The Minor Counties Championship 1903

140 OXFORDSHIRE 1903 Championship matches: Played 8, won none, lost 3, tied 1, drawn 4 (won on first innings 2, lost on first innings 2) Position: Fifteenth out of seventeen Won: None Lost: v Hertfordshire at Watford, v Bedfordshire at Bedford GS, and v Bedfordshire at Oxford Tied: v Berkshire at Oxford Drawn – won on first innings: v Staffordshire at Oxford, and v Berkshire at Reading Drawn – lost on first innings: v Hertfordshire at Oxford, and v Staffordshire at Stoke-on-Trent Captain: J F Marsh (8 matches) Wicket-keepers: F Arnold (3 matches) and J W Marsh (5 matches) Debutants: 6 (A P Boissier, R Hartley, W G Holiday, G E F Sherwell, R D Slater and W C Wyatt) Final season for team: 9 (A P Boissier, M T Molloy, Hon C E Ponsonby, F B Roberts, G E F Sherwell, R D Slater, H E Walker, A J S Willson and W C Wyatt) Hon Secretary: H M Turner Professionals: 3 (F Arnold, A Rogers and P Rogers) Home ground 1: The Hertford College Ground, Iffley Road, Oxford (4 matches) Notes: Oxfordshire had their least successful season since entering the Championship, failing to win a match and finishing third from bottom. The county were involved in a tied match with Berkshire at Oxford, the first instance since the inauguration of the Championship in 1895. The same opponents were met as in 1902. J F Marsh succeded C E Brownrigg as captain. There were criticisms in the press of the condition of the Hertford College ground used by the county for all its home matches. Career milestones passed during the season were three hundred wickets by P Rogers and one hundred wickets by H Bassett. Of those players appearing for the county for the last time, M T Molloy was to play 3 championship matches for Buckinghamshire in 1904 and 1905. OXFORDSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1903 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 6 players who made their Championship debut for Oxfordshire during the season. Names in bold denote that 1903 was the last or only season that these 9 players appeared for Oxfordshire in the Championship. Player M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I Arnold, F 4 7 0 41 138 19.71 - - 1 2 - - - - - - - - - H T Baines 1 1 0 10 10 10.00 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - H Bassett 6 11 1 53 175 17.50 - 1 - 4 - 66.1 14 151 6 25.16 2-7 - - A P Boissier + 3 5 1 65* 117 29.25 - 1 2 1 - 4 0 18 0 - - - - W T Brooks 6 9 2 16 68 9.71 - - 1 3 - 84 24 235 6 39.16 3-8 - - W S Case 3 5 0 25 31 6.20 - - 3 - - 2 0 5 0 - - - - Rev C H S Gmelin 4 8 0 22 71 8.87 - - - - - - - - - - - - - R Hartley + 1 2 0 0 0 0.00 - - 2 2 - - - - - - - - - W G Holiday + 2 3 0 22 34 11.33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - J F Marsh 8 14 2 50 252 21.00 - 1 3 6 - 2 0 7 0 - - - - J WMarsh 8 15 0 40 173 11.53 - - 4 9 1 13 1 53 2 26.50 1-3 - - M T Molloy 2 4 1 29 55 18.33 - - - 1 - 8 2 36 1 36.00 1-22 - - Hon C E Ponsonby 1 2 0 0 0 0.00 - - 2 1 - - - - - - - - - F B Roberts 4 6 0 8 27 4.50 - - 1 6 - 46 2 186 4 46.50 4-74 - - Rogers, A 8 13 2 23 65 5.90 - - 2 1 - 298 83 640 60 10.66 9-36 3 7 Rogers, P 8 14 1 34 127 9.76 - - 3 10 - 227 57 565 27 20.92 7-71 - 1 G E F Sherwell + 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - R D Slater + 2 4 1 17* 31 10.33 - - 1 2 - - - - - - - - - W Smith 3 6 1 51* 122 24.40 - 1 1 2 - - - - - - - - - J R F Turner 1 2 1 1 1 1.00 - - - - - 3 1 4 0 - - - - E Wakelin 7 13 4 20* 100 11.11 - - 1 2 - 14 1 61 7 8.71 5-39 - 1 H E Walker 1 1 0 25 25 25.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - A J S Willson 2 3 0 2 3 1.00 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - W C Wyatt + 2 3 1 15* 22 11.00 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 97 - - - - - - - - 106 2 - - - - Total 88 152 18 65*[1745] [13.02] 0 4 29 56 1 767.1 185 2067 115 17.97 9-36 3 9 1746 13.02 (24 players) (6 ball overs) Note: Runs scored by batsmen one short in Oxfordshire second innings in Match 51 v Hertfordshire at Oxford. Runs conceded by bowlers one in excess in Berkshire second innings in Match 53 at Reading, and one short in Bedfordshire second innings in Match 68 at Oxford.