The Minor Counties Championship 1903

138 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 1903 Championship matches: Played 11, won 7, lost 1, drawn 3 (won on first innings 2, lost on first innings 1), abandoned 1 Position: First out of seventeen Won: v Bedfordshire at Northampton, v Surrey 2 nd XI at Northampton, v Northumberland at Northampton, v Northumberland at Jesmond, v Durham at Sunderland, v Yorkshire 2 nd XI at Northampton, and v Durham at Northampton Lost: v Bedfordshire at Bedford GS Drawn – won on first innings: v Hertfordshire at Northampton, and v Yorkshire 2 nd XI at Halifax Drawn – lost on first innings: v Surrey 2 nd XI at The Oval Abandoned: v Hertfordshire at Watford. Captain: T Horton (11 matches) Wicket-keepers: F Jones (1 match) and B C Smith (10 matches) Debutants: 6 (E M Crosse, T E Manning, A W Mold, N F Norman, J W Shaw and A E Worsley) Final season for team: 7 (L T Driffield, J B Haviland, F Jones, A W Mold, N F Norman, G K Papillon and C B Thorneycroft) Hon Secretary: A J Darnell Organising Secretary: P W Dale Professionals: 5 (M Cox, W East, A W Mold, G J Thompson and C B Thorneycroft) Home ground 1: The County Ground, Abington Road, Northampton (6 matches) Notes: The County won the Championship outright for the first time, rising from fourth place in 1901 and third in 1902. The county had twice previously won the Championship in 1899, sharing it with Buckinghamshire, and in 1900, sharing it with Durham and Glamorgan. Twelve matches were arranged against the same opponents as in 1902, but rain caused the match against Hertfordshire at Watford to be abandoned without any play. Thompson continued to show outstanding form with bat and ball scoring 429 runs at 33.00 and taking 92 wickets at 10.47. He had strong support from East who took 70 wickets at 10.51 and W H Kingston and Horton who both scored more than four hundred runs averaging over thirty. Milestones passed during the season were Thompson five hundred wickets – the first player to achieve this feat – two thousand runs by Horton, one hundred dismissals by the wicket-keeper Smith and fifty catches by W H Kingston. Of the 7 players who were appearing in the Championship for the last time, Haviland, Jones, Mold and Papillon were not to play for the County after it gained first-class status in 1905. Further research has revealed a second initial for J B Haviland who made his debut in 1902. [It was not noted in the 1902 book that Charlie Smith reached the career milestone of one hundred dismissals when stumping R S Swalwell in Match 49 v Yorkshire 2 nd XI at Northampton.] NORTHAMPTONSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1903 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 6 players who made their Championship debut for Northamptonshire during the season. Names in bold denote that 1903 was the last or only season that these 7 players appeared for Northamptonshire in the Championship. Player M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I F C Cockerill 4 5 1 15 41 10.25 - - 1 3 - 3 1 5 0 - - - - Cox, M 10 15 1 51 220 15.71 - 1 3 4 - 36 8 98 3 32.66 1-6 - - E M Crosse + 1 2 0 20 27 13.50 - - - - - - - - - - - - - L T Driffield 2 3 1 18* 24 12.00 - - 1 - - 21.2 8 44 5 8.80 2-5 - - East, W 11 14 3 28* 190 17.27 - - - 6 - 396 122 736 70 10.51 9-80 2 6 J B Haviland 1 2 0 2 2 1.00 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - H Hawkins 6 7 1 33 67 11.16 - - 1 - - 48.3 9 126 6 21.00 2-10 - - T Horton 11 16 2 92 431 30.78 - 4 - 4 - 4 0 24 0 - - - - F Jones 1 2 1 1* 1 1.00 - - 1 2 - - - - - - - - - H E Kingston 9 15 1 67 304 21.71 - 2 - 6 - 27 1 149 6 24.83 4-26 - - W H Kingston 9 15 3 103 416 34.66 1 2 - 8 - - - - - - - - - T E Manning + 3 3 0 25 52 17.33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mold, A W + 5 5 2 11 29 9.66 - - 1 9 - 76 13 255 6 42.50 2-34 - - N F Norman + 5 7 0 32 62 8.85 - - 2 2 - - - - - - - - - G K Papillon 8 12 0 38 170 14.16 - - - 11 - - - - - - - - - W G Pinner 1 1 0 3 3 3.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - C J T Pool 4 6 0 59 73 12.16 - 1 2 2 - - - - - - - - - J W Shaw + 2 2 1 0* 0 0.00 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - B C Smith 10 11 2 23 107 11.88 - - - 16 7 - - - - - - - - Thompson, G J 11 16 3 146* 429 33.00 1 2 1 6 - 440.3 133 964 92 10.47 8-25 4 10 Thorneycroft, C B 4 5 1 18 36 9.00 - - 2 2 - 31 7 80 2 40.00 1-13 - - A E Worsley + 3 4 0 28 45 11.25 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 172 - - - - 1 - - - 141 6 - - - - Total 121 168 23 146* 2901 20.00 2 12 18 84 7 1083.2 302 2622 196 13.37 9-80 6 16 (22 players) (6 ball overs) FINAL SEASON FOR COUNTY – CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER AVERAGES These 7 players made their last or only appearance for Northamptonshire 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 L T Driffield 1898 27 31 7 81 588 24.50 - 3 4 11 - 2337 1004 50 20.08 5-48 - 1 J B Haviland 1902 4 3 0 6 8 2.66 - - 1 2 - - - - - - - - F Jones 1902 2 3 1 1* 1 0.50 - - 2 6 - - - - - - - - Mold, A W 1903 5 5 2 11 29 9.66 - - 1 9 - 456 255 6 42.50 2-34 - - N F Norman 1903 5 7 0 32 62 8.85 - - 2 2 - - - - - - - - G K Papillon 1901 21 31 1 97 531 17.70 - 2 3 17 - - - - - - - - Thorneycroft, C B 1899 10 10 2 18 55 6.87 - - 4 15 - 288 121 2 60.50 1-13 - - (7 players)