1871 was the 85th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Derbyshire County Cricket Club became a first-class club and the last matches were played by Cambridgeshire, who in the days of Bob Carpenter, the first Tom Hayward and George Tarrant had been one of the leading cricket counties. W. G. Grace surpassed his previous season's record of 1,808 runs and his 1869 average of 57.39 by scoring 2,739 at the outstanding average of 78.25 at a time when most pitches were still unrolled and very dangerous to batsmen – though the heavy roller was already producing major improvements to Lord's and eliminating the bottom-of-the-stump shooters. These records were not beaten until Arthur Shrewsbury averaged 78.71 in 1887 and Ranjitsinhji scored 2,780 runs in 1896.

Playing record (by county)

Leading batsmen (qualification 15 innings)

Leading bowlers (qualification 800 balls)

Events

Annual reviews