Minor Counties Championship 1908

15 W H Manfield – Dorset 1897 to 1908 (born 23 October 1859; died 13 August 1937) Played 18 matches for Dorset, generally as captain and occasionally as wicket-keeper, scoring 191 runs at 10.61 and taking 11 catches, but making no stumpings. When Dorset played their first championship matches in 1897, he was past his best form and his cricketing feats on the field were moderate and they would not warrant his inclusion in this section of this book. However, his role in supporting Dorset County Cricket and guiding the club to become full members of the Minor County Championship in 1902 is worthy of note. He was an outstanding schoolboy sportsman, the oldest of six brothers, all of whom attended Dulwich College. He played for the cricket XI for four seasons 1875 to 1878, and the rugby XV for three seasons from 1875/76 to 1877/78. At Pembroke College, Oxford he played in the University cricket trial matches in 1878 and 1879 and for his college, but he did not play for the University. Nor did he gain a Blue at rugby, but subsequently he played for Somerset. He made his cricketing debut for Dorset in1884 becoming captain in 1894 a post he held until 1904, Phillip Williams succeeding him in 1905. Hardy Manfield was 48 years old when he played his final match for Dorset against Surrey 2nd XI at Guildford in August 1908. He was Hon Secretary of Dorset from 1902 to 1912, sharing the role with Col W Hatton Budge from 1907. After giving up his cricketing administrative duties, he continued to take a close interest in the club, attending county matches and meeting old Dorset cricketing friends. Hardy Manfield’s father had made early attempts to exploit the oil in the Kimmeridge shale of which there were rich deposits in the neighbourhood. His son continued the experiments becoming an expert technologist studying shales and their oil-bearing properties. After managing a shale mine in the South of France, he returned home to Dorset and bores were sunk shortly before the First World War. He set up a research laboratory at his home but it was an unrealised dream of his life to find ways of meeting the main handicap in the mining of shale oil at that time, namely the extraction of the sulphur content. William Hardy Manfield was descended from the famous Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy. He was born and died at Portesham House, his residence near Dorchester. F Stedman - Surrey 2nd XI 1899 to 1908 (born 4 March 1870; died 5 February 1918) Played 38 matches for Surrey 2nd XI scoring 937 runs at 18.01 with one century. As wicket- keeper he took 58 catches and 28 stumpings and also managed to take 2 wickets with his occasional bowling. Fred Stedman was born at Cobham, Surrey and after playing for the village team as a lower order batsman and wicket-keeper did not play for Surrey until 1899 when he succeeded the Test keeper Henry Wood. Unable to hold his place he played briefly for London County, perhaps the mixture of good money and playing with W.G.Grace was too much. He was the main Surrey keeper in the years 1900 - 1902 but then he lost his place to Herbert Strudwick and only played for the Championship side when the latter was unavailable. His highest score for Surrey was 67. In the Minor Counties Championship he had one great day. Playing against Staffordshire at The Oval in 1905 he came in with the score 44 for 5, he made exactly 100 runs with S.F.Barnes leading the attack. He used to wear a South-Western Railway time-table to protect his chest. He was once hit on the chest and asked where did it hit him. The answer was "l should have to catch a later train home to-night, that ball has just knocked off the 7-30". When he retired from Surrey he became a professional at the Woodbrook ground in Bray, Ireland, where he was employed on a 10 year contract and played in three first-class matches. In all he played in 140 first-class matches, taking 266 catches and making 50 stumpings. Sadly he was killed in a railway accident in Bray on 5th February, 1918. R Steeples – Monmouthshire 1897 to 1908 (born 30 April 1873; died 2 August 1946) Played 77 matches for Monmouthshire between 1897 and 1908, scoring 660 runs at 8.25, holding 35 catches, and taking 445 wickets at 13.40. His only half century (54) came against Berkshire at Reading in 1904. He took five wickets in an innings on 42 occasions and ten wickets in a match on 19 occasions. He took eight wickets in an innings on 4 occasions, but his