Cricket 1911

S ept . 23, 1911. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 537 Second=Class Cricket in 1911 By J. N. P e n te lo w . An attempt has been made here to do what, to the best of my belief, has never been done before—that is, to give the averages of all the players taking part in Minor County, or second-class, cricket. I do not mean that the second-class counties do not publish averages. Some even print them for the benefit of their members and the press. But the system is unsatisfactory. In one set of tables all games played by the county will be included, in another only championship matches; and often there is nothing to show which of these methods has been employed. For instance, Northumberland, Durham, Glamorgan and Staffordshire have all had their 1911 averages in the Sportsman. One of the northern counties included its match with the All India team, the other did not. Staffordshire’s matches with Glamorgan were included, but tbe Welsh county’s tables left out the Staffordshire matches. It would be easy to multiply instances. First-class cricket is defined by the M.C.C. For second-class cricket I have had to make my own definition. I do not think many will cavil at it. I have included : (a) The 98 matches played in the Minor Counties’ Champion­ ship ; (b) The matches played by South Wales (Glamorgan and Monmouth practically), Durham, Lincolnshire, Northumberland and Staffordshire against the All India Team ; (c) The matches between the M.C.C. and Cambs., Dorset, Herts (two), and Wilts. ; ( d ) The two matches between Glamorgan and Staffordshire (not championship games); (e) The match between Staffordshire and Yorkshire, and that between Norfolk and Mr. Lionel Robinson’s Eleven; (f) The matches between Kent Second and Sussex Second, Lancashire Second and Yorkshire Second, Lancashire Second and Surrey Second, Surrey Second and Yorkshire Second, and Warwick­ shire Second and Worcestershire Second. I have left out of account the matches played by the All India Team in Scotland and Ireland, as belonging to representative cricket in those countries, the matches between Cumberland and Westmor­ land, as being cutside the minor county group, and the second eleven matches between Leicestershire and Warwickshire, and Leicester­ shire and Notts, because they were only one-day fixtures. Such games as Hampshire v. Woodbrook and v. Dublin University, ruled out of the first-class list, can hardly be included here either, because they have nothing to do with the minor counties, which one must take as the nucleus of second class cricket. This gives a total of 122 matches, in which, even with the members of the All-India team left out, as many as 6S2 players took part! (Compare the first-class figures,—223 matches, 487 players.) The magnitude of the work involved cannot be appreciated by anyone who has never attempted anything of the sort. But the secretaries have been kind, and I desire to acknowledge here a debt of gratitude to them ; and I am enabled to give practically full and substantially correct averages drawn from all the matches included. There is one small omission. Complete bowling returns are not to be had in all cases, and I have therefore omitted the figures of those who failed to take a wicket. It is a small matter, but even this I regret. The alphabetical order has been adopted, as in the case of the first-class figures ; but, for considerations of space, I have divided the names into two lists. The first includes all those who played three or more innings, or, playing only one or two, bowled and took wickets; the second those who played only one or two innings, and who either did not bowl or did not take a wicket. Upwards of sixty of the names included here are also to be found in the first-class averages, notable instances being Messrs. M. Falcon, J. F. Ireland, J. H. B. Lockhart, H. Brougham, H. Grierson and L. H. W . Troughton, with Abel, Morfee, Jennings, Hubble, Harrison (Surrey), Sandham, Spring, Jupp and William Tyldesley. It is in the interests of economy of space in part, and partly from sheer ignorance, that the initials of the professionals are seldom given. For the benefit of the general public, which knows less of second- class cricket than it should do, each man’s side is denoted in brackets after his name : thus, Bd. stands for Bedfordshire, Br. for Berkshire, Bk. for Bucks., Cm. for Cambs., Cr. for Carmarthen, Ch. for Cheshire, Co. for Cornwall, D e. for Devon, Do. for Dorset, Dh. for Durham, G for Glamorgan, H. for Herts., Li. for Lincolnshire, M. for Monmouth, Nf. for Norfolk, No. for Northumberland, St. for Staffordshire, Sf. for Suffolk, W. for Wilts., K. ;i for Kent Second, Sy. 2 for Surrey Second, La. 2 for Lancashire Second, Sx. 2 for Sussex Second, Wk. 2 for Warwickshire Second, Wo. 2 for Worcestershire Second, Y. 2 for Yorkshire Second, Y. for Yorkshire (v. Stafford­ shire) and R ’s. XI. for Mr. Robinson’s XI. M.C.C. hardly needs explaining. Nor do some of the others, perhaps, but it is just as well to make matters quite clear. Of all the 682 players only 14 went in as many as 20 iimes, and no one reached 30 innings. As many as 156 batted 10 or more times but under 20, however. Mr. Norman Riches is the only batsman who has totalled four figures ; but Mr. Geoffrey Stevens and young Abel each has an aggregate of over 900, Mr. Henry Brougham is over 800, Harrison (Durham), Silverlock, Mr. L. H. W. Troughton and Ling scored between 700 and 800 each, Mr. G. W . Birkbeck, Mr. C. H. Titchmarsh, Mr. M. Falcon, Shoosmith and Mr. H. C. Tebbutt are in the 600’s, Mr. G. G. M. Bennett, Barnes, Mr. F. Hargrave Carroll, Mr. L. J.Reid, Harrison (Surrey), Golding, Samham, Newman and Mr. E. J. Fulcher in the 500’s. Barnes alone took over 100 wickets; but Morris, of Durham, fell only a few short of the round figure, while Creber, of Glamorgan, had 90, Burton, of Herts., 82, Hacker and Mr. J. H. B. Lockhart over 70 each, Shelford and Abel over 60 and Preston, Hawksworth and Maxwell over 50. It seems worth while, before proceeding to the averages, to give here the full Minor County Championship returns, arranging the counties in alphabetical order, without regard to the divisions, which, after all, are a mere matter of convenience. MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP. ( Complete return of Matches played.) CObo Si ©be ■ County. o "> Q Played. do £ Won on 1st innin Lost. Lost on 1st innin p cj Q Possible points. Points obtained, Percenta, of points Bedfordshire N. 8 3 3 2 0 0 40 24 60-00 Berkshire............ S. 11 9 0 1 0 1 50 45 90-00 Buckinghamshire S. 10 2 1 5 2 0 50 15 30 00 Cambridgeshire... N. 10 3 2 2 3 0 50 24 48-00 Carmarthenshire. S. 8 0 0 7 0 1 35 0 — Cheshire............. N. 8 1 0 6 1 0 40 6 15-0 Cornwall............. S. 8 2 0 6 0 0 40 10 25-0 Devonshire S. 10 2 0 5 3 0 50 13 26 00 Dorsetshire s. 8 1 3 3 1 0 40 15 37-50 D urha m .............. N. 10 7 0 2 1 0 50 36 72-00 Glamorganshire... S. 10 7 1 2 0 0 50 38 76-00 Hertfordshire ... N. 10 5 0 3 2 0 50 27 54-00 Kent 2nd X I. ... S. 10 8 0 2 0 0 50 40 80 00 Lincolnshire N. 10 3 1 6 0 0 50 18 36-00 Monmouthshire... S. 8 4 1 2 1 0 40 24 60-00 Norfolk ............. N. 12 2 1 8 3 0 60 16 26-66 Northumberland. N. 8 3 1 4 0 0 40 IS 45-00 Staffordshire N. 9 8 0 1 0 0 45 40 88 88 Suffolk .............. N. 8 2 2 4 0 0 <0 16 40-00 Surrey 2nd X L ... S. 10 7 1 2 0 0 50 38 76-00 Wiltshire............. S. 10 0 1 8 1 0 50 4 8-00 N. = North and East Division. S. = South and Wett. The matches betweeen Berkshire and Srnrty Second and Staffordshire and SurreyS o n d are includ*d here. It may not be technically correct to count points for these, but it has the advantage of showing clearly what each side accomplished. The “ lost ” column, generally omitted, also helps in ihis. It should be noted that the matches between Glamorgan and Staffordshire were outside the Championship. CENTURIES IN SECOND-CLASS CRICKET, 1911. Abel (W. J.) Anderson, J. O. Barnes (S. F .)... Relcher, G. Bennett, G. G. M. Birkbeck, G. W. Blaker, R. N. R. Bourne, E. H.... Bradford, T. A. Brougham, H.... Burdett, E. W. Carroll, F. H. ... Collins, W. R .... Collinson, R. W. Dutnall, W. Falcon, M. Golding Harrison (H. S-) Harrison 132 Surrey Second XI. v. Glamorgan, Oval, May ‘20. 113 Surrey Second XI. v. Devon, ll<>rley, Aug. 2, 3. 101 Her:s. v. Norfolk, St. Albans, July 18. l'.O Staffordshire v. Glamorgan, Cardiff, July 31, Aug. 1. 136 Staffordshire v. Durham, South Shields, June 21. 101 Staffordshire v. Lincolnshire, Lincoln, Aug. 16. 10 1 * Berkshire v. Carmarthen, Reading, Aug. 9. 105 Berkshire v. Cornwall, Reading, Aug. 16, 17. 108 Norfolk v. Herts., Norwich, Aug. 14 103 Mr. L. Robinsons XI. v. Norfolk, Norwich, June 3, 5. 165 Staffordshire v. Glamorgan, Stoke, Aug. 9. 130 Durham v. Norfolk, Blackhill, July 28. 123 Durham v. Northumberland, Newcastle, June 5, 6. 150 Berkshire v. Carmarthen, Reading, Aug. 9. 122 Berkshire v. Bucks, Reading, Aug. 8. 233 Devon v. Cornwall, Tavi-tock, July 12, 13. 170 Devon v. Surrey Second XI., Exeter, July 18. 110 Devon v. Berkshire, Exeter, July 28. 103* M.C.C. v. Cambs., Lord’s, Aug. 18, 19. 131) Norfolk v. Northumberland, Norwich, Aug. 16. 109 Kent Second XI. v. Surrey Second XL,Oval, June5. 114 Norfolk v. Cambs., Cambridge, Aug. 9. 104 Norfolk v. Suffolk, Norwich, Aug. 12. 139 Herts v. Norfolk, St. Albans, July 18. 101 Surrey Second XL v. Kent Second X I., Tonbridge, J uly 7. 145 Durham v. No.thumbcrland, Chester-le-Street, Aug. 7.