1890 was the 104th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and 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

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:

Cumulative record - Test wins1876-1890
England18
Australia10
Drawn4

County Championship

Overall first-class statistics

Leading batsmen

1890 English cricket season - leading batsmen
NameTeam(s)MatchesRunsAverage100s50s
Billy GunnEngland, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), North, Nottinghamshire, Players301,62134.4833
Arthur ShrewsburyEngland, North, Nottinghamshire, Players251,56841.2629
W. G. GraceEngland, Gentlemen, Gloucestershire, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South301,47628.3819
Billy MurdochAustralia331,39424.4526
Bobby AbelSurrey321,22624.0309

Leading bowlers

1890 English cricket season - leading bowlers
NameTeam(s)MatchesBalls bowledWickets takenAverage
George LohmannEngland, Players, South, Surrey328,80122013.62
Frederick MartinEngland, Kent, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), South298,50719013.05
John FerrisAustralia307,72718614.28
Charles TurnerAustralia317,52817914.21
Bobby PeelEngland, North, Players, Yorkshire337,75517113.07

Notes

Bibliography

Annual reviews

  • Lillywhite. James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly) (1891 ed.). Lillywhite.
  • Wisden. Pardon, Charles (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 28th edition (1891 ed.). London: John Wisden & Co. Ltd.

Further reading