The Minor Counties Championship 1903

76 MATCH NUMBER 53 : BERKSHIRE V OXFORDSHIRE At The County Ground, Elm Park, Kensington Road, Reading on Monday 10, Tuesday 11 August 1903 Result: Match drawn – Oxfordshire won on first innings Points: Oxfordshire 1 Toss: Berkshire Umpires: Not known Debutants: Berkshire 2 (T Bradfield, H S Crook); Oxfordshire 2 (A P Boissier, G E F Sherwell) First day score: Berkshire 81 and 210-7 wickets (E Watts 27*, W Cave 18*); Oxfordshire 99 Berkshire * Sir C E M Y Nepean c J W Marsh b A Rogers 3 (1) c Molloy b A Rogers 0 G G M Bennett c J W Marsh b A Rogers 12 (2) c P Rogers b A Rogers 47 F E Rowe c P Rogers b A Rogers 23 (3) b A Rogers 2 R A Williams c and b Brooks 17 (4) c Roberts b P Rogers 50 Capt H W Hutson b A Rogers 3 (5) c J F Marsh b Roberts 34 H S Crook c Roberts b A Rogers 0 (6) b Roberts 21 Bradfield, T c Baines b A Rogers 0 (7) c Roberts b A Rogers 3 + Watts, E c Roberts b A Rogers 0 (8) not out 53 Cave, W c J W Marsh b A Rogers 7 (9) c Sherwell b Roberts 35 Barrett, H c P Rogers b A Rogers 7 (10) c J WMarsh b Roberts 0 Croom, A B not out 5 (11) not out 4 Extras w 1 4 nb 4 14 Total 81 (9 wickets declared) 263 Fall of wickets 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 First innings 15 81 Second innings 11 103 159 236 - Rogers, A 15 2 36 9 - - (1) 25 2 101 4 - - Brooks 10 1 35 1 - - (4) 5 0 21 0 - - Roberts 4 1 6 0 1 - (2) 20 1 74 4 - 4 Rogers, P (3) 11 0 42 1 - - Bassett (5) 3 0 12 0 - - Extras - - 4 0 - - - - 14 0 - - Total 29 4 81 10 1 0 64 3 264x 9 0 4 263 Oxfordshire + J W Marsh c Bradfield b Williams 7 (1) c Rowe b Cave 0 H Bassett c Nepean b Williams 5 (2) not out 2 M T Molloy c Croom b Cave 17 (3) not out 5 * J F Marsh c Watts b Cave 25 A P Boissier run out 7 G E F Sherwell run out 1 Rogers, P c Croom b Cave 2 H T Baines c Williams b Hutson 10 F B Roberts c Nepean b Cave 8 W T Brooks c Crook b Hutson 8 Rogers, A not out 4 Extras w 3 5 0 Total 99 (1 wicket) 7 Fall of wickets 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 First innings 19 69 78 99 Second innings - - - - - - - - - Williams 14 3 45 2 2 - (2) 0.5 0 6 0 - - Cave 18 4 41 4 - - (1) 1 0 1 1 - - Hutson 5.3 1 11 2 1 - Extras - - 5 2 - - - - 0 0 - - Total 37.3 8 102x 10 3 0 1.5 0 7 1 0 0 99 Notes: This match was drawn with heavy rain preventing play after 3.20 pm on the second day, and the game was abandoned at 3.45 pm. The contest between the two teams at Oxford the previous week had ended as a tie. For the visitors, A Rogers took 13 wickets in the match for 137 runs, including 9 for 36 in the Berkshire first innings which was statistically the second best innings bowling performance of the season. The 4 catches held by J WMarsh in the match were the most by a wicket-keeper in the season, a feat equalled by three others. For the home side Watts scored 53 not out and Williams scored 50, including 8 fours. Watts and Cave added 77 runs for the eighth wicket in the Berkshire second innings, which was the second highest partnership for that wicket during the season. When he had scored 15 in the Berkshire first innings, Williams reached the career milestone of one thousand runs for the county in championship matches. [Missing: Umpires; extras breakdown; fall of wickets; in Berkshire second innings runs conceded bowling one in excess; in Oxfordshire first innings runs conceded by bowlers three in excess.] Sources: Berkshire Chronicle 15 August; Reading Mercury 15 August; Reading Observer 15 August; Reading Standard 15 August; Abingdon Herald 15 August; Oxford Chronicle 14 August; Oxford Journal 15 August; Oxford Times 15 August; The Sportsman 11,12 August.