Start date 1881 | ||
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The 1881 English cricket season saw a first outright title win by Lancashire, but is best known for a strike by the Nottinghamshire professionals, led by champion slow bowler Alfred Shaw, over benefits and terms.
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Champion County
Nottinghamshire strike
Nottinghamshire’s professionals, led by Alfred Shaw, held a strike over playing contracts agreed by the MCC and secretary Captain Henry Holden. The players demanded security of contract for all games during the season and the right to organise their own terms rather than those set by the MCC, which during the 1870s as county cricket grew established a strong grip on terms for professional players.
The dispute meant that seven of Nottinghamshire’s top players did not play for the first half of the season, and leading batsman Arthur Shrewsbury played only three first-class games all year. Shaw and Shrewsbury used the dispute to organise an eight-month tour of Australia and New Zealand during the winter.