The Minor Counties Championship 1903

6 The meeting ended with votes of thanks being given to Francis Lacey in his absence for facilitating the meeting being held at Lord’s and to James Fellowes for chairing the meeting. Umpires A meeting of captains and secretaries was held at Lord’s on Wednesday 10 December to select the umpires for the Minor Counties Competition, the day after the Annual Meeting. Those present were F E Lacey (in the Chair), H R Orr (Bedfordshire), J A Gibb (Berkshire), P J de Paravicini (Buckinghamshire), W H Manfield (Dorset(), W R Wilson (Durham), H J Hill (Hertfordshire), L F Stedman (Monmouthshire), R G E Mortimer (Northumberland), K E M Barker (Surrey 2 nd XI), A M Miller (Wiltshire), R W Frank (Yorkshire 2 nd XI) and Dr J Earl Norman (Joint Hon Secretary). John Gibb and Kenneth Barker were both to give up their roles before the start of the 1903 season. Twenty-five umpires were again chosen to officiate in 1903. They were: R Barber J Gregory H Mycroft C E Bartram W Griffiths J O’Connor D Bookless T Hanson J T Parnham H Briscoe W Hearne R Rogers T W Cherry T H Holton G T Rye W Copeland C Hughes A Stockwin H Coulson R Humphrey S Wrigley A G Eldridge C Marshall J Ford B W Mason The 8 newcomers were A G Eldridge, J Ford, W Griffiths, T H Holton, C Hughes, B W Mason, H Mycroft and J T Parnham. Those replaced were C E Brown, T C Brown, A Luff, C Powell, H J Quinnell, J J Tuck, W A Woof and J Yeadon. The first list of appointed umpires had been agreed for the 1901 season, when the use of neutral umpires was a condition for official MCC recognition of the Championship. T C Brown, C Powell, J J Tuck, W A Woof and J Yeadon had officiated since 1901, but A Luff and H J Quinnell were only to do so for the 1902 season, while C E Brown, the third umpire dropped, was to return to the list later. The umpires are not known for 31 of the 76 matches arranged for the season. A Rylott is the only umpire known to have stood in a match during the season who was not on the 1903 list. THE 1903 MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP The Counties Involved Seventeen teams participated in the 1903 Championship, one more than in 1902. Cambridgeshire was the returning county. It had not been represented at the 1901 Annual Meeting or the subsequent meeting to draw up fixtures for the 1902 competition. Though subsequent efforts were made by the county secretary, Oliver Papworth to arrange championship fixtures as reported earlier, they were not successful.