| Previous year | 1907 |
|---|---|
| Previous tournament | 1907 English cricket season |
| Next year | 1909 |
| Next tournament | 1909 English cricket season |
1908 was the nineteenth season of County Championship cricket in England.
American John Barton "Bart" King topped the bowling averages as a member of the touring Philadelphian cricket team.
Honours
- County Championship – Yorkshire
- Minor Counties Championship – Staffordshire
- Wisden (Lord Hawke and Four Cricketers of the Year) – Walter Brearley, Lord Hawke, Jack Hobbs, Alan Marshal, John Newstead
County Championship
| County | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Abandoned | Points | Finished Games | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yorkshire | 28 | 16 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 100.00 |
| 2 | Kent | 25 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 20 | 70.00 |
| 3 | Surrey | 29 | 13 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 52.94 |
| 4 | Middlesex | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 33.33 |
| 5 | Sussex | 28 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 20.00 |
| 6 | Worcestershire | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 9.09 |
| 7 | Lancashire | 25 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 5.26 |
| 8 | Nottinghamshire | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 0 | -1 | 13 | -7.69 |
| 9 | Hampshire | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 0 | -2 | 16 | -12.50 |
| 10 | Gloucestershire | 24 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 0 | -3 | 19 | -15.78 |
| 11 | Essex | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 0 | -2 | 12 | -16.67 |
| 12 | Warwickshire | 21 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 1 | -4 | 14 | -28.57 |
| 13 | Leicestershire | 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 1 | -4 | 12 | -33.33 |
| 14 | Derbyshire | 22 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 0 | -8 | 18 | -44.44 |
| 15 | Northamptonshire | 22 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 0 | -11 | 17 | -64.71 |
| 16 | Somerset | 20 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 0 | -11 | 15 | -73.33 |
| Details as recorded in John Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack[1] | |||||||||
Points system:
- 1 for a win
- 0 for a draw, a tie or an abandoned match
- -1 for a loss
Minor Counties Championship
Worcestershire Second Eleven dropped out and Carmarthenshire took their place. Dorset moved from the West division in 1907 to the South.[2]
North
| County | Played | Won | Won on 1st inns | No result | Possible points | Points obtained | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Staffordshire | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 50 | 37 | 74.00 |
| 2 | Durham | 10 | 6 | 0 | 50 | 30 | 60.00 | |
| 3 | Yorkshire Second Eleven | 10 | 2 | 3 | 50 | 19 | 38.00 | |
| 4 | Lincolnshire | 10 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 18 | 36.00 | |
| 6 | Northumberland | 10 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 18 | 36.00 | |
| 6 | Lancashire Second Eleven | 10 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 10 | 20.00 |
South
| County | Played | Won | Won on 1st inns | No result | Possible points | Points obtained | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wiltshire | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 33 | 82.50 |
| 2 | Surrey Second Eleven | 8 | 6 | 0 | 40 | 30 | 75.00 | |
| 3 | Dorset | 8 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 13 | 32.50 | |
| 4 | Buckinghamshire | 8 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 10 | 25.00 | |
| 5 | Berkshire | 8 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 8 | 20.00 |
East
| County | Played | Won | Won on 1st inns | No result | Possible points | Points obtained | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hertfordshire | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 24 | 60.00 |
| 2 | Bedfordshire | 8 | 4 | 1 | 40 | 23 | 57.50 | |
| 2 | Suffolk | 8 | 4 | 1 | 40 | 23 | 57.50 | |
| 4 | Norfolk | 8 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 13 | 32.50 | |
| 5 | Cambridgeshire | 8 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 3 | 7.50 |
West
| County | Played | Won | Won on 1st inns | No result | Possible points | Points obtained | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glamorgan | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 30 | 90.00 |
| 1 | Monmouthshire | 8 | 6 | 0 | 40 | 30 | 90.00 | |
| 1 | Devon | 8 | 6 | 0 | 40 | 20 | 50.00 | |
| 4 | Cornwall | 8 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 8 | 27.50 | |
| 5 | Carmarthenshire | 8 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0.00 |
Points system:
- 5 for an outright win
- 3 for a win on the first innings
- 0 for a loss either outright or on the first innings of a drawn match
Matches with no first innings result are ignored when calculating maximum possible points.
Glamorgan v. Monmouthshire (play-off)
Glamorgan and Monmouthshire met in a play-off to decide who should meet Wiltshire. The two were chosen over Devon because Monmouthshire had a better average runs, and Glamorgan had played in the 1907 semi-finals.[3]
Mr. F.E. Lacey awarded the right to meet Wiltshire to Glamorgan after the washout of the second day.[4]
Leading batsmen (qualification 20 innings)
| 1908 English season leading batsmen[5] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | Highest score | Average | 100s |
| Bernard Bosanquet | Middlesex | 14 | 22 | 2 | 1081 | 214 | 54.05 | 3 |
| C.B. Fry | Sussex | 13 | 20 | 1 | 1000 | 214 | 52.63 | 3 |
| Henry Foster | Worcestershire | 14 | 21 | 1 | 1105 | 215 | 48.04 | 2 |
| Tom Hayward | Surrey | 37 | 52 | 1 | 2337 | 175 | 45.82 | 5 |
| Plum Warner | Middlesex MCC | 29 | 45 | 5 | 1822 | 120 | 45.55 | 5 |
| Ranjitsinhji | Sussex MCC | 18 | 28 | 3 | 1138 | 200 | 45.52 | 3 |
| Johnny Tyldesley | Lancashire | 26 | 45 | 2 | 1891 | 243 | 43.97 | 6 |
| Gilbert Jessop | Gloucestershire | 26 | 48 | 3 | 1885 | 164 | 41.88 | 4 |
| Frank Tarrant | Middlesex MCC | 33 | 49 | 7 | 1724 | 157 | 41.04 | 5 |
| Alan Marshal | Surrey | 33 | 50 | 2 | 1931 | 176 | 40.22 | 5 |
Leading bowlers (qualification 1,000 balls)
| 1908 English season leading bowlers[5] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | Matches | Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Average | Best bowling | 5 wickets in innings | 10 wickets in match |
| Bart King | Philadelphians | 10 | 2028 | 958 | 87 | 11.01 | 7/28 | 10 | 3 |
| Schofield Haigh | Yorkshire | 26 | 3740 | 1380 | 103 | 13.39 | 7/23 | 8 | 2 |
| George Hirst | Yorkshire | 35 | 6731 | 2445 | 174 | 14.05 | 7/51 | 15 | 3 |
| Ernest Kirk | Surrey | 5 | 1236 | 470 | 30 | 15.66 | 6/41 | 3 | 0 |
| Razor Smith | Surrey | 15 | 2244 | 895 | 57 | 15.70 | 6/27 | 5 | 2 |
| Wilfred Rhodes | Yorkshire | 36 | 4827 | 1855 | 115 | 16.13 | 6/17 | 6 | 0 |
| Walter Brearley | Lancashire | 20 | 5138 | 2636 | 163 | 16.17 | 8/61 | 21 | 7 |
| John Newstead | Yorkshire | 36 | 6273 | 2311 | 140 | 16.50 | 7/18 | 9 | 3 |
| Frank Tarrant | Middlesex MCC | 33 | 6744 | 2819 | 169 | 16.68 | 8/120 | 20 | 5 |
| Colin Blythe | Kent | 28 | 8200 | 3326 | 197 | 16.88 | 8/83 | 20 | 6 |
References
- ^ Pardon, Sydney H. (ed.) (1909). "Part II: The Leading Counties in 1908". John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack. 46th ed. London: John Wisden & Co. p. 1.
- ^ Pardon (ed.) (1909). "The Second-Class Counties". John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack. 46th ed. p. 387.
- ^ "Minor Counties Championship: Glamorgan and Monmouthshire to Meet Again". South Wales Argus. 25 August 1908. p. 4.
- ^ "The Minor Counties Championship". The Times. 29 August 1908. p. 4.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, Peter (1983). The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records. Australia: Rigby Publishers. p. 24. ISBN 072701868X.