The 1972 English cricket season saw an increase in limited overs cricket with the introduction of the Benson & Hedges Cup, which was part mini-league and part knockout along the lines of soccer's World Cup competition. This caused another reduction in County Championship matches and the B&H (as it was often called) was never popular among cricket's traditional followers. The tournament lasted until 2002, after which it was effectively replaced by Twenty20.

Honours

• County Championship - Warwickshire
• Gillette Cup - Lancashire
• Sunday League - Kent
• Benson & Hedges Cup - Leicestershire
• Minor Counties Championship - Bedfordshire
  Bedfordshire County Cricket Club
  Bedfordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Bedfordshire and competing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy. The Minor Counties play three-day...
  
  
• Second XI Championship - Nottinghamshire II
• Wisden - Greg Chappell
  Greg Chappell
  Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...
  
  , Dennis Lillee
  Dennis Lillee
  Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
  
  , Bob Massie
  Bob Massie
  Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie is a former Australian cricketer who played in 6 Tests and 3 ODIs from 1972 to 1973.A swing bowler, he had a relatively short international career but is remembered for a Test debut in 1972 at Lord's where he took eight wickets in each innings, with figures of 16/137...
  
  , John Snow
  John Snow (cricketer)
  John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
  
  , Keith Stackpole
  Keith Stackpole
  Keith Raymond Stackpole Junior is a former Victorian and Australian cricketer who played in 43 Tests and 6 ODIs from 1966 to 1974, who is now a radio cricket commentator...
  
  

Test series

A very entertaining England v Australia series resulted in a 2-2 draw, which meant that England retained the Ashes. There was an outstanding individual performance by Australian seamer Bob Massie

Bob Massie

Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie is a former Australian cricketer who played in 6 Tests and 3 ODIs from 1972 to 1973.A swing bowler, he had a relatively short international career but is remembered for a Test debut in 1972 at Lord's where he took eight wickets in each innings, with figures of 16/137...

 who, assisted by heavy atmospheric conditions that enabled him to "swing" the ball prodigiously, took 16 wickets in the Lord's

Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 Test.

Leading batsmen

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1972 English cricket season – leading batsmen by average
Name	Innings	Runs	Highest	Average	100s
Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...	22	1230	204*	72.35	6
Greg Chappell Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...	28	1260	181	70.00	4
Rohan Kanhai Rohan Kanhai Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...	30	1607	199	64.28	8
Majid Khan	38	2074	204	61.00	8
Mushtaq Mohammad Mushtaq Mohammad Mushtaq Mohammad is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 57 Tests and 10 ODIs from 1959 to 1979. A right-handed batsman and a leg-spinner, he is one of the most successful Pakistani all-rounders and went on to captain his country in nineteen Test matches...	40	1949	137*	59.06	6

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1972 English cricket season – leading batsmen by aggregate
Name	Innings	Runs	Highest	Average	100s
Majid Khan	38	2074	204	61.00	8
Mushtaq Mohammad Mushtaq Mohammad Mushtaq Mohammad is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 57 Tests and 10 ODIs from 1959 to 1979. A right-handed batsman and a leg-spinner, he is one of the most successful Pakistani all-rounders and went on to captain his country in nineteen Test matches...	40	1949	137*	59.06	6
Glenn Turner Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel....	38	1764	170	51.88	7
Keith Fletcher Keith Fletcher Keith Fletcher is a former English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. He later became England's team manager. His nickname was "The Gnome of Essex", so christened by his Essex team-mate, Ray East, because Fletcher's winklepickers had begun to curl up at the toes due to wear...	36	1763	181*	58.76	5
Brian Luckhurst Brian Luckhurst Brian William Luckhurst was an English cricketer, who played his entire county career for Kent County Cricket Club. He played for Kent from 1958 to 1976, usually opening the batting, then in 1985, in an emergency, played in one more match against the Australians. He was cricket manager from 1981...	37	1706	184*	55.03	3

Leading bowlers

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1972 English cricket season – leading bowlers by average
Name	Balls	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average
Ian Chappell Ian Chappell Ian Michael Chappell is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation...	263	14	106	10	10.60
Mike Procter Mike Procter Michael John Procter is a former South African cricketer. A fast bowler and hard hitting batsman, his chances for a long and productive test career were wrecked by South Africa's banishment from world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s...	2557	108	960	58	16.55
Bob Massie Bob Massie Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie is a former Australian cricketer who played in 6 Tests and 3 ODIs from 1972 to 1973.A swing bowler, he had a relatively short international career but is remembered for a Test debut in 1972 at Lord's where he took eight wickets in each innings, with figures of 16/137...	2290	115	851	50	17.02
Chris Old Chris Old Chris Old is an English former cricketer, who played in forty six Tests and thirty two ODIs from 1972 to 1981....	2273	106	931	54	17.24
Terry Spencer Terry Spencer Charles Terence Spencer is a former English first class cricketer who played for Leicestershire. Only Ewart Astill and George Geary have taken more wickets for Leicestershire...	984	46	333	19	17.52

> > > > >

1972 English cricket season – leading bowlers by aggregate
Name	Balls	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average
Tom Cartwright Tom Cartwright Thomas William Cartwright MBE was an English cricketer. He played in five Tests for England in 1964 and 1965. His withdrawal from the 1968-69 tour to South Africa, and replacement in the touring team by Basil D'Oliveira, precipitated the sporting isolation of South Africa until apartheid was...	5178	373	1827	98	18.64
Barry Stead Barry Stead Barry Stead was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Nottinghamshire....	4482	173	1998	98	20.38
Jack Birkenshaw Jack Birkenshaw Jack Birkenshaw, MBE was an English cricketer, who later stood as an umpire and worked as a coach...	4983	225	1976	90	21.95
Robin Jackman Robin Jackman Robin Jackman is a former English cricketer, who played in four Tests and fifteen ODIs for England from 1974 to 1983. He was a seam bowler and useful tail-end batsman. During a first-class career lasting from 1966 to 1982, he took 1,402 wickets...	4195	141	2076	84	24.71
Pat Pocock Pat Pocock Pat Pocock is an English former cricketer, who played in twenty Tests and one ODI for England from 1968 to 1985....	4178	177	2010	83	24.21

External sources

• CricketArchive – season and tournament itineraries

Annual reviews

• Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current...
  
   1973
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1973