The Minor Counties Championship 1902

11 Final Season A number of leading players played their final championship match in 1902. F G Brooks (Bedfordshire 1900-02) Played 23 matches for Bedfordshire as a right-hand batsman scoring 868 runs at 24.11, with a highest score of 137 not out v Hertfordshire at Hertford in 1902. Freddy Brooks was educated at Bedford GS and scored the first four championship centuries for the county. He played once for England at rugby as a wing three-quarter against South Africa in 1907. He played first-class cricket for Rhodesia between 1904/05 to 1909/10, as did his brother Frank between 1909/10 and 1922/23. Frank’s main sport was tennis. J A Gibb (Berkshire 1899-1902) Played 19 matches as a left-hand batsman scoring 1,087 runs at 35.06, with a highest score of 122 not out against Oxfordshire at Reading in 1902. John Gibb’s feat of being the first batsman to score two centuries in a championship match has already been reported. Capt S D Maul (Buckinghamshire 1897-1902) Played 23 matches as a right-hand batsman scoring 856 runs at 25.93, with a highest score of 83 not out against Hertfordshire at Watford in 1899. Spencer Maul was educated at Uppingham and Sandhurst and scored several double centuries in club cricket. His father had been secretary when the first attempts were made to establish a county club. J F Whitwell (Durham 1895-1902) Played 45 matches scoring 1,570 runs at 24.53 with a highest score of 99 against Norfolk at Darlington in 1900. Joseph Whitwell was educated at Uppingham and was Durham captain between 1899 and 1902. He was a ‘steady’ right-hand batsman. He appeared in one first-class match for Yorkshire in 1890. W F Whitwell (Durham 1895-1902) Played 37 matches taking 197 wickets at 14.68 with best bowling 8-18 against Lincolnshire at Philadelphia in 1895, as well as scoring 697 runs at 14.82. Like his brother Joseph, Bill Whitwell was educated at Uppingham and captained Durham in 1895 and 1896. He was a right-arm medium fast bowler and right-hand bat. He appeared in 10 matches for Yorkshire in 1890, and also played two other first-class matches for Lord Hawke’s XI in North America 1894 and one for the Gentlemen in 1900. S Lowe (Glamorgan 1897-1902) Played 51 matches for the county as a right-arm fast bowler, taking 238 wickets at 14.91 apiece, with best bowling 8-37 against Wiltshire at Cardiff in 1901. Sam Lowe had played one first-class match for Nottinghamshire in 1894. His brother Richard had played his last match for Glamorgan in 1901, after scoring 1,129 runs at 20.90, and taking 39 wickets at 15.15. Richard Lowe had been the first player to be no-balled for throwing in a championship match, and he had played 14 first-class matches for Sussex in 1893 and 1894, as well as making his first-class debut in 1891 for Lord Sheffield’s XI. Major C E Greenway (Northumberland 1900-1902) Played 13 matches as a right-hand batsman scoring 334 runs at 17.57. He was educated at Cheltenham, before taking up a military career. He was a legendary hitter, his first 50 for the county against Staffordshire at Jesmond in 1900 was scored in 30 minutes and his second - 57 against Norfolk at Jesmond in the same year - took just 18 minutes. Cleveland Greenway played one first-class match for Somerset in 1882, and his only other first-class match was for the MCC in 1895. G R Wood (Oxfordshire 1895-1902) Played in 23 matches scoring 583 runs averaging 17.66 with a highest score of 76 not out against Bedfordshire at Banbury in 1895, the first match he played for the county. George Wood was educated at Haileybury. He was a right-hand batsman and captained the county between 1895 and 1897, though illness prevented him appearing in any matches in the latter year. He played 3 first class-matches for Somerset in 1893 and 1894. He took holy orders.