Minor Counties Championship 1908

10 The final took place in Stoke-on-Trent, commencing on 7 September, and was won by the comfortable margin of nine wickets by the hosts, Staffordshire, who thereby became Champion County. During the season 60,674 runs were scored at an average of 20.17 compared with 51,175 in 1907 at 17.92 and 59,099 in 1906 at 19.71. Only in the “eliminator” (match number 92) and the second semi-final (match number 93) were a full day's play lost. The total of three days without play compared with eight such days in 1907 and three in 1906. Two matches (number 33, between Surrey 2nd XI and Buckinghamshire, and number 43, between Devon and Carmarthenshire) were completed within a single day's play whilst the final, between Staffordshire and Glamorgan, was completed within two of the three days allocated. As in 1907, five points were awarded for a win and three for a lead on first innings. Leading Performances By far and away the outstanding batsman of the season was Ernest Garnett of Berkshire. Playing against Wiltshire at Reading he compiled an innings of 282; then the largest individual score in the Championship, surpassing the previous best of 254 scored by Herbie Morgan of Glamorgan against Monmouthshire in 1901. He also recorded an innings of 202 against Dorset and topped the averages with 549 runs at 109.80. Other batsmen to score double centuries were John Ireland of Suffolk and “Razor” Smith of Surrey 2nd XI. The most prolific batsman of the season was Arthur Silverlock of Monmouthshire who amassed 722 runs at 65.63, including two centuries, followed by Geoffrey Stevens of Norfolk who scored 696 runs at 63.27. Stevens made three centuries and, apart from Garnett and Silverlock, the following batsmen also recorded two hundreds: George Wharmby of Bedfordshire (616 runs at 56.00), James Gilman of Northumberland (575 runs at 44.23) and Charles Titchmarsh of Hertfordshire (535 runs at 45.15). Other batsmen to top six hundred runs were Jack Golding of Hertfordshire (656 runs at 50.46) and Charles Awdry of Wiltshire (623 runs at 77.87). Two record partnerships for the Championship were broken during the 1908 season. Cecil Goodden and Gerard Gordon added 268 for Dorset's sixth wicket against Berkshire at Reading, passing the previous best of 245, whilst Arthur Rutty and Bert Vigar put on 157 for Surrey 2nd XI's eighth wicket against Dorset at Guildford, the previous best being 152. The leading wicket-taker was, again, Sydney Barnes of Staffordshire, whose total of 92 wickets at an average of 8.88 also saw him top the averages. He recorded the season's best match analysis of 15-54 against Glamorgan at Stoke-on-Trent and took 11 five-wicket hauls. Other bowlers to take at least seven such hauls were: Alf Morris of Durham (84 wickets at 12.19) who took ten, Harry Creber of Glamorgan (79 wickets at 12.79) who took nine, Dick Steeples of Monmouthshire (59 wickets at 12.83) and Frank Whiting of Cornwall (53 wickets at 16.45) who both took seven. The following other bowlers all dismissed at least fifty victims: Harry White of Hertfordshire (67 wickets at 15.22), William Brown of Yorkshire 2nd XI (57 wickets at 16.66), “Jack” Nash of Glamorgan (53 wickets at 15.13), Matt Wright of Buckinghamshire (52 wickets at 12.67), Fred Geeson of Lincolnshire (52 wickets at 18.67) and William Smith of Wiltshire (51 wickets at 19.09). The only bowler to take all ten wickets in an innings was George Platt of Surrey 2nd XI, whose figures of 10-15 against Dorset at Dorchester were the best ever returned in the Championship, surpassing the 10-26 recorded by Sydney Barnes against Yorkshire 2nd XI in 1907.