MInor Counties Championship 1912

be unable to play owing to the ‘undue delay’. The Championship was finally left ‘in abeyance’ – a most unsatisfactory state of affairs. During the season 41,610 runs were scored at an average of 17.63 compared with 69,464 in 1911 at 21.92 and 58,983 in 1910 at 17.87. 1912 was an extremely wet summer in that four matches were abandoned without a single ball being bowled and another eight matches saw play on only one day. The four matches in which there was no play at all were numbers 77, 78, 79, and 84 (Buckinghamshire v Berkshire, Cambridgeshire v Lincolnshire, Suffolk v Surrey 2 nd XI, and Hertfordshire v Buckinghamshire). The first day’s play was lost in four matches, numbers 28, 37, 80, and 81 (Lincolnshire v Cambridgeshire, Monmouthshire v Devon, Glamorgan v Staffordshire, and Hertfordshire v Cambridgeshire). The second day’s play was also lost in four matches, numbers 44, 46, 48, and 73 (Dorset v Berkshire, Glamorgan v Surrey 2 nd XI, Staffordshire v Cheshire, and Cheshire v Staffordshire) . Two matches were completed before the scheduled close of play on the first day; number 35, in which Durham thrashed Lincolnshire by ten wickets, and number 63, in which Suffolk were comprehensively beaten by Norfolk. There was no change to the system for determining points for the 1912 season. Five points continued to be awarded for an outright win and three for a lead on first innings; teams who were bested on first innings but who secured a draw were still given one point. Matches in which a decision was not reached on the first innings were still ignored. Leading Performances That the summer of 1912 was extremely wet is evidenced by the fact that, whilst the previous season had seen no fewer than six batsmen score more than 700 runs, the following season saw just one batsman score more than 435 and only a further four reached 400 in total. Batting averages were also much lower across the counties. Both the aggregates and the averages (of those who played in the majority of their counties’ matches) were comfortably topped by Charles Titchmarsh of Hertfordshire, who accumulated 615 runs at an average of 51.25. He scored just the one hundred (a round 100 against Cambridgeshire), but also made three scores in excess of 80 during the season. He finished the season on top form, his last four innings being 93, 49, 84*, and 100. The four other batsmen who scored 400 or more were: Percy Briggs of Staffordshire, who made 435 runs at 39.54; Michael Falcon of Norfolk, who made 410 runs at 41.00 (including one century); George Bennett of Berkshire, who made 402 runs at 33.50; and Jack Golding , also of Hertfordshire, who made exactly 400 runs at 28.57 (including one century). Only 21 centuries were recorded in total, with Herbert Wilson of Suffolk being the only batsman to reach three figures on two occasions. Only one batsman scored a double century during 1912: Hargrave Carroll made 232 for Devon against Berkshire, whilst Amos Spring made the second highest score of the season when he was left undefeated on 180 when Surrey 2 nd XI declared against Suffolk. One new record partnership for the Championship was set up during the 1911 season. Arthur Newman and Audley Miller added 177 for Wiltshire’s eighth wicket against Surrey 2 nd XI at The Oval, passing the previous best of 169, set by Fred Gillespie and Ord Richardson for Northumberland against Yorkshire 2 nd XI in 1910. The leading wicket-taker was Sydney Barnes of Staffordshire, whose total of 70 wickets at a superb average of 5.41 (including ten five-wicket returns) saw him finish five wickets ahead of the debutant, Roderick Falconer of Norfolk, who finished with 65 victims at a miserly 7.95 apiece (including nine five-wicket hauls). Frank Whiting of Cornwall was the only other bowler to take more than 50 wickets, taking 63 at exactly 10.00 (with eight five-wicket hauls). 8