# 1889 English cricket season

1889 was the 103rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The number of balls per over was increased from four to five. The four-ball over had been used since time immemorial.
Earlier in the year, on 12 and 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)
* Wisden (Nine Great Professional Batsmen) – Bobby Abel, Billy Barnes, Billy Gunn, Louis Hall, Robert Henderson, Maurice Read, Arthur Shrewsbury, Frank Sugg, Albert Ward

### Playing record (by county)

| County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points |
| Gloucestershire | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 5.0 |
| Kent | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 7.5 |
| Lancashire | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 10.5 |
| Middlesex | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4.5 |
| Nottinghamshire | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Surrey | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 10.5 |
| Sussex | 12 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Yorkshire | 14 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 3.0 |

## Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1889 English season leading batsmen :
| Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s | 50s |
| William Gunn | Nottinghamshire MCC | 26 | 40 | 5 | 1319 | 118 | 37.68 | 4 | 3 |
| Arthur Shrewsbury | Nottinghamshire | 12 | 16 | 2 | 522 | 104 | 37.28 | 1 | 3 |
| Billy Barnes | Nottinghamshire MCC | 27 | 40 | 4 | 1249 | 130 not out | 34.69 | 3 | 6 |
| Maurice Read | Surrey | 17 | 27 | 2 | 847 | 136 | 33.88 | 1 | 6 |
| WG Grace | Gloucestershire MCC | 24 | 45 | 2 | 1396 | 154 | 32.46 | 3 | 7 |

## Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1889 English season leading bowlers :
| Name | Team | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
| William Attewell | Nottinghamshire MCC | 6817 | 1635 | 149 | 10.97 | 6/24 | 13 | 2 |
| Johnny Briggs | Lancashire | 6208 | 1647 | 140 | 11.76 | 7/22 | 14 | 3 |
| Arthur Mold | Lancashire | 3390 | 1205 | 102 | 11.81 | 7/35 | 9 | 3 |
| Alec Watson | Lancashire | 4253 | 1139 | 90 | 12.65 | 7/27 | 9 | 2 |
| Wilfred Flowers | Nottinghamshire MCC | 2385 | 702 | 55 | 12.76 | 6/53 | 4 | 1 |

## Notable events

* In May and June, the flooding and waterlogging of Lord's caused three games to be abandoned without a ball bowled - the first recorded instance in English cricket.
* Declarations of an innings were permitted for the first time on the third day of a match. The first captain to declare was John Shuter against Gloucestershire on 8 June.
* 20 to 22 June – Middlesex and Yorkshire break the 1876 record for the highest aggregate of runs in a first-class match in England, totalling 1,295 over the three days to surpass the previous English record by 78 runs.
* The use of an unofficial points system by the "Cricket Reporting Agency", which had begun in 1887, reached farcical levels when Surrey, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire finished tied on 10.5 points. This led to the devising in December of the first official County Championship in 1890.