Minor Counties Championship 1913

Leading Performances Three batsmen averaged over 50.00 in the season of 1913. Fred Gillespie of Northumberland made 274 runs at 54.80, Hugh Dales of Durham made 258 runs at 51.60, whilst Frederick Nicholas of Bedfordshire totalled 459 runs at an average of 51.00. No fewer than five batsmen scored more than 500 runs. Denis Hendren of Durham topped the list with 703 runs at an average of 43.93, scoring three centuries. The other four batsmen were Lindsay Hunting of Northumberland, who made 698 runs at 46.53 (including one century), Charles Titchmarsh of Hertfordshire, who made 539 runs at 49.00 (including one century), William Rose of Lincolnshire, who made 535 runs at 31.47 (including two centuries) and George Wingham , also of Northumberland, who made 510 runs at 36.42 (including two centuries). Only three other batsmen made two centuries in 1913 – Captain Lionel Collins of Berkshire, Edward Phillips of Monmouthshire, and E H D Sewell of Buckinghamshire. Only one batsman scored a double century during 1913. Lindsay Hunting (pictured) made 219 not out for Northumberland against Cambridgeshire, whilst Arthur Silverlock scored the second highest total of the season when he made 179 not out for Monmouthshire against Cornwall. No new record partnerships were made during the 1913 season. The leading wicket-taker was Alf Morris of Durham, who took 81 wickets at an average of 13.27 (including seven five-wicket hauls). The other bowlers who took 60 or more wickets were William Hacker of Glamorgan, who took 66 wickets at 13.34 (including seven five- wicket hauls), Fred Burton of Hertfordshire, who also took 66 wickets (including eight five- wicket hauls) but at the relatively expensive cost of 18.24 runs apiece, Frank Whiting of Cornwall, who took 61 at 12.81 (including eight five-wicket hauls) and Sydney Barnes of Staffordshire, whose total of 60 wickets at a superb average of 6.10 (including seven five- wicket returns) saw him finish at the top of the averages. Mention must also be made of Humphrey Gilbert of Monmouthshire, who played in only two matches but who took no fewer than 24 wickets. His average of 6.87 meant that he was the only bowler apart from Barnes whose wickets cost less than ten runs apiece and his figures of 9-10 against Devon were the best of the season. The only other bowler who took more than five five-wicket hauls was William Penfold of Suffolk who recorded six. No bowler took all ten wickets in an innings, but there were five occasions in which a bowler took nine wickets in an innings. Apart from Gilbert , this feat was also achieved by Barnes , Whiting , and Henry Preston and ‘Tich’ Freeman , both of Kent 2nd XI. Whiting returned the best match figures of the season, against Dorset, taking 8-31 and 9-80, which gave him an overall return of 17-111. In all, Morris took four match hauls of ten or more wickets whilst Barnes and Burton both took three. Quantifying the achievements of all-rounders in the established manner – by awarding one point for each run scored and six points for each wicket taken – the most successful all-rounder in the 1913 season was Ted Riley of Lincolnshire with 816 points. He was well ahead of the field. The other players to score more than 600 points were Arthur Silverlock (with 679), Sydney Barnes (650), E H D Sewell of Buckinghamshire (630), Michael Falcon of Norfolk (626) and John Broughton of Lincolnshire (603). Riley was a worthy winner as he averaged 34.71 with the bat and 14.10 with the ball. Sewell and Broughton were a little fortunate to qualify as the former’s wickets were taken at an expensive 23.48 runs apiece whilst the latter’s batting average was just 22.41. 8 G L Hunting