1904 English cricket season

1904 was the 15th season of County Championship cricket in England. Lancashire went through the season unbeaten and clinched the Championship title. Lancashire drew ten games, but their 16 wins were still more than any other team could muster. Defending champions Middlesex fell to fourth place, losing two successive matches to Kent and Nottinghamshire in June to have a negative percentage five games into the season. They did eventually win nine games, though, which was enough to take them past everyone bar Yorkshire and Kent. Yorkshire were two losses from sharing the Championship with Lancashire, and drew with the Champions on both occasions; despite Lancashire following on in their match at Headingley, Johnny Tyldesley made an unbeaten century from number three to draw the game.[1] However, even a win in this match could not have given Yorkshire the title.

1904 English cricket season

Honours

County Championship

Final table

The final County Championship table is shown below. One point was awarded for a win, none for a draw, and minus one for a loss. Positions were decided on percentage of points over completed games.

County Championship 1904 - Final Standings
Team P W L D A Pts GC1 Pts/GC (as %)
1 Lancashire261601001616100.00
2 Yorkshire279216071163.64
3 Kent211047061442.86
4 Middlesex18945051338.46
5 Nottinghamshire20749031127.27
6 Sussex24541501911.11
=7 Leicestershire2066800120.00
=7 Warwickshire1655600100.00
9 Gloucestershire185670-111-9.09
10 Derbyshire185850-313-23.08
11 Surrey28612100-618-33.33
12 Somerset1851120-616-37.50
13 Worcestershire183870-511-45.45
14 Essex2031070-713-53.85
15 Hampshire1821240-1014-71.43
  • 1 Games completed

Points system:

  • 1 for a win
  • 0 for a draw, a tie or an abandoned match
  • -1 for a loss

Most runs in the County Championship

1904 County Championship - leading batsmen
Name Team Matches Runs Average 100s 50s
C. B. FrySussex23237679.2094
Johnny TyldesleyLancashire25223769.9087
Tom HaywardSurrey26207450.5879
George Herbert HirstYorkshire27184851.3368
James IremongerNottinghamshire19181260.4058

Most wickets in the County Championship

1904 County Championship - leading bowlers
Name Team Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken Average
Edward DennettGloucestershire18590112319.36
Colin BlytheKent21538512119.38
George CoxSussex23656411223.50
James HallowsLancashire24531910818.71
Bill ReevesEssex20517610626.16

South Africans tour

The South Africans toured England during the season, playing 22 matches. Most of them were against regular first-class sides, but there were also matches against an England XI (with five players who had already played Test cricket), against Marylebone Cricket Club (with two Test players) and a South of England side with five Test players. The tourists won ten of their 22 matches, and lost two, against Worcestershire and Kent. They did not manage to beat any of the top four sides in the Championship, though; they drew with Lancashire and Yorkshire (twice), lost to Kent and tied with Middlesex. Frank Mitchell, the South Africans' captain, also played first class cricket for Yorkshire during the season, which helped him score more than 1,000 first class runs in the season. 839 of those were made for South Africa;[2] Louis Tancred (1217)[3] and Maitland Hathorn[4] were the two players to make more than 1,000 runs for South Africa only. On the bowling side, pace bowler Johannes Kotze headed the attack, claiming 104 wickets in his 22 matches for South Africa.[5]

Overall first-class statistics

Leading batsmen

1904 English cricket season - leading batsmen
Name Team(s) Matches Runs Average 100s 50s
Tom HaywardPlayers, South of England, Surrey36317054.651111
C. B. FryGentlemen, Gentlemen of England, Sussex29282470.60106
George Herbert HirstNorth of England, Yorkshire36250154.36910
Johnny TyldesleyLancashire, North of England30243962.5389
David DentonNorth of England, Players, Yorkshire36208840.15315

Leading bowlers

1904 English cricket season - leading bowlers
Name Team(s) Matches Balls bowled Wickets taken Average
J. T. HearneEngland XI, MCC, Middlesex, Players, South of England32692114518.84
Colin BlytheKent, South of England24614613819.60
George Herbert HirstNorth of England, Yorkshire36619813221.09
Bernard BosanquetGentlemen, MCC, Middlesex, I Zingari, South of England27436313221.62
Wilfred RhodesNorth of England, Players, Yorkshire36718413121.59

References

  1. Yorkshire v Lancashire in 1904, from CricketArchive, retrieved 5 August 2006
  2. Player Oracle Reveals Results, from CricketArchive, retrieved 5 August 2006
  3. Player Oracle Reveals Results, from CricketArchive, retrieved 5 August 2006
  4. Player Oracle Reveals Results, from CricketArchive, retrieved 5 August 2006
  5. Player Oracle Reveals Results, from CricketArchive, retrieved 5 August 2006

Further reading

  • H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
  • Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951
  • Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1905
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