1868 was the 82nd season of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in England since the foundation of

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC). It featured the first organised group of Australian sportspeople to travel overseas, being an all-Aboriginal cricket team.

Playing record (by county)

Owing to an exceptionally hot and dry summer, and the absence of the forthcoming revolution of the

heavy roller The roller is an agricultural tool used for flattening land or breaking up large clumps of soil, especially after ploughing or disc harrowing. Typically, rollers are pulled by tractors or, prior to mechanisation, a team of animals such as horses ...

, 1868 was to be the last season in which every county match was finished outright.

Leading batsmen (qualification 10 innings)

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)

Events

* A team of

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

was the first overseas side to tour England, under the auspices of Sydney publican/cricketer Charles Lawrence. They were not a first class team. * 25–26 May:

Edward Tylecote Edward Ferdinando Sutton Tylecote (23 June 1849 – 15 March 1938) was an English cricketer. He was born in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire and was educated at Clifton CollegeOakley EM (ed) (1890) ''Clifton College Register'', pp. 14–15. Londo ...

hits the first recorded score of 300 in any grade of cricket with 404 for Classicals against Moderns at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

* 20 June: C.A. Absolom became the first player to be given out obstructing the field when playing for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. * 3–5 August: Playing for South of the Thames v North of the Thames at Canterbury, W.G. Grace became the second player to score two centuries in a match after William Lambert in 1817. * The

Cattle Market Ground Cattle Market Ground was a cricket ground in Islington, London (formerly Middlesex). The first recorded match on the ground was in 1863, when Middlesex Clubs played a United England Eleven. In 1864, the ground held its first first-class match ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, the original home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, was sold by its owner for development following the season. The last game, on 5 and 6 October, was between "Gentlemen of Middlesex" and a 22 called "The Clowns".Gentlemen of Middlesex v The Clowns in 1868
/ref> Middlesex were not to have another home until the equally short-lived

Prince's Cricket Ground Prince's Cricket Ground in Chelsea, London was a cricket ground, created by the brothers George and James Prince as part of the Prince's Club, on which 37 first-class matches were played between 1872 and 1878. The ground was built on in 1883. The ...

opened.

Notes

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, though regarded until 1885 as first-class, played no inter-county matches between 1868 and 1869 or 1871 and 1874.

References

Annual reviews

* ''John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion'' (Green Lilly), Lillywhite, 1869 *

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 10 (1867–1868)'', Lillywhite, 1869

External links

CricketArchive – season summaries
{{English cricket seasons 1868 in English cricket English cricket seasons in the 19th century