1972 English cricket season

The 1972 English cricket season was the 73rd in which the County Championship had been an official competition. There was 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. It caused another reduction in the number of 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. The County Championship was won by Warwickshire for the third time in their history. Australia toured England and the Test series was drawn 2–2.

1972 English cricket season
1971
1973

Honours

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Test series

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

Cumulative record – Test wins 1876-1972
England 70
Australia 82
Drawn 62

County Championship

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Gillette Cup

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Benson & Hedges Cup

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Sunday League

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Leading batsmen

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1972 English cricket season – leading batsmen by average
Name Innings Runs Highest Average 100s
Geoffrey Boycott 22 1230 204* 72.35 6
Greg Chappell 28 1260 181 70.00 4
Rohan Kanhai 30 1607 199 64.28 8
Majid Khan 38 2074 204 61.00 8
Mushtaq Mohammad 40 1949 137* 59.06 6
1972 English cricket season – leading batsmen by aggregate
Name Innings Runs Highest Average 100s
Majid Khan 38 2074 204 61.00 8
Mushtaq Mohammad 40 1949 137* 59.06 6
Glenn Turner 38 1764 170 51.88 7
Keith Fletcher 36 1763 181* 58.76 5
Brian Luckhurst 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 263 14 106 10 10.60
Mike Procter 2557 108 960 58 16.55
Bob Massie 2290 115 851 50 17.02
Chris Old 2273 106 931 54 17.24
Terry Spencer 984 46 333 19 17.52
1972 English cricket season – leading bowlers by aggregate
Name Balls Maidens Runs Wickets Average
Tom Cartwright 5178 373 1827 98 18.64
Barry Stead 4482 173 1998 98 20.38
Jack Birkenshaw 4983 225 1976 90 21.95
Robin Jackman 4195 141 2076 84 24.71
Pat Pocock 4178 177 2010 83 24.21

References

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Annual reviews

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