Controversies in 1895

7 incidents documented

Archie MacLaren — 424 at Taunton (1895) and the Lancashire Captaincy

Lancashire, Somerset

1895-07-16

Archibald Campbell MacLaren scored 424 for Lancashire v Somerset at Taunton on 15-16 July 1895 — the first quadruple-century in first-class cricket and the highest individual innings until Bill Ponsford's 429 in 1923. The score remained the English first-class record until Brian Lara's 501 not out in 1994. MacLaren went on to captain Lancashire and England across the 1900s.

#archie-maclaren#lancashire#1895

⭐Serious

W.G. Grace's 100th First-Class Hundred — 288 v Somerset, 17 May 1895

Gloucestershire v Somerset

1895-05-17

On 17 May 1895, in his 47th year, W.G. Grace became the first cricketer to score 100 first-class hundreds, raising the milestone in a Championship match against Somerset at Bristol. He carried on to 288 — his ninth-highest career score — and when he reached 200 the home crowd brought champagne onto the field for him to toast himself at the wicket. It was the centrepiece of an 'Indian Summer' that produced 1,016 runs in May alone.

#wg-grace#1895#hundred-hundreds

⭐Serious

W.G. Grace's 1,000 Runs in May — The First Time, 1895

Gloucestershire v Sussex/Somerset/Yorkshire/Middlesex/Kent

1895-05-30

Grace started his 1895 season on 9 May and finished it on 30 May with 1,016 first-class runs at an average over 100. Scores of 13, 103, 18, 25, 288, 52, 257, 73*, 18 and 169 made him the first player to score 1,000 first-class runs in May, a Victorian benchmark only matched twice since — by Wally Hammond in 1927 and Charlie Hallows in 1928. He was 46 going on 47.

#wg-grace#1895#1000-runs-in-may

⭐Serious

George Giffen's 475 Runs and 34 Wickets — Best All-Round Series Ever, 1894-95

Australia v England

1895-03-06

Across the five Tests of the 1894-95 Ashes, George Giffen — Australia's captain, opening bowler and number-three batsman — scored 475 runs at 52.78 and took 34 wickets at 24.12. The combined haul is still, 130 years later, the best all-round performance in any Test series in cricket history. Australia lost the rubber 2-3, but Giffen's series average has never been matched.

#george-giffen#1894#1895

⭐Serious

Archie MacLaren's 424 — First Quadruple Century in First-Class Cricket, 1895

Lancashire v Somerset

1895-07-15

On 15-16 July 1895, the 23-year-old Archie MacLaren batted across two days at Taunton to score 424 — the first quadruple century in first-class cricket history and the highest individual first-class score the game had seen. He surpassed W.G. Grace's 1876 mark of 344, batted 470 minutes, hit 62 fours and a six, and held the world record for 28 years until Bill Ponsford's 429 in 1923. The score remained the highest in English first-class cricket until 1994.

#archie-maclaren#1895#taunton

⭐Serious

Albert Trott's Adelaide Debut — 110* and 8/43 at Number Ten, 1895

Australia v England

1895-01-11

On Test debut at Adelaide in January 1895, the 21-year-old Victorian all-rounder Albert Trott — playing alongside his older brother and captain Harry — batted at number ten for 38 not out and 72 not out (an unbeaten 110 in the match) and took 8 for 43 in England's second innings. Australia won by 382 runs. It was statistically the most complete Test debut in cricket history; within four years Trott would, for separate reasons, never play Test cricket for Australia again.

#albert-trott#1895#adelaide

⭐Serious

Tom Richardson's 290 Wickets — The Greatest Fast-Bowling Season in History, 1895

Surrey, England

1895-09-01

In the summer of 1895 — the same season as W.G. Grace's 'Indian Summer' — Surrey's Tom Richardson took 290 first-class wickets at 14.37, the largest haul ever recorded by a fast bowler in a single English season. Of those 290 wickets, 237 came in county matches and 176 of all dismissals were bowled. Across the four consecutive seasons 1894-97 he took 1,005 first-class wickets, a workload no fast bowler before or since has matched.

#tom-richardson#1895#surrey