Minor Counties Championship 1907

175 STAFFORDSHIRE 1907 Championship matches: Played 9, won 5, lost 1, drawn 3 (won on first innings 1, lost on first innings 2, no decision on first innings none) Position: Second out of six in North Division Won: v Northumberland at Jesmond, v Lincolnshire at Stoke-on-Trent, v Northumberland at Stoke-on-Trent, v Lincolnshire at Lincoln and v Durham at Stoke-on-Trent Lost: v Yorkshire 2nd XI at Stoke-on-Trent Drawn – won on first innings: v Yorkshire 2nd XI at Wakefield Drawn – lost on first innings: v Durham at Sunderland and v Lancashire 2nd XI at Stoke-on-Trent Drawn – no decision on first innings: None Captain: H D Stratton (9 matches) Wicket-keepers: C L Winser (7 matches) and J Poole (2 matches) Debutants: 6 (A C Finnis, D Houseman, J W Johnson, J E Nichols, S Pike and J B Russell) Final season: 3 (A C Finnis, D Houseman and S Pike) Hon Secretary: W C Hancock Professionals: 8 (S F Barnes, W Brown, A Bucknell, J B Fereday, A Hollowood, R J Mee, J E Nichols and S Pike) Home grounds 1 : The County Ground, Victoria Road, Stoke-on-Trent (5 matches) Notes: The champions of 1906, Staffordshire, won five matches in 1907 and finished runners-up in the North Division to Lancashire 2nd XI, the eventual champions. The final position could have been different if it had been possible to play the match against Lancashire 2nd XI at Blackburn which was abandoned without a ball bowled. New opponents in Durham, Lincolnshire and Northumberland replaced Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Surrey 2nd XI, a reduction of two matches compared with 1906. The batting of Sydney Barnes declined, his average dropping from 30.78 in 1906 to 17.38 but his bowling was more economical as he took 79 wickets at 6.39 including 10 for 26 in the Yorkshire 2nd XI first innings at Wakefield. Albert Hollowood and William Brown each scored over 250 runs and Jack Mee took 41 wickets at 11.34. Career milestones reached during the season were two thousand runs by Henry Stratton, three hundred wickets by Sydney Barnes and one hundred wickets by Jack Mee. STAFFORDSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1907 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 6 players who made their Championship debut for Staffordshire during the season. Names in bold denotes that 1907 was the last or only season that these 3 players appeared for Staffordshire 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 Barnes, S F 9 13 0 53 226 17.38 - 1 3 5 - 246 82 505 79 6.39 10-26 5 11 E H Bourne 6 9 2 30* 87 12.42 - - - 3 - 2 0 17 0 - - - - P Briggs 4 6 1 63 91 18.20 - 1 3 - - - - - - - - - - Brown, W 9 13 2 44 266 24.18 - - - 4 - 9 2 43 0 - - - - Bucknell, A 6 8 1 10 23 3.28 - - 3 7 - 67.2 17 194 12 16.16 5-57 - 1 Fereday, J B 6 9 1 66 135 16.87 - 1 2 1 - 5 1 13 0 - - - - A C Finnis + 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hollowood, A 9 13 2 72 271 24.63 - 1 2 4 - - - - - - - - - D Houseman + 1 2 1 2 2 2.00 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - J W Johnson + 3 4 2 35* 47 23.50 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - B Meakin 2 2 0 10 11 5.50 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - Mee, R J 9 12 5 17* 87 12.42 - - 1 1 - 227.5 73 465 41 11.34 5-42 - 1 Nichols, J E + 4 5 0 2 5 1.00 - - 2 - - 9.3 0 47 2 23.50 2-12 - - E W Page 2 2 0 13 25 12.50 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - R C Page 2 3 0 9 17 5.66 - - - - - 7 0 21 0 - - - - Pike, S + 5 7 2 67* 83 16.60 - 1 2 4 - 7 1 27 3 9.00 1-2 - - J Poole 2 3 0 7 11 3.66 - - 1 2 1 - - - - - - - - J B Russell + 3 4 0 9 22 5.50 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - H D Stratton 9 13 0 73 183 14.07 - 1 2 1 - - - - - - - - - C L Winser 7 9 0 15 46 5.11 - - - 5 2 - - - - - - - - Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 111 - - - - - - - - 110 5 - - - - Total 99 138 19 73 1750 14.70 0 6 22 46 3 580.4 176 1442 142 10.15 10-26 5 13 (20 players) (6 ball overs) FINAL SEASON FOR COUNTY – CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER AVERAGES These 3 players made their last appearance for Staffordshire in the Championship in 1907. Player Debut M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Balls Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I A C Finnis 1907 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - D Houseman 1907 1 2 1 2 2 2.00 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - Pike, S 1907 5 7 2 67* 83 16.60 - 1 2 4 - 42 27 3 9.00 1-2 - - (3 players)