The Minor Counties Championship 1905

139 BEDFORDSHIRE 1905 Championship matches: Played 10, won 3, lost 2, drawn 5 (won on first innings 3, lost on first innings 2, no decision on first innings none) Position: Seventh out of nineteen Won: v Northumberland at Dunstable GS, v Buckinghamshire at Aylesbury, and v Durham at Wearmouth Lost: v Durham at Bedford CS, and v Staffordshire at Uttoxeter Drawn – won on first innings: v Staffordshire at Bedford GS, v Hertfordshire at Bedford GS, and v Buckinghamshire at Bedford GS Drawn – lost on first innings: v Hertfordshire at St Albans, and v Northumberland at Jesmond Drawn – no decision on first innings: None. Captain: H R Orr (10 matches) Wicket-keeper: E E Apthorp (10 matches) Debutants: 5 (C B Atkinson, J Cavanagh, P L Gaminara, C K Keenan and W E King) Final season: 2 (P L Gaminara and L G Stileman-Gibbard) Joint Hon Secretaries: R W Allen and WW Marks Assistant Secretary: A D Piper Professionals: 4 (T A Brown, F E Pestell, G Pollitt and G E Wharmby) Home grounds 3: The County School Ground, Ampthill Road, Kempston, Bedford (1 match); The Grammar School Ground, Burnaby Road, Bedford (3 matches); and The Grammar School Ground, West Parade, Dunstable (1 match). Notes: Bedfordshire ended up seventh in the competition, an improvement of two places on 1904. Ten matches were played compared with twelve the year before. Northamptonshire were no longer met on their elevation to the first-class ranks, but otherwise the same opponents were played. Harry Hodgkins, after missing the first three games, topped the batting averages. He had played as a professional when making his debut the year before, but played as an amateur in 1905. There are limited grounds for believing it is possible that he received more generous ‘expenses’ than the rest of his amateur coll eagues. Five other batsmen averaged over twenty. George Wharmby, taking 62 wickets at fifteen apiece, and Tom Brown, 42 at just under twenty, were the leading bowlers. Edmund Apthorp, playing in every match, won high plaudits for his wicket-keeping. Career milestones reached in the year were two thousand runs and three hundred wickets by Tom Brown, two thousand runs by both Herbie Orr and George Pollitt, one thousand runs by Harry Hodgkins, and two hundred wickets and fifty catches by George Wharmby. BEDFORDSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1905 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 5 players who made their debut in a championship match for Bedfordshire during the season. Names in bold denote that 1905 was the last or only season that these 2 players appeared for Bedfordshire 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 E E Apthorp 10 15 6 23* 89 9.88 - - 2 22 6 - - - - - - - - C B Atkinson + 2 3 0 14 24 8.00 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - Brown, T A 10 17 2 126 350 23.33 1 1 - 11 - 331.2 91 832 42 19.80 7-66 - 1 W Brown 1 2 2 4* 4 - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - J Cavanagh + 2 3 0 11 20 6.66 - - - - - - - - - - - - - P L Gaminara + 1 2 0 3 3 1.50 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - H J J Hodgkins 7 11 1 86 381 38.10 - 3 - 3 - 2 0 7 0 - - - - H F Holdstock 3 6 1 27* 64 12.80 - - 2 1 - - - - - - - - - C K Keenan + 2 1 0 1 1 1.00 - - - - - 23.3 1 98 3 32.66 2-32 - - W E King + 10 17 1 83 260 16.25 - 2 - 4 - 93.5 15 298 14 21.28 3-24 - - A F Morcom 3 6 1 68 123 24.60 - 1 2 4 - 92 17 302 16 18.87 4-33 - - Rev R H Moss 8 13 1 39 141 11.75 - - 4 4 - 70 15 222 7 31.71 2-24 - - H R Orr 10 17 1 70 315 19.68 - 3 4 3 - 176.3 28 527 17 31.00 4-15 - - Pestell, F E 2 3 2 3* 6 6.00 - - - 2 - 48 11 146 5 29.20 4-74 - - Pollitt, G 10 16 1 99 383 25.53 - 3 5 2 - 4 2 11 1 11.00 1-4 - - R W Rice 8 11 1 52* 183 18.30 - 2 1 4 - - - - - - - - - L G Stileman-Gibbard 2 4 0 18 33 8.25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - F Taylor 3 6 1 34 59 11.80 - - 2 2 - - - - - - - - - L C R Thring 6 9 0 50 200 22.22 - 1 - 10 - 26 6 54 3 18.00 1-10 - - Wharmby, G E 10 16 2 100* 321 22.92 1 2 3 8 - 436.4 119 939 62 15.14 7-66 1 6 Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 187 - - - - - - - - 237 8 - - - - Total 110 178 23 126 3147 20.30 2 18 27 82 6 1303.5 305 3673 178 20.63 7-66 1 7 (20 players) (6 ball overs) FINAL SEASON FOR COUNTY – CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER RECORDS These 2 players made their last appearance for Bedfordshire in the Championship in 1905. Player Debut M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Balls Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I P L Gaminara 1905 1 2 0 3 3 1.50 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - L G Stileman-Gibbard1901 13 22 2 32 222 11.10 - - 2 3 - 66 42 0 - - - - (2 players)