The Minor Counties Championship 1903

142 STAFFORDSHIRE 1903 Championship matches: Played 8, won 1, lost 1, drawn 6 (won on first innings 1, lost on first innings 4, no decision on first innings 1) Position: Fourteenth out of seventeen Won: v Dorset at Stoke-on-Trent Lost: v Cambridgeshire at Cambridge Drawn – won on first innings: v Oxfordshire at Stoke-on-Trent Drawn – lost on first innings: v Bedfordshire at Wolverhampton, v Dorset at Poole, v Oxfordshire at Oxford, and v Bedford at Bedford GS Drawn – no decision on first innings: v Cambridgeshire at Stoke-on-Trent. Captain: H D Stratton (8 matches) Wicket-keepers: H Dearing (4 matches) and J Poole (4 matches) Debutants: 5 (W J Beddows, T A Grose, G Hodgkinson, E Moore and H J Pallett) Final season for team: 8 (J A Bourne, J R Clapham, T Grimshaw, G Hodgkinson, E Moore, H J Pallett, W S White and F H Wynne) Hon Secretary: W C Hancock Professionals: 5 (W Brown, J R Clapham, J B Fereday, T Grimshaw and H J Pallett) Home grounds 2: The County Ground, Victoria Road, Stoke-on-Trent (3 matches) and The Wolverhampton Cricket Club Ground, The Wergs, Danescourt Road, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton (1 match). Notes: Staffordshire had a disappointing season finishing fourteenth in the competition, their lowest place ever. Cambridgeshire and Dorset replaced Durham and Northumberland on the fixture list. Sadly, J A Bourne who had taken 41 wickets in 1902 at an average of 9.92 was only able appear in one match through indisposition and he was to die in September after a long illness. During the season H D Stratton passed the career milestone of one thousand runs in championship matches. Having played as a professional up to 1902, Hollowood played as an amateur in 1903. Two years later he was to revert back to being a professional for the rest of his career which ended in 1912. STAFFORDSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1903 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 5 players who made their Championship debut for Staffordshire during the season. Names in bold denotes that 1903 was the last or only season that these 8 players appeared for Staffordshire 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 W J Beddows + 5 8 1 31 69 9.85 - - 3 5 - - - - - - - - - J A Bourne 1 2 0 8 9 4.50 - - - 2 - 23 4 69 2 34.50 1-30 - - P Briggs 6 8 0 44 106 13.25 - - 2 6 - 24 4 70 6 11.66 4-21 - - Brown, W 8 12 2 107* 303 30.30 1 1 2 6 - 91.4 24 233 8 29.12 5-46 - 1 J N Burns 3 6 1 33 75 15.00 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - Clapham, J R 1 2 0 6 8 4.00 - - - - - 2 0 7 0 - - - - G W Crane 4 8 2 25 73 12.16 - - 1 1 - 16 6 31 1 31.00 1-9 - - H Dearing 4 5 0 4 15 3.00 - - - 5 2 - - - - - - - - H Eagland 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 - - 1 - - 6 0 22 1 22.00 1-22 - - Fereday, J B 7 10 1 31* 168 18.66 - - - 3 - 111 25 293 11 26.63 4-37 - - Grimshaw, T 4 5 2 11 30 10.00 - - - 1 - 115 22 311 21 14.80 5-38 - 2 T A Grose + 7 8 2 63 127 21.16 - 1 1 4 - 78.2 7 299 15 19.93 6-63 - 1 G Hodgkinson + 1 1 0 9 9 9.00 - - - - - 28 9 57 3 19.00 2-36 - - A Hollowood 8 12 1 87 243 22.09 - 1 1 5 - 19 5 48 6 8.00 4-23 - - E Moore + 3 5 1 7 10 2.50 - - 2 - - 96.5 21 219 16 13.68 6-57 1 2 R C Page 6 10 0 45 183 18.30 - - 1 - - 34.4 8 91 8 11.37 5-40 - 1 Pallett, H J + 3 5 2 5 12 4.00 - - - 3 - 69 21 187 5 37.40 3-49 - - J Poole 5 8 5 46* 79 26.33 - - 2 5 1 - - - - - - - - H D Stratton 8 12 0 67 236 19.66 - 1 1 5 - 18 3 63 2 31.50 1-9 - - W S White 1 1 1 0* 0 - - - - - - 6 2 19 0 - - - - F H Wynne 2 2 0 23 23 11.50 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 114 - - - - - - - - 100 7 - - - - Total 88 131 21 107* 1892 17.20 1 4 19 53 3 738.3 161 2119 112 18.92 6-57 1 7 (21 players) (6 ball overs) FINAL SEASON FOR COUNTY – CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER AVERAGES These 8 players made their last appearance for Staffordshire 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 J A Bourne 1900 9 11 1 46 193 19.30 - - 1 5 - 1044 476 43 11.06 7-17 2 5 Clapham, J R 1901 9 12 2 20* 54 5.40 - - 3 4 - 940 428 12 35.66 5-50 - 1 Grimshaw, T 1897 33 48 9 163* 576 14.76 1 - 4 12 - 4924 2212 125 17.69 6-29 1 13 G Hodgkinson 1903 1 1 0 9 9 9.00 - - - - - 168 57 3 19.00 2-36 - - E Moore 1903 3 5 1 7 10 2.50 - - 2 - - 581 219 16 13.68 6-57 1 2 Pallett, H J 1903 3 5 2 5 12 4.00 - - - 3 - 414 187 5 37.40 3-49 - - W S White 1901 3 3 1 0* 0 0.00 - - 2 - - 216 125 9 13.88 5-44 - 1 F H Wynne 1901 7 8 0 23 95 11.87 - - 2 1 - - - - - - - - (8 players)