Minor Counties Championship 1909

10 (478 runs at 36.76), Rev’d Charles Ward of Lincolnshire (477 runs at 39.75) and Wilfred King of Bedfordshire (475 runs at 27.94). Only two batsmen compiled double-centuries during the season: Arthur Silverlock of Monmouthshire made 246* against Carmarthenshire whilst the above mentioned Len Reid recorded 221 against Hertfordshire. Apart from Norman Riches, the only other batsman to reach three figures twice was Arthur Ling of Cambridgeshire. One record partnership for the Championship was broken during the 1909 season. Arthur Carr and Charles James added 275 for Nottinghamshire 2nd XI’s first wicket against Cheshire at Nottingham, passing the previous best of 250, set by H F Morgan and A J Osborne for Glamorgan against Monmouthshire in 1901.. The leading wicket-taker was Harry White of Hertfordshire, whose total of 88 wickets at an average of 10.70 (including nine five-wicket returns) saw him finish just ahead of Harry Mitchell of Wiltshire (85 wickets at 11.35), whose bag of 11 five-wicket hauls topped that particular list. Other bowlers to take many ‘five-fors’ were: Sydney Barnes (as mean as ever with 76 wickets at just 6.77) who took nine, and three bowlers each with seven; George Platt of Surrey 2nd XI (55 wickets at 7.80), Harry Creber of Glamorgan (59 wickets at 12.54) and Ted Gibson of Norfolk (58 wickets at 14.15). Other prolific bowlers were Arthur Newman of Wiltshire (56 wickets at 8.89), Harry Coulson of Cambridgeshire (55 wickets at 11.20), James Barnes of Nottinghamshire 2nd XI (55 wickets at 14.39) and “Jack” Nash of Glamorgan (62 wickets at 15.54). One bowler took significant numbers of wickets at an extremely low average: Arthur Bucknell did the nearly impossible in taking a significant number of wickets for Staffordshire (40) at a lower average than that of Sydney Barnes (conceding just 6.00 runs for each of his 40 victims). No bowler took all ten wickets in an innings, the best return of the season being 9-11 by William Riley of Nottinghamshire 2nd XI against Cheshire. The leading all-rounder of 1909 was, by a country mile, Harry White of Hertfordshire; in addition to being the leading wicket-taker with 88 victims, he was also among the top scorers of runs with 445 at 44.50. Other high scorers who had some success with the ball were: Dr Harry Tresawna of Cornwall, who took 21 wickets at 13.52 to accompany his 508 runs, Herbert Orr of Bedfordshire, who took 20 wickets at 16.75 to go with his 464 runs at 30.93 and Arthur Silverlock of Monmouthshire, who paid a relatively expensive 18.94 runs for each of the 37 wickets that he took to go alongside his 455 runs. Of the “bowling” all-rounders, the best returns were by Frederick Sewell of Dorset (268 runs at 29.77 plus 40 wickets at 14.25) and by Edward Riley of Lincolnshire (258 runs at 21.50 and 40 wickets at 9.67). Finally, a special mention to Ernest Gee of Carmarthenshire, whose figures (233 runs at 23.30 and 21 wickets at 27.33) do not look impressive when taken out-of-context but which are highly commendable when returned for a side that failed to win a single match and went down to five outright defeats. No player did the ‘match double’ by scoring a century and taking ten wickets; the best performance was by William Light of Devon, who played an innings of 156 runs and recorded match figures of 9-71 against Cornwall at Exeter in Match 75. Harry White also had a successful match for Hertfordshire against Bedfordshire, taking 8-128 and scoring an unbeaten 103. Of the wicket-keepers, Tom Ullathorne , of Northumberland, topped the list with 23 dismissals, taking 16 catches and 7 stumpings. Edmund Apthorp , of Bedfordshire, finished second with 20 victims, taking 16 catches and making 4 stumpings. George Watts , of Cambridgeshire, made most stumpings with 10 of his 18 dismissals falling to this method of dismissal. Other keepers to make 15 or more dismissals were James Stapleton , of