -20.0011 Sussex 185940-41428.5712 Leicestershire 16 3 10 3 0-7 13 -53.8512Nottinghamshire 1831050-713-53.8514Kent 1831140-814-57.14
1 Games completed
Points system:
1 for a win 0 for a draw, a tie or an abandoned match -1 for a loss
Most runs in the County Championship
1895 County Championship - leading batsmen Name Team Matches Runs Average 100s 50sBobby Abel Surrey 26 1787 51.05 4 6Albert Ward Lancashire 21 1446 43.81 1 11WG Grace Gloucestershire 18 1424 50.85 4 3Ranjitsinhji Sussex 18 1364 41.33 2 10John Tunnicliffe Yorkshire 26 1167 27.13 2 6
Most wickets in the County Championship
1895 County Championship - leading bowlers Name Team Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken AverageTom Richardson Surrey 25 6773 239 13.78Arthur Mold Lancashire 21 6484 182 13.71Bobby Peel Yorkshire 24 6884 136 14.80George Herbert Hirst Yorkshire 26 5516 130 16.93Charlie Townsend Gloucestershire 12 3376 124 12.58
Overall first-class statistics
Leading batsmen
1895 English cricket season - leading batsmen Name Team(s) Matches Runs Average 100s 50sWG Grace England, Gentlemen, Gloucestershire, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South of England 29 2346 51.00 9 5Bobby Abel Players, South of England, Surrey 32 2057 44.71 5 6Albert Ward England, Lancashire, North of England, Players 27 1790 42.61 2 12Ranjitsinhji England, Sussex 21 1775 49.30 4 11Andrew Stoddart Gentlemen, I Zingari, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Middlesex, South of England 25 1622 37.72 2 11
Leading bowlers
1895 English cricket season - leading bowlers Name Team(s) Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken AverageTom Richardson Players, South of England Surrey 31 8456 290 14.37Arthur Mold England, Lancashire, North of England, Players 27 8143 213 15.96Bobby Peel North of England, Players, Yorkshire 32 8509 180 14.97Walter Mead England, Essex, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South of England 23 6034 179 14.55George Herbert Hirst North of England, Yorkshire 32 6312 150 17.06
Notes
References
Bibliography
Annual reviews James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly), Lillywhite, 1896 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1896
Further reading