1981-09-12 to 1981-09-15 · Kennington Oval, Kennington
Surrey v Essex
Surrey won by 5 wickets
England & Wales · First Class · Domestic
Essex 1981 cricket statistics and records
Essex in County Championship: standings, leading run scorers, wicket takers and innings records in Redball’s recorded data. Season statistics cover County Championship 1981; Tests are excluded.
BR Hardie leads the displayed batting table with 1,320 runs. JK Lever leads the bowling table with 78 wickets.
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Showing 1981 · County Championship · Essex
Browse all 121 recorded seasons
Season overview
- Recorded matches
- 22
- Recorded players
- 16
- Wins
- 8
- Recorded venues
- 15
Selected season match starts: 1981-05-06 to 1981-09-12. Player counts cover recorded batting or bowling innings, not a registered squad. Latest update among the displayed statistics and match source rows: 2026-06-14.
County Championship standings · 1981
League table for 1981. Positions follow the source table within each division or group.
Single Division
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nottinghamshire | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 304 |
| 2 | Sussex | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 302 |
| 3 | Somerset | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 279 |
| 4 | Middlesex | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 257 |
| 5 | Essex | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 254 |
| 6 | Surrey | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 236 |
| 7 | Hampshire | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 206 |
| 8 | Leicestershire | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 199 |
| 9 | Kent | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 189 |
| 10 | Yorkshire | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 187 |
| 11 | Worcestershire | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 172 |
| 12 | Derbyshire | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 172 |
| 13 | Gloucestershire | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 170 |
| 14 | Glamorgan | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 167 |
| 15 | Northamptonshire | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 166 |
| 16 | Lancashire | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 164 |
| 17 | Warwickshire | 22 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 135 |
Points are the recorded competition points, including any recorded bonuses or deductions. Source-table update: 2026-09-28.
Season leaders · County Championship 1981
Figures earned for Essex only. Top five by recorded total; equal totals are ordered by player ID. Cross-year editions retain their full season.
Leading run scorers
| Player | Matches | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| BR Hardie | 21 | 1,320 |
| KS McEwan | 20 | 1,315 |
| KWR Fletcher | 17 | 1,134 |
| GA Gooch | 9 | 1,091 |
| S Turner | 18 | 768 |
Recorded innings through 1981-09-12. Source update date unavailable.
Leading wicket takers
| Player | Matches | Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| JK Lever | 21 | 78 |
| DL Acfield | 20 | 69 |
| N Phillip | 21 | 49 |
| RE East | 18 | 49 |
| S Turner | 17 | 35 |
Recorded innings through 1981-09-12. Source update date unavailable.
Player statistics · 1981
All recorded players for Essex in this competition and season. Ordered by runs or wickets, then player ID for ties. Figures include only recorded innings.
Batting · 16 players
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50s | 100s | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BR Hardie | Essex | 21 | 37 | 4 | 1,320 | 129 | 40.00 | — | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| KS McEwan | Essex | 20 | 35 | 1 | 1,315 | 141 | 38.68 | — | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| KWR Fletcher | Essex | 17 | 30 | 3 | 1,134 | 165* | 42.00 | — | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| GA Gooch | Essex | 9 | 17 | 0 | 1,091 | 164 | 64.18 | — | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| S Turner | Essex | 18 | 31 | 10 | 768 | 73* | 36.57 | — | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| KR Pont | Essex | 15 | 27 | 3 | 655 | 89 | 27.29 | — | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N Phillip | Essex | 21 | 37 | 4 | 644 | 80* | 19.52 | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AW Lilley | Essex | 11 | 19 | 0 | 531 | 90 | 27.95 | — | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MSA McEvoy | Essex | 10 | 18 | 0 | 314 | 56 | 17.44 | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RE East | Essex | 18 | 31 | 3 | 297 | 47 | 10.61 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N Smith | Essex | 9 | 16 | 4 | 190 | 41 | 15.83 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| JK Lever | Essex | 21 | 37 | 4 | 136 | 21 | 4.12 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DE East | Essex | 12 | 21 | 2 | 133 | 28 | 7.00 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DR Pringle | Essex | 8 | 14 | 3 | 116 | 24* | 10.55 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C Gladwin | Essex | 1 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 53 | 53.00 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DL Acfield | Essex | 20 | 36 | 11 | 35 | 8* | 1.40 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bowling · 10 players
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Balls | Maidens | Runs | Wkts | Avg | SR | Econ | 5W | BBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JK Lever | Essex | 21 | 40 | 3,956 | 144 | 1,989 | 78 | 25.50 | 50.72 | 3.02 | 4 | 8/49 |
| DL Acfield | Essex | 20 | 38 | 4,120 | 206 | 1,521 | 69 | 22.04 | 59.71 | 2.22 | 4 | 8/55 |
| N Phillip | Essex | 21 | 39 | 3,066 | 86 | 1,683 | 49 | 34.35 | 62.57 | 3.29 | 1 | 6/40 |
| RE East | Essex | 18 | 30 | 3,755 | 175 | 1,374 | 49 | 28.04 | 76.63 | 2.20 | 3 | 7/49 |
| S Turner | Essex | 17 | 29 | 2,580 | 115 | 1,060 | 35 | 30.29 | 73.71 | 2.47 | 1 | 5/55 |
| DR Pringle | Essex | 7 | 11 | 864 | 29 | 489 | 8 | 61.13 | 108.00 | 3.40 | 0 | 2/20 |
| GA Gooch | Essex | 6 | 8 | 378 | 19 | 181 | 5 | 36.20 | 75.60 | 2.87 | 0 | 3/47 |
| MSA McEvoy | Essex | 3 | 3 | 162 | 7 | 99 | 3 | 33.00 | 54.00 | 3.67 | 0 | 3/20 |
| KS McEwan | Essex | 2 | 2 | 59 | 1 | 66 | 0 | — | — | 6.71 | 0 | 0/0 |
| KR Pont | Essex | 4 | 5 | 204 | 8 | 105 | 0 | — | — | 3.09 | 0 | 0/14 |
Statistics definitions and missing data
Mat = matches with a recorded innings in that discipline; Inns = recorded innings; NO = not out; HS = highest innings (* means not out). Batting Avg = runs per dismissal; batting SR = runs per 100 balls. 50s excludes centuries; 100s includes all scores of 100 or more.
Bowling Runs excludes byes and leg byes where the source does. Avg = runs conceded per wicket; SR = balls per wicket; Econ = runs per six balls, including historical seasons with different over lengths. 5W = innings with at least five wickets; BBI = best innings, by wickets then fewer runs conceded. Balls are deliveries, not decimal overs.
— means unavailable or undefined, including a zero denominator. Rates requiring balls are omitted if any innings is missing its ball count. Historical boundary and ball counts may be incomplete. Tests and figures for other teams or competitions are excluded. Full methodology
Team season summary
Match outcomes and team scorecards for 1981. Teams are ordered by wins, then name; this is separate from the points table.
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Drawn | Other | Runs | Outs | Bat avg | Highest | Conceded | Wickets | Bowl avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | 22 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 9,360 | 286 | 32.73 | 453 | 9,157 | 306 | 29.92 |
Team runs include extras; wickets include dismissals not credited to a bowler, so these totals can differ from the player tables. Bat avg = team runs per wicket lost; Bowl avg = opposition runs per wicket taken. Other includes ties, abandoned games and unavailable results. Totals cover available scorecards only.
Recent recorded matches · 1981
Latest 12 of 22 recorded matches, ordered by start date. This is not a live score feed.
1981-09-09 to 1981-09-11 · County Ground, Taunton
Somerset v Essex
Match drawn
1981-09-01 to 0001-01-01 · Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester
Essex v Glamorgan
Essex won by 13 runs
1981-08-26 to 1981-08-28 · Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester
Essex v Leicestershire
- Essex
- 340/6d & 256/7d
- Leicestershire
- 198 & 259
Essex won by 139 runs
1981-08-22 to 1981-08-25 · County Ground, Northampton
Northamptonshire v Essex
- Northamptonshire
- 251/4d & 139/2
- Essex
- 300/7d & 189/8d
Match drawn
1981-08-15 to 1981-08-18 · County Ground, Southampton
Hampshire v Essex
Hampshire won by 136 runs
1981-08-12 to 1981-08-14 · County Ground, Chelmsford
Essex v Kent
Essex won by an innings and 67 runs
1981-08-01 to 1981-08-04 · County Ground, Chelmsford
Essex v Derbyshire
- Essex
- 296
- Derbyshire
- 93 & 143
Essex won by an innings and 60 runs
1981-07-29 to 1981-07-31 · St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
Kent v Essex
Essex won by 140 runs
1981-07-18 to 1981-07-21 · Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea
Essex v Lancashire
- Essex
- 308
- Lancashire
- 111 & 245/7
Match drawn
1981-07-15 to 1981-07-17 · Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea
Essex v Northamptonshire
- Essex
- 196 & 108
- Northamptonshire
- 86 & 163
Essex won by 55 runs
1981-07-04 to 1981-07-07 · Edgbaston, Birmingham
Warwickshire v Essex
- Warwickshire
- 289/8d & 296/3d
- Essex
- 303/7d & 283/2
Essex won by 8 wickets
Recorded venues
| Venue | Matches |
|---|---|
| County Ground, Chelmsford | 5 |
| Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester | 2 |
| Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea | 2 |
| Valentine's Park, Ilford | 2 |
| County Ground, Derby | 1 |
| County Ground, New Road, Worcester | 1 |
| County Ground, Northampton | 1 |
| County Ground, Southampton | 1 |
| County Ground, Taunton | 1 |
| Edgbaston, Birmingham | 1 |
| Grace Road, Leicester | 1 |
| Headingley, Leeds | 1 |
| Kennington Oval, Kennington | 1 |
| Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood | 1 |
| St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury | 1 |
Venue names follow the match catalogue; renamed grounds may appear separately.
Season innings records
Highest individual innings and best bowling innings in County Championship 1981 for Essex, in Redball’s recorded data.
Highest innings
| Player | Runs | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| KWR Fletcher | 165* | Kent | 1981-08-12 |
| GA Gooch | 164 | Leicestershire | 1981-06-27 |
| GA Gooch | 146 | Northamptonshire | 1981-08-22 |
| KS McEwan | 141 | Leicestershire | 1981-08-26 |
| BR Hardie | 129 | Lancashire | 1981-07-18 |
Best bowling innings
| Player | Wickets/runs | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| JK Lever | 8/49 | Yorkshire | 1981-06-03 |
| DL Acfield | 8/55 | Kent | 1981-07-29 |
| RE East | 7/49 | Kent | 1981-07-29 |
| RE East | 7/55 | Kent | 1981-08-12 |
| N Phillip | 6/40 | Middlesex | 1981-05-06 |
* means not out. Batting sorts by runs; bowling sorts by wickets, then fewer runs conceded. Ties then use earlier match date and source row ID. Five rows are shown, so equal performances may extend beyond the cutoff. Matches count distinct recorded matches in each discipline.
Competitions and other teams
Includes historical participants; this is not a current squad or membership list.
- County Championship · 1895-05-06 to 2026-09-24
Related articles
Articles tagged for Essex, or linked by editors to players shown above.
No published articles have been linked yet.
Recorded coverage
The full historical range below is from the match catalogue for Essex in County Championship. The selected season range is shown above. These can differ from innings-table coverage and do not establish a complete historical record.
Recorded match dates: 1895-05-06 to 2026-09-24. Date spans do not imply complete coverage. Career aggregates may cover a different set of matches.
Displayed source rows last updated: unavailable. Figures retrieved: 2026-10-01. This is not a live score feed.
Source: Redball’s recorded statistics. Methodology, definitions and coverage.