The Minor Counties Championship 1903

135 HERTFORDSHIRE 1903 Championship matches: Played 8, won 1, lost 1, drawn 6 (won on first innings 4, lost on first innings 1, no decision on first innings 1), abandoned 2 Position: Eighth equal with Surrey 2 nd XI out of seventeen Won: v Oxfordshire at Watford Lost: v Bedfordshire at Bedford GS Drawn – won on first innings: v Bedfordshire at Hertford, v Buckinghamshire at St Albans, v Oxfordshire at Oxford, and v Buckinghamshire at Aylesbury Drawn – lost on first innings: v Northamptonshire at Northampton Drawn – no decision on first innings: v Dorset at Bishop’s Stortford Abandoned: v Dorset at Poole, and v Northamptonshire at Watford. Captain: H J Hill (8 matches) Wicket-keepers: F Escombe (2 matches), C D Fastnedge (2 matches), W G Long (1 match), and E H Wales (3 matches) Debutants: 8 (Capt C P Deedes, F Escombe, W G Long, E J Metcalfe, P R Paul, J R Turner, G J Willans and H Williams) Final season for team: 8 (Capt G O Bigge, F Escombe, H J Hill, W G Long, E J Metcalfe, R G Pridmore, W J Rudd and G J Willans) Hon Secretary: Dr J Earl Norman Professionals: 4 (W E Coleman, A J Golding, E R Harding and H E White) Home grounds 4: The Bishop’s Stortford Cricket Club Ground, Cricketfield Lane, Bishop’s Stortford (1 match); The Hertford Cricket Club Ground, Balls Park, Mangrove Road, Hertford (1 match); The County Ground, Clarence Park, St Albans (1 match); and The West Herts Cricket Club Ground, Cassio Road, Watford (1 match). Notes: Having their fixtures more adversely affected than any county by the weather, Hertfordshire were at a disadvantage compared with the leading teams. Of their six drawn matches, they were leading on first innings in four of them. They were the only team to have two matches abandoned. H J Hill succeeded C D Fastnedge as captain. The same opponents were met as in 1902. Career milestones passed during the season were two hundred wickets by W E Coleman and two thousand runs by A J Golding. Of those players appearing in their final season for the team, W J Rudd was to join The Oval ground staff and play five matches for Surrey 2 nd XI in the Championship in 1904. HERTFORDSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1903 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 8 players who made their Championship debut for Hertfordshire during the season. Names in bold denote that 1903 was the last or only season that these 8 players appeared for Hertfordshire in the Championship. Player M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I Capt G O Bigge 5 8 0 44 195 24.37 - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - A Butcher 5 8 1 26 92 13.14 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - Coleman, W E 8 10 1 22 97 10.77 - - 1 2 - 232 62 531 37 14.35 6-51 1 3 Capt C P Deedes + 2 2 0 33 60 30.00 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - C C T Doll 6 9 3 36* 122 20.33 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - G G Dumbelton 1 1 0 9 9 9.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - F Escombe + 2 2 0 74 84 42.00 - 1 - 2 - - - - - - - - - C D Fastnedge 2 3 1 18 34 17.00 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - Golding, A J 8 13 3 101* 430 43.00 2 2 2 3 - 8 1 27 1 27.00 1-21 - - Harding, E R 1 2 0 7 9 4.50 - - - 1 - 12 8 7 7 1.00 5-5 - 1 H J Hill 8 10 0 54 204 20.40 - 1 - 2 - 1 0 8 0 - - - - W G Long + 1 1 0 11 11 11.00 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - E J Metcalfe + 7 11 1 38 101 10.10 - - 2 4 - 60 13 163 6 27.16 3-48 - - P R Paul + 2 1 0 0 0 0.00 - - 1 2 - - - - - - - - - R G Pridmore 1 1 0 2 2 2.00 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - C T Rudd 6 8 0 30 128 16.00 - - - 1 - 11 1 50 3 16.66 3-35 - - Rudd, W J 8 9 6 29* 37 12.33 - - 2 1 - 160 37 343 15 22.86 4-36 - - J R Turner + 2 2 0 38 53 26.50 - - - - - - - - - - - - - E H Wales 3 3 0 57 67 22.33 - 1 - 2 - - - - - - - - - White, H E 8 11 0 99 304 27.63 - 2 - 8 - 292.2 93 644 47 13.70 8-42 1 4 G J Willans + 1 2 0 3 3 1.50 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - H Williams + 1 2 0 0 0 0.00 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 103 - - - - - - - - 127 1 - - - - Total 88 119 16 101* 2145 20.82 2 7 13 40 0 776.2 215 1900 117 16.23 8-42 2 8 (22 players) (6 ball overs) Note: Hertfordshire bowling analysis for second innings of Match 65 v Buckinghamshire at Aylesbury not found, and has been derived from the Hertfordshire averages in Wisden, which also include the two friendly matches played against the MCC.