1969 English cricket season
The 1969 English cricket season saw the inauguration of the Sunday League (now the National League), 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. They 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.
Honours
- County Championship – Glamorgan
- Gillette Cup – Yorkshire
- Sunday League – Lancashire
- Minor Counties Championship – Buckinghamshire
- Second XI Championship – Kent II
- Wisden – Basil Butcher, Alan Knott, Majid Khan, Mike Procter, Don Shepherd
Test series
England had a very strong team captained by Ray Illingworth. Other notable England players included John Snow, Geoff Boycott, John Edrich, Alan Knott and Derek Underwood. John Hampshire scored a century on his Test debut versus West Indies at Lord's.
England defeated New Zealand and West Indies in two three-match series, in both cases by two wins and one draw.
See also: New Zealand cricket team in England in 1969 and West Indian cricket team in England in 1969
Leading batsmen
John Edrich topped the averages with 2238 runs at 69.93.
Other leading batsmen were Basil Butcher, Mushtaq Mohammed and 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.