1969 English cricket season
The 1969 English cricket season was the 70th in which the
National League) began, sponsored by the John Player tobacco company. All matches were played on Sundays with each of the 17 first-class counties playing each other once. Matches were of 40 overs a side. One match each Sunday was televised by the BBC
and the idea was a commercial success, though it had its critics among cricket's "traditional" supporters.
One effect of the Sunday League was a reduction in the number of matches played by each team in the County Championship from 28 to 24. Glamorgan won the Championship title. England defeated both West Indies and New Zealand in Test series.
Honours
- Glamorgan
- Yorkshire
- Lancashire
- Minor Counties Championship – Buckinghamshire
- Second XI Championship – Kent II
- Wisden – Majid Khan, Mike Procter, Don Shepherd
Test series
West Indies tour
Geoff Boycott, John Edrich, Alan Knott and Derek Underwood. John Hampshire scored a century on his Test debut versus West Indies at Lord's
.
New Zealand tour
County Championship
Gillette Cup
Sunday League
Leading batsmen
John Edrich topped the averages with 2238 runs at 69.93.
Other leading batsmen were
Barry Richards
, who all averaged over 50.
Leading bowlers
Alan Ward was the leading bowler, with an average of 14.82, but he took only 69 wickets, whereas four bowlers took over 100 wickets each. These were Mike Procter, Derek Underwood, Tom Cartwright and Don Wilson, who all averaged less than 17.50.