1884 English cricket season

1884 was the 98th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Australia toured England to compete for the Ashes. It was the seventh test series between the two sides.^[1] Fred Spofforth, an overseas bowler, took the most wickets, but England avenged its loss to the touring Australians in 1882 winning 1 test to 0.

1884 English cricket season

← 1883 1885 →

Ashes tour

Main article: Australian cricket team in England in 1884

Cumulative record - Test wins	1876-1884
England	5
Australia	7
Drawn	4

Champion County

^[a]

• Nottinghamshire

Playing record (by county)

County	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
Derbyshire	10	0	10	0
Gloucestershire	12	1	8	3[b]
Hampshire	8	2	6	0
Kent	16	7	7	2
Lancashire	12	7	4	1[b]
Middlesex	10	4	3	3
Nottinghamshire	10	9	0	1
Somerset	6	1	5	0
Surrey	18	9	4	5
Sussex	14	8	5	1
Yorkshire	16	8	4	4

Derbyshire's ignominy of losing every game has been repeated since in county cricket only by the same club in 1920. ^[2]

Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1884 English season leading batsmen[3]
Name	Team	Matches	Innings	Not outs	Runs	Highest score	Average	100s	50s
Allan Steel	Lancashire England MCC	16	28	3	967	148	38.68	2	2
William Scotton	Nottinghamshire England MCC	19	31	5	897	134	34.50	2	3
WG Grace	Gloucestershire England MCC	26	45	5	1361	116	34.02	3	2
Lord Harris	Kent England MCC	25	47	5	1417	112 not out	33.73	3	6
Billy Newham	Sussex	12	23	0	741	137	32.21	2	5

Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1884 English season leading bowlers[4]
Name	Team	Balls bowled	Runs conceded	Wickets taken	Average	Best bowling	5 wickets in innings	10 wickets in match
Alfred Shaw	Nottinghamshire	2968	744	71	10.47	8/28	7	2
Tom Emmett	Yorkshire England	4128	1250	107	11.68	8/32	10	3
William Attewell	Nottinghamshire	4600	1217	101	12.04	8/22	8	3
John Crossland	Lancashire	2100	893	71	12.57	7/35	6	3
Fred Spofforth	Australians	6308	2654	207	12.82	8/62	22	10

Notable events

• 31 July and 1 August: Alfred Shaw achieved the notable feat of doing the hat-trick in each innings against Gloucestershire.^[5]

Notes

^a 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.
^b The match between Lancashire and Gloucestershire scheduled for 24 to 26 July was abandoned on the announcement of the death of Mrs Grace, mother of WG and EM Grace. It is shown as a draw.