1864 was the 78th season of cricket in England (since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)). It was a significant year in cricket history, as it saw the legalisation of overarm bowling and the first edition of John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanac.

Inter-county cricket

The first-class county teams in 1864 were: Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Notts, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire. The unofficial concept of a "champion county" took a new turn when periodicals began publishing tables of inter-county results, although there was still no formal or agreed method of deciding positions in the table. Haygarth usually refers to 'generally agreed' when announcing the Champion County.^[1]

Events

• Law 10 was rewritten by the MCC to allow a bowler to bring his arm through at any height providing he kept it straight and did not throw the ball. The issue of overarm bowling had crystallised in the Willsher-Lillywhite incident of August 1862.
• 12 January – formation of Lancashire County Cricket Club at a meeting in Manchester.
• 27–29 January – Otago v. Canterbury at Dunedin was the start of first-class cricket in New Zealand.
• Madras v. Calcutta was the start of first-class cricket in India.
• First issue of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. It was titled John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanac until the 1937 edition.
• 6–7 June – Middlesex County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at Islington
• 9 June – Playing for MCC against Oxford University, H.E. Bull becomes only the second player,^[4] and the first since 1827,^[5] to be dismissed hit the ball twice in a first-class game.^[6]
• 7–8 July – Hampshire County Cricket Club played its initial first-class match v. Sussex at the Antelope Ground, Southampton
• 11–12 July – First appearance of WG Grace in a "big" match, though his first-class debut would not occur until the following season.^[7]
• MCC finally purchased the freehold of Lord's Cricket Ground for £18,333 6s 8d with money advanced by William Nicholson.

Leading batsmen (qualification 10 innings)

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)