The Minor Counties Championship 1903

8 J Saunders of Buckinghamshire in 1897 and E C Hobbs, also of Buckinghamshire in 1902, who both held 18 catches in 8 matches is better. George Wharmby The player who possibly made the biggest impact in 1903 was George Wharmby of Bedfordshire. He had made his debut the year before, with a notable bowling record of 41 wickets at 14.41, and 11 catches, but his batting had disappointed scoring 149 runs at 14.90. In 1903, however, he was successful in every department scoring 606 runs at an average of 33.66, holding 22 catches, a new Championship record for a fielder, and taking 54 wickets at 14.90. He played a major role in assisting Bedfordshire achieve their highest position yet of fourth equal since re-entering the Championship in 1900. George Edward Wharmby had been born in Sutton in Ashfield on 7 December 1870. In first- class cricket, he played 4 matches for Nottinghamshire between 1891-1893, including making a ‘pair’ in his debut match against the MCC at Lord’s. He played a further 6 matches for Lancashire in 1894. He achieved little of note in the first-class game, in all scoring 36 runs at 2.76 and taking 9 wickets at 33.11. While engaged at Bedford School in 1890, Wharmby had been noted by Herbie Orr, the Bedfordshire captain, who was responsible for getting him to qualify for Bedfordshire. He played in two friendly matches in 1901, before making his Championship debut a year later. He was a right-hand batsman. The record books describe him as being a medium paced bowler, but judging from newspaper accounts he bowled at fast- medium in the early years for the County, but probably slowed down in later years. He played 103 championship matches for Bedfordshire between 1902 and 1914, playing as an amateur in the last season. He reappeared at the age of 52, again as an amateur, in 2 matches in 1923 with limited success. In all he played in 105 matches for the County. His career record has yet to be verified by the ACS, but it is estimated that he scored around 3,800 runs averaging over 24, and took around 500 wickets at under 16 apiece. He scored four hundreds, with his debut century of 163 not out against Cambridgeshire at the Dunstable Grammar School Ground in 1903 being his highest score. For most of the years that he played for Bedfordshire, he was also the professional at the North Warwickshire and Coventry Cricket Club. Peter Wynne-Thomas in ‘Nottinghamshire Cricketers 1821-1914’ records Wharmby as being coach at Bedford School between 1925 and 1930 and subsequently at R A F Cranwell. He was landlord at the Bull Inn at Sutton-in- Ashfield for a time. He died aged 80 at Rustington, near Littlehampton, West Sussex on 15 November 1951. Championship Career Milestones The following career milestones were reached during the season: 2,000 runs – (4) (2,230) Golding, A J (Hertfordshire) (2,167) T Horton (Northamptonshire) (2,116) A M Miller (Wiltshire) (2,056) E W Elliot (Durham) 1,000 runs – (9) (1,251) Smith, W R R (Wiltshire) (1,195) Brown, T A (Bedfordshire) (1,103) H D Stratton (Staffordshire) (1,080) R A Williams (Berkshire) (1,045) Sir C E M Y Nepean (Berkshire)