Minor Counties Championship 1909

14 average of 13.22, his highest innings score being 59 versus Buckinghamshire in 1904 at the Wolverton Cricket Club Ground at Osborne Street when he batted fourth in the order. In later years he was found batting lower down the order. He was educated at Radley College, where he was in the Cricket XI for four years between 1883 and 1886. He attended Keble College, Oxford between 1886 and 1890 where he played for his college with some success. Making his first-class debut in 1887, he played 3 matches for the University in 1887, none the next year, and five in both 1889 when he gained his Blue and 1890 when he did not. In 1893 he played two further first-class matches for the MCC v Lancashire at Lord’s in May and for Liverpool and District v the Australian touring team in August. His final first-class match was for Worcestershire against Gloucestershire at Worcester in May 1925 when he was aged 57 scoring 2 and 0 and taking 1 wicket for 5 runs. The gap of 32 years is a record between first- class appearances, and arguably his main claim to fame. His first-class record of 16 matches saw him score 123 runs average 6.83 with a highest score of 18 not out for Oxford University v Surrey at Oxford in 1887, his debut season. He held 11 catches and took 25 wickets for 886 runs, averaging 35.44, his best bowling being 4 wickets for 9 runs for the University against Sussex at Hove in 1890. At below first-class level he played for Lancashire 2nd XI in 1893. His club cricket included playing for Liverpool, Huyton, Radley Rangers, MCC, Bedford Town, and the Club and Ground sides for Bedfordshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. He was an Assistant Master at Bilton Grange School, Rugby from 1891 to 1896, and Chaplain and an Assistant Master at Cheltenham College from 1896 until 1899. In 1899 he became the Rector of Bletsoe, a village 6 miles north of Bedford and qualified for that County. Over the years after Bletsoe, he served as Rector of Woburn from 1912 to 1915. He was an Assistant Master at Malvern from 1915 to 1924, which provided him with residency qualification for Worcestershire, and from 1924 to 1944 he was Rector of Icomb, a small village 2 miles south east of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire. While at Oxford he also won an Athletics Blue for the ‘Hammer and Weight’. Reginald Heber Moss was born in Tarbrook Road, Huyton, Lancashire, his father’s occupation being a corn broker, and he died at Vere Cottage, West Road, Symondsbury, a village one and a half miles west of Bridport, Dorset aged 88. S D Page – Norfolk 1895-1909 (born 17 February 1873; died 19 April 1917) Played 57 Championship matches for Norfolk, having made his debut in friendly fixtures in 1892. Sydney Durrant Page was a lower-middle order batsman who scored 1196 runs at an average of 14.77; his best was an unbeaten 96 against Hertfordshire in August 1899 – when last man, Charlie Shore, came in to bat, Page offered him two sovereigns if he could survive the two balls remaining in the over and so allow Page the chance to complete his century. Shore stated: “The money is as good as earned, sir, you may give it to me now if you like.” – but then played his notorious 'pull' to his first ball and was inevitably dismissed. Page never did score a century for Norfolk. Only ever asked to bowl one over (which brought him a wicket) Page stood in as wicket keeper when more regular performers were unavailable; he first kept in 1899 and finished by taking 47 catches and making 12 stumpings in his competitive career – he made another 20 dismissals in friendly matches. In his final season he was asked to skipper Norfolk in one match. Page was one of the founders of the Boys Brigade and Soldiers Institute and served as vice-president of the Boys Brigade. In the Great War Page served with the 1st/4th Battalion, Norfolks, reaching the rank of Captain. Wounded in Gallipoli in August 1915, he returned to duty in April 1916 and was killed at Gaza on 19 August 1917 – as was Ralph Thurgar, who coincidently had also kept wicket for Norfolk. E W (“Billy”) Smith – Norfolk 1904-1909 (born 27 October 1876; died 8 August 1942) Played 48 matches for Norfolk in the Minor Counties Championship, taking 226 wickets at 16.18 runs apiece. Norfolk had a disastrous run in the Championship in 1900 and 1901, sharing last place in both years and failing to record a single win. With no ‘home grown’ bowlers of merit available the County Club felt obliged to take the drastic step of signing two professional bowlers and dropping out of the Championship whilst they qualified to play for Norfolk ‘by