The Minor Counties Championship 1903

7 The Championship Northamptonshire won the Championship outright for the first time. They had shared the title in 1900 with Durham and Glamorgan and in 1899 with Buckinghamshire. They won 7 matches and lost only to Bedfordshire. Durham were second and Wiltshire, the 1902 winners, third. Fourth equal were Bedfordshire – their best position since returning to the Championship – Glamorgan and Northumberland. The two county second XI teams – Surrey and Yorkshire – had both been fancied at the start of the season, but ended eighth equal and tenth equal respectively. For the second year running, the Championship was adversely affected by the weather, with two matches rained off and another nine losing a complete day’s play. 27 matches were drawn out of 74, with 2 matches abandoned. In 1902, also considered a poor summer, 28 matches had also been drawn out of 72, whereas in 1901 and 1900 – both considered good summers – the figures were 32 out of 78, and 34 out of 65 respectively. The season was seen as a bowler’s one, as had been that of 1902. The average runs scored per wicket were 16.15, compared with 17.60 in 1902, 20.01 in 1901 and 20.12 in 1900. As has already been reported, the 1903 season saw the retention of the new points system, first used in 1902, but the dropping of the experimental LBW law. Leading Performances No batsman during the season stood head and shoulders above the rest. Five batsmen scored over four hundred runs and averaged over forty runs an innings. They were Jack Golding of Hertfordshire with 430 at 43.00, Thomas Perkins of Wiltshire with 429 at 42.90, John Stevens, also of Wiltshire, with 544 at 41.84, Bertram Peel of Bedfordshire with 446 runs at 40.54, and Edgar Elliot of Durham with 484 at 40.33. Apart from Stevens, George Wharmby of Bedfordshire was the only other batsman to exceed five hundred runs with 606 at 33.66. The leading bowler was once again George Thompson of Northamptonshire with 92 wickets at 10.47 runs apiece, narrowly failing to take one hundred wickets for the third season running. Who knows what would have been achieved if the county’s last match against Hertfordshire at Watford had not been rained off without any play! Five bowlers took over forty wickets with an average in single figures. They were George Turnbull of Durham with 53 at 8.00, Bill Overton of Wiltshire with 69 at 8.11, Harry Creber of Glamorgan with 54 at 9.07, Jack Nash, also of Glamorgan, with 48 at 9.22, and Richard Steeples of Monmouthshire with 51 at 9.64. The leading all-rounder of the season for the fourth time in five seasons was George Thompson of Northamptonshire with 429 runs at 33.00 and 92 wickets at 10.47. Following not far behind were the two Bedfordshire players, George Wharmby with 606 runs at 33.66 and 54 wickets at 14.90, and Tom Brown with 353 runs at 22.06 and 67 wickets at 11.70. On the basis of dismissals made, the leading wicket-keepers were Charlie Smith of Northamptonshire and William Brain of Glamorgan, both with a total of 23 dismissals. In terms of catches held, George Wharmby of Bedfordshire was the most successful fielder with 22 catches. It was a new Championship record. The next highest was the Rev R H Moss, also of Bedfordshire, with 12 catches. On the basis of catches per match, the records of