The 1896 County Championship was the seventh officially organised running of the County Championship

County Championship

The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

, and ran from 4 May to 31 August 1896. Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....

 claimed victory that year, winning 16 of their 26 matches and losing only three. Five of Yorkshire's players made over 1,000 runs in the season, including John Brown

John Brown (Yorkshire cricketer)

John Thomas Brown was an English first-class cricketer.Born in Snape Hill, Darfield, Yorkshire, England, Brown was a right arm fast bowler and right-handed tail end batsman. He played thirty matches for Yorkshire between 1897 and 1903. He took 97 wickets, with a best of 8 for 40 against...

 who was placed third nationally, while Yorkshireman Bobby Peel

Bobby Peel

Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...

 was 6th highest wicket taker and Schofield Haigh

Schofield Haigh

Schofield Haigh was a Yorkshire and England cricketer. He played for eighteen seasons for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, for England from the 1898/99 tour to 1912, and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1901....

 held one of the leading bowling averages. Although Yorkshire had a crop of players accruing these statistics, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji of Sussex took the plaudits for the most runs that year, 1,698, at the highest average, 58.55, while Surrey's Tom Richardson took the most wickets – 191, and William Attewell

William Attewell

William Attewell was a cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and England. Attewell was a medium pace bowler who was renowned for his extraordinary accuracy and economy...

 of Nottinghamshire returned the best average – 14.63 for his 87 wickets.

Highlights

The highest team total during 1896 was 887, made by Yorkshire against Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 at Edgbaston

Edgbaston Cricket Ground

Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...

, composed of centuries from Stanley Jackson

Stanley Jackson

Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...

 (117), Ted Wainwright

Ted Wainwright

Ted Wainwright was an English first-class cricketer, who played in 352 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1888 and 1902. An all-rounder, Wainwright helped to establish the county at the top under Lord Hawke's captaincy, during the early years of County Championship cricket...

 (136), Bobby Peel

Bobby Peel

Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...

 (210*

Not out

In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...

) and Lord Hawke (166). The latter two were both career bests. In contrast, the lowest team total was 45 when Surrey were routed by only two Middlesex bowlers. WG Grace's 301 against Sussex was the highest score of the season, while there were three hat-tricks for Richardson, Jack Hearne

Jack Hearne

Jack Hearne may refer to:*J. T. Hearne , English Test cricketer*J. W. Hearne , English Test cricketerSee also:*John Hearne...

 and Walter Mead. Richardson also took the season's best match figures, 15/113 against Leicestershire, while Mead took 9/75 – the best innings figures of the season.

Table

• One point was awarded for a win, and one point was taken away for each loss. Final placings were decided by dividing the number of points earned by the number of completed matches (i.e. those that ended in win or loss), and multipling by 100.

  Team	Pld	W	T	L	D	A	Pts	Fin	%Fin
  Yorkshire	26	16	0	3	7	0	13	19	68.42
  Lancashire	22	11	0	4	7	0	7	15	46.67
  Middlesex	16	8	0	3	5	0	5	11	45.45
  Surrey	26	17	0	7	2	0	10	24	41.67
  Essex	12	5	0	4	3	0	1	9	11.11
  Nottinghamshire	16	5	0	5	6	0	0	10	0.00
  Derbyshire	16	4	0	6	6	0	–2	10	–20.00
  Hampshire	16	5	0	8	3	0	–3	134	–23.07
  Kent	18	5	0	9	4	0	–4	14	–28.57
  Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....	18	5	0	10	3	0	–5	15	–33.33
  Somerset	16	3	0	7	6	0	–4	10	–40.00
  Warwickshire	18	3	0	8	7	0	–5	11	–45.45
  Leicestershire	14	2	0	8	4	0	–6	10	–60.00
  Sussex	18	2	0	9	7	0	–7	11	–63.64
  Source:

Leading averages

EWLINE Most runs Aggregate Average Player County 1,698 58.55 Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji  Sussex 1,565 53.96 WG Grace  Gloucestershire 1,556 45.76 John Brown John Brown (Yorkshire cricketer) John Thomas Brown was an English first-class cricketer.Born in Snape Hill, Darfield, Yorkshire, England, Brown was a right arm fast bowler and right-handed tail end batsman. He played thirty matches for Yorkshire between 1897 and 1903. He took 97 wickets, with a best of 8 for 40 against...   Yorkshire 1,5,20 42.22 Bobby Abel Bobby Abel Robert Abel , nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship...   Surrey 1,278 39.93 Frank Sugg Frank Sugg Frank Howe Sugg was an English footballer and first-class cricketer. He played for England in two Test matches in 1888 and for three county cricket clubs - Yorkshire in 1883, Derbyshire from 1884 to 1886 and Lancashire from 1887 to 1899...   Lancashire Source:

EWLINE Most wickets Aggregate Average Bowling average Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned... Player County 191 15.46 Tom Richardson Tom Richardson Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...   Surrey Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions... 130 17.20 Arthur Mold Arthur Mold Arthur Webb Mold was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1889 and 1901. He played three Test matches for England in 1893 and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1892. A fast bowler, he was one of the most effective bowlers...   Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then... 122 19.77 Johnny Briggs Johnny Briggs (cricketer) Johnny Briggs was a left arm spin bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1879 and 1900 who still stands as the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after Brian Statham...   Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then... 118 17.95 Jack Hearne Jack Hearne Jack Hearne may refer to:*J. T. Hearne , English Test cricketer*J. W. Hearne , English Test cricketerSee also:*John Hearne...   Middlesex 101 21.84 Charlie Townsend Charlie Townsend Charles Lucas Townsend was a Gloucestershire cricketer. An all-round cricketer, Townsend was classically stylish, left-handed batsman, who was able to hit well despite his slender build...   Gloucestershire Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators.... Source:

External links

• 1895 County Championship at CricketArchive
  CricketArchive
  CricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...