1889 English cricket season

The 1889 English cricket season saw the number of balls per over increased from four to five. The four-ball over had been used since time immemorial.

Earlier in the year, on 12 & 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. The England team, 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 title")
* Wisden ("Nine Great Batsmen of the Year") - Bobby Abel, Billy Barnes, Billy Gunn, Louis Hall, Robert Henderson, Maurice Read, Arthur Shrewsbury, Frank Sugg, Albert Ward

Leading batsmen

Billy Gunn topped the averages with 1319 runs @ 37.68

Leading bowlers

William Attewell topped the averages with 149 wickets @ 10.97

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/1889_ENG.html CricketArchive – season summaries]

Annual reviews

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