# 1878 English cricket season

1878 was the 92nd season of cricket in England since the foundation of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The first official tour by an Australian team was undertaken, although it played no Test matches. A match at Old Trafford inspired a famous poem.

## Champion County

* Undecided

### Playing record (by county)

| County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
| Derbyshire | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Gloucestershire | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Hampshire | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Kent | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Lancashire | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Middlesex | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Nottinghamshire | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Surrey | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| Sussex | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Yorkshire | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 |

## Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)

1878 English season leading batsmen :
| Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s | 50s |
| John Selby | Nottinghamshire | 21 | 31 | 1 | 938 | 107 | 31.26 | 1 | 8 |
| Edward Lyttelton | Cambridge University Middlesex MCC | 16 | 26 | 0 | 779 | 113 | 29.96 | 1 | 3 |
| WG Grace | Gloucestershire MCC | 24 | 42 | 2 | 1151 | 116 | 28.77 | 1 | 5 |
| Frank Penn | Kent MCC | 12 | 20 | 1 | 534 | 160 | 28.10 | 1 | 3 |
| George Ulyett | Yorkshire | 28 | 51 | 4 | 1270 | 109 | 27.02 | 1 | 9 |

## Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)

1878 English season leading bowlers :
| Name | Team | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
| Arnold Rylott | MCC | 1944 | 451 | 53 | 8.50 | 8/15 | 6 | 3 |
| Allan Steel | Cambridge University Lancashire | 4493 | 1547 | 164 | 9.43 | 9/63 | 19 | 9 |
| Harry Boyle | Australians | 1443 | 483 | 51 | 9.47 | 7/48 | 4 | 0 |
| Tom Garrett | Australians | 1042 | 318 | 32 | 9.93 | 7/38 | 2 | 1 |
| William Mycroft | Derbyshire MCC | 4185 | 1196 | 116 | 10.31 | 8/36 | 11 | 5 |

## Notable events

* Australia made the inaugural first-class tour of England by an overseas team.
* 25 – 27 July: Lancashire versus Gloucestershire at Old Trafford. This was the first time Gloucestershire visited Old Trafford and it caused ground records to be established. The match was drawn after rain interruptions. It has a special place because it ultimately formed the nostalgic inspiration for the famous poem At Lord's by Francis Thompson. In the second innings, the famed "run-stealers" A. N. Hornby and Dick Barlow shared an opening stand of 108, with Hornby going on to score 100. He also became involved in a ferocious argument with WG when a contentious "run-out" was claimed after the batsmen had stopped running because the ball had crossed the boundary. The run-out was finally overruled after WG even went so far as to ask the (Lancashire home) crowd if it had been a four after all. He knew all along that a four had been scored.
* 4 July: Allan Steel becomes the first bowler to take 100 wickets in his first full season of first-class cricket. He played one match in 1877.
* 31 July: Official formation of Northants County Cricket Club at a meeting in the George Hotel, Kettering.
* Alfred Shaw and Fred Morley bowl unchanged through five matches during the season. No other pair has ever managed more than three.
* Shaw becomes the second bowler after James Southerton in 1870 to top 200 wickets in a season.