The Minor Counties Championship 1905

105 MATCH NUMBER 79 : NORFOLK V CAMBRIDGESHIRE At The County Ground, Lakenham, Norwich on Wednesday 23, Thursday 24 August 1905 Result: Norfolk won by 124 runs Points: Norfolk 3 Toss: Norfolk Umpires: C H Mills and S Wrigley Debutants: Norfolk none; Cambridgeshire 1 (H R Barker) First day score: Norfolk 40 and 54-4 wickets (A K Watson 0*, G Starling 0*); Cambridgeshire 108 Norfolk P A Fryer c Bocock b Hayward 19 (2) b Gray 19 G Starling b Gray 4 (6) b Gray 0 Rev A R Hoare b Hayward 2 (1) b Gray 28 * Rev G B Raikes b Gray 0 (4) c Robins b Gray 2 A K Watson c Robins b Gray 2 (5) b Coulson 83 Rev J G McCormick b Gray 0 (3) b Gray 4 M W Ireland b Hayward 5 (7) lbw b Hayward 3 + G Allen b Gray 6 (8) b Gray 12 R G Pilch c Bocock b Hayward 0 (9) c Bocock b Gray 88 Gibson, E c Watts b Gray 0 (10) c Hayward b Gray 0 Smith, E W not out 1 (11) not out 0 Extras 1 nb 2 21 Total 40 260 Fall of wickets 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 First innings 20 26 26 28 28 28 33 39 39 40 Second innings 36 40 54 54 62 79 108 260 260 260 Gray 13.3 2 30 6 - - (1) 36 10 103 8 - - Hayward 13 8 9 4 - - (2) 27 9 75 1 - - Coulson (3) 10.1 3 36 1 - - Waters (4) 3 0 25 0 - 2 Extras - - 1 0 - - - - 21 0 - - Total 26.3 10 40 10 - - 76.1 22 260 10 0 2 Cambridgeshire + Watts, G H c Starling b Gibson 50 (3) b Gibson 11 E Briggs b Starling 5 (2) b Smith 10 P A French c Hoare b Ireland 6 (4) b Smith 8 Hayward, D M b Starling 8 (5) c Allen b Gibson 0 Coulson, H b Gibson 8 (6) c Ireland b Gibson 2 O W Bocock c Ireland b Gibson 5 (7) b Smith 0 G P M Robins b Starling 9 (8) b Gibson 13 * Rev H Gray b Starling 7 (1) b Smith 0 C D F Waters b Starling 2 (9) b Smith 0 W J B Crouch b Gibson 2 (10) b Smith 8 H R Barker not out 0 (11) not out 0 Extras 6 16 Total 108 68 Fall of wickets 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 First innings 18 35 64 78 83 86 101 103 108 108 Second innings 13 20 38 38 38 38 51 60 68 68 Smith 10 1 24 0 - - (1) 20 7 28 6 - - Gibson 14 8 14 4 - - (2) 19.4 11 24 4 - - Starling 12.2 0 39 5 - - Ireland 8 1 25 1 - - Extras - - 6 0 - - - - 16 0 - - Total 44.2 10 108 10 - - 39.4 18 68 10 - - Notes: Norfolk won this return match by 124 runs shortly before 4.00 pm on the second day, thus winning the Championship outright for the first time. The County had also shared the Championship with Durham and Worcestershire in 1895, the inaugural year. The match between the two sides at Cambridge the previous week had also been won by Norfolk. Knowing they had to win this match to secure the title, when the seventh wicket fell in their second innings, Norfolk were only 40 runs ahead with just three players to bat to support Watson. Pilch then joined Watson and they put on 152 runs for the eighth wicket in an hour and twenty minutes, a stand which cha nged the whole course of the match. For the winners, there were 14 fours in Pilch’s 88, scored in 80 minutes, and 1 five and 6 fours in Watson’s 83, an innings of 2¼ hours. The stand of 152 runs was a new Championship record for that wicket, exceeding the 142 runs added by R Bousfield and G Turnbull for Durham against Northamptonshire at Northampton in 1901. For the losers, Gray took 14 wickets in the match for 133 runs, including 8 for103 in the Norfolk second innings. It was statistically the best match b owling performance of the season. Watts’s first innings 50 contained 8 fours and was scored in 70 minutes. On the first day, rain prevented play after lunch until 3.00 pm. Press reports state that the wicket behaved badly on the first day. When he had scored 13 in the Norfolk second innings, Fryer reached the career milestone of one thousand runs in championship matches. [Missing: Extras breakdown; precise time completed.] Sources: Eastern Daily Press 24,25 August; Eastern Evening News 23,24 August; Norfolk Chronicle 26 August; Norwich Mercury 26 August; Cambridgeshire Weekly News 25 August; East Anglian Daily Times 24,25 August; The Sportsman 24,25 August.