The Minor Counties Championship 1902

4 THE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP 1902 INTRODUCTION This book contains the match scores, a statistical survey and full averages, both by county and by player in alphabetical order, for the eighth season of the Minor Counties Championship. It follows the same format as the previous ACS publications that covered the first seven years of the competition. THE LEAD UP TO THE 1902 COMPETITION The main aims of the members of the Minor Counties Cricket Association after the conclusion of the 1901 season were to get more eligible counties to take part in the Championship, to reform the points system to reflect more accurately the relative strength of the participants in the competition, and to continue to press for the Minor Counties Championship to be regarded as the Second Division of the First-Class County Championship with a recognised system of promotion. The December 1901 Annual Meeting The Annual Meeting was held at Lord’s on Tuesday 10 December, prior to the annual gathering of county secretaries to arrange the first-class fixtures for 1902. Those present were R W Allen and W W Marks (Bedfordshire), Capt J J St L Wheble (Berkshire), P J de Paravicini and G H Ward (Buckinghamshire), P Colville Smith (Cornwall), Col J Fellowes (Devon), W H Manfield (Dorset), W R Wilson (Durham), J H Brain (Glamorgan), Dr J Earl Norman and C D Fastnedge (Hertfordshire), A J R Butler (Monmouthshire), E G Buxton (Norfolk), P W Dale and A J Darnell (Northamptonshire), F G H Clayton (Northumberland), H M Turner (Oxfordshire), W C Hancock and Rev P E Mainwaring (Staffordshire), C W Alcock and C A Stein (Surrey 2nd XI), A M Miller (Wiltshire), P H Foley (Worcestershire 2nd XI), R W Frank and J B Wostinholm (Yorkshire 2nd XI) and R H Mallett (Hon Secretary of the Association). Cambridgeshire were not represented. James Fellowes took the chair. The New Points System – Audley Miller put forward a proposal aiming at replacing the system, that also applied in the First-Class County Championship, by a new one. The scheme had been supported at the meeting of the captains held the previous day to agree the umpires list for 1902. It involved increasing the value of a win in a completed match from one point to three, and in a drawn match awarding one point for the team leading on first innings. In the event of a result on first innings not being arrived at, no points would be awarded. In the event of a tie, in either a completed match or in a match decided on the first innings, the points would be divided equally between the two teams. There had been some discussion about whether two rather than three points should be awarded for a win, but in the end the higher number was favoured on the grounds that it provided a greater incentive to teams to take risks to win matches. The Bedfordshire representatives suggested that the proposal “should become law. subject to it receiving the approval of the MCC”. Harry Mallett drew attention to the fact that the new points system would also require a change in the method of calculation, given that not all teams would be playing the same number of matches, so a proportionate - rather than an absolute - measure would still be required. The issue was whether the proportion of points should be assessed against all matches played or only those where points were scored. The team captains at their meeting the day before had