The Minor Counties Championship 1903

124 BEDFORDSHIRE 1903 Championship matches: Played 12, won 5, lost 3, drawn 4 (won on first innings 3, lost on first innings 1). Position: Fourth equal with Glamorgan and Northumberland out of seventeen Won: v Northamptonshire at Bedford, v Cambridgeshire at Dunstable, v Hertfordshire at Bedford, v Oxfordshire at Bedford, and v Oxfordshire at Oxford Lost: v Northamptonshire at Northampton, v Cambridgeshire at Cambridge, and v Buckinghamshire at Aylesbury Drawn – won on first innings: v Staffordshire at Wolverhampton, v Staffordshire at Bedford, and v Buckinghamshire at Bedford Drawn – lost on first innings: v Hertfordshire at Hertford. Captain: H R Orr (12 matches) Wicket-keepers: R E H Anderson (1 match) and Capt E F Rowe (11 matches) Debutants: 5 (R E H Anderson, S Brown, J M Dow, A E Holmes-Brown and C Pepper) Final season for team: 6 (R E H Anderson, Rev L G Brown, J M Dow, C Pepper, F J Rainsford and Capt E F Rowe) Hon Secretaries: R W Allen and W W Marks Assistant Secretary: A D Piper Professionals: 5 (T A Brown, C Pepper, G Pollitt, F Taylor and G E Wharmby) Home grounds 2: Bedford Grammar School Ground, Burnaby Road, Bedford (5 matches); and Dunstable Grammar School Ground, West Parade, Dunstable (1 match). Notes: Rising from twelfth place to fourth equal, Bedfordshire had their most successful season since rejoining the Championship in 1900. They were the only team to beat the champions Northamptonshire. The number of matches was increased from 10 to 12, with Cambridgeshire being added to the fixture list. All five matches at Bedford were played at the Grammar School Ground. Of those playing their final season for the county, Capt E F Rowe was to play in 35 championship matches for Berkshire between 1907 and 1911. Rev L G Brown had played 2 matches for Berkshire in 1901. During the season, Tom Brown passed the career milestones for Bedfordshire of both one thousand runs and two hundred wickets. [H V Baumgartner played his last match for Bedfordshire in 1912, not 1902 as indicated in the 1902 book.] BEDFORDSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1903 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 5 players who made their debut in a championship match for Bedfordshire during the season. Names in bold denote that 1903 was the last or only season that these 6 players appeared for Bedfordshire in a championship match. Player M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I R E H Anderson + 4 7 1 15 27 4.50 - - 3 2 1 - - - - - - - - Rev L G Brown 1 1 0 8 8 8.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - S Brown + 9 10 4 14 55 9.16 - - 1 2 - 155 37 394 23 17.13 6-55 - 1 Brown, T A 12 19 3 101* 353 22.06 1 - 2 10 - 365.4 97 784 67 11.70 8-27 3 7 J M Dow + 1 2 0 4 5 2.50 - - - - - - - - - - - - - H F Holdstock 1 2 0 0 0 0.00 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - A E Holmes-Brown + 2 4 1 2* 5 1.66 - - 1 - - 2 0 3 0 - - - - Rev R H Moss 11 17 1 38 108 6.75 - - 4 12 - 243.2 85 479 28 17.10 5-44 - 2 H W Oclee 1 2 1 34 41 41.00 - - - 1 - 4 1 5 0 - - - - N D T Oliver 10 17 0 117 424 24.94 1 1 2 6 - 32 5 78 3 26.00 2-48 - - H R Orr 12 20 1 80 336 17.68 - 2 2 3 - 2 0 2 0 - - - - L Parbury 11 16 3 34* 196 15.07 - - 1 5 - 67 13 200 6 33.33 4-57 - - B L Peel 8 12 1 131 446 40.54 2 2 1 4 - 33.1 12 68 9 7.55 6-28 - 1 C L K Peel 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - Pepper, C + 5 7 3 21* 54 13.50 - - 2 3 - 14.2 3 46 3 15.33 2-10 - - Pollitt, G 11 19 1 48 198 11.00 - - 3 9 - - - - - - - - - F J Rainsford 1 2 1 7 11 11.00 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - Capt E F Rowe 11 15 3 29 114 9.50 - - 2 7 5 1 1 0 0 - - - - L G Stileman-Gibbard 1 2 0 4 4 2.00 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - Taylor, F 1 2 0 4 5 2.50 - - - - - - - - - - - - - L C R Thring 6 9 0 132 229 25.44 1 - - 3 - 29 13 44 2 22.00 1-5 - - Wharmby, G E 12 20 2 163* 606 33.66 1 4 2 22 - 391.2 147 805 54 14.90 7-71 1 5 Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 179 - - - - - - - - 215 6 - - - - Total 132 206 26 163* 3405 18.91 6 9 29 91 6 1339.5 414 3123 201 15.53 8-27 4 16 (22 players) (6 ball overs) Note: Overs and maidens not known for the second innings of Match 9 v Hertfordshire at Hertford where Hertfordshire total was 3 runs for the loss of two wickets. Moss and Brown were the bowlers. FINAL SEASON FOR COUNTY – CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER RECORDS These 6 players made their last appearance for Bedfordshire in the Championship in 1903. Player Debut M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Balls Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I R E H Anderson 1903 4 7 1 15 27 4.50 - - 3 2 1 - - - - - - - Rev L G Brown 1895 8 13 2 28 92 8.36 - - 4 11 4 - - - - - - - J M Dow 1903 1 2 0 4 5 2.50 - - - - - - - - - - - - Pepper, C 1903 5 7 3 21* 54 13.50 - - 2 3 - 86 46 3 15.33 2-10 - - F J Rainsford 1901 3 6 2 14 33 8.25 - - 1 2 - 54 33 0 - - - - Capt E F Rowe 1895 12 17 3 29 121 8.64 - - 2 8 6 6 0 0 - - - - (6 players)