The 1985 John Player Special League was the seventeenth competing of what was generally known as the
Sunday League. The competition was won for the third time by
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when ...
.
Rain affected most rounds of the Sunday League that season with many abandoned, (27 no results, 20% of fixtures) and shortened matches. On 7 July at
Knypersley,
Derbyshire established a league record by hitting 18 sixes in their score of 292-9 from 40 overs. In the final round of matches on 15 September
Essex beat
Yorkshire at
Chelmsford to retain the Sunday League.
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
finished second and Hampshire CCC, Hampshire finished third.
[''Benson and Hedges Cricket Year Fourth Edition: September 1984 to September 1985'' Editor David Lemmon Guild Publishing London]
Essex had a great record in that season's three List-A cricket, one-day competitions. Also winning the Friends Provident Trophy, NatWest Trophy and finishing runners up in the third competition Benson and Hedges Cup.
Standings
Batting averages
Bowling averages
See also
Sunday League
References
1985 in English cricket, John Player
Pro40
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