Minor Counties Championship 1913

The meeting moved on to discuss the confirmation of the decision of the committee that there should be no grouping of counties into groups in 1913 and there would be a single table as there had been in the season of 1912. Mr Mallett explained that there had been a misapprehension in the North that the committee’s decision was final; this was not so as the committee had merely made a recommendation. Had Durham been aware of this they might have put forward a proposed amendment but they did not do so and, on the proposal of Dr Earl Norman and the seconding of Mr W W Marks (Bedfordshire), the recommendation of the committee was confirmed. Dr Norman then submitted the accounts of the match between the Minor Counties and the South Africans at Stoke in the previous season. The game was completely ruined by the weather. Only £7 19s were taken at the gate, of which the tourists’ share was £3 13s 6d. Fortunately the match had been insured for £125 and, after all expenses had been paid for, a total of £9 5s remained. Of this £5 was contributed to the benefit fund for Sydney Barnes whilst £4 5s was donated to the Cricketers’ Fund. A hearty vote of thanks was given to Staffordshire for providing their ground free of charge and to their secretary, Mr W C Hancock, for his contribution to arranging the match. Mr T A Bulmer (Durham) proposed that the question of the hours of play, particularly as to the time of drawing, should be referred to the committee for further consideration. The meeting was then closed, with hearty votes of thanks to Mr F E Lacey (on behalf of the MCC) for the use of the room, the hon. secretary, and to the chairman for presiding. Umpires The following morning saw the representatives of the clubs of the Minor Counties Cricket Association meet in the pavilion at Lord’s on the morning of with the purpose of determining which umpires were to stand in Championship matches for the 1913 season. The secretary of the MCC, Mr F E Lacey presided, whilst the following were present:- Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire – Dr J Earl Norman Berkshire – Sir C E M Y Nepean Buckinghamshire – Mr W Frith Lowndes Dorset – Mr C P Goodden Durham – Mr T A Bulmer Glamorgan – Mr T A L Whittington Lincolnshire – Mr W E Thompson Staffordshire – Mr W C Hancock Surrey (2 nd XI) – Mr A W F Rutty Wiltshire – Mr A M Miller Yorkshire (2 nd XI) – Mr R W Frank The following counties were not represented:- Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Devon, Kent (2nd XI), Monmouthshire, Norfolk, Northumberland and Suffolk. It was decided to continue to select twenty umpires but no reserves were nominated. Should there be no umpires available for any match, Mr Lacey was asked to use his discretion to appoint first-class umpires who were unengaged at the time to officiate. Their remuneration was not to exceed that usually granted to second-class umpires. The following umpires were selected:- 5