Minor Counties Championship 1914

both days that no decision was reached. Two matches were completed before the scheduled close of play on the first day: Match 5, in which Staffordshire beat Durham by an innings, and Match 77, in which Cambridgeshire beat Lincolnshire, also by an innings. There was no change to the system for determining points for the 1914 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 Six batsmen averaged over 50.00 in the season of 1914: Charles Titchmarsh of Hertfordshire was comfortably ahead of the pack, making 547 runs at 78.14; Hargrave Carroll of Devon was second, with 323 runs at 64.60, and was followed by Norman Riches of Glamorgan (548 runs at 54.80), Ernie Household of Hertfordshire (365 runs at 52.14), Sydney Etheridge , also of Hertfordshire (520 runs at 52.00), and Richard Holman of Cornwall (201 runs at 50.25). Riches’ total of 548 made him the heaviest scorer of the season, whilst three other batsmen scored more than 400 runs. Andrew Sandham of Surrey 2nd XI made 527 runs at 47.90, ‘Horace’ Dales of Durham scored 433 runs at an average of 39.36 and Arthur Silverlock of Monmouthshire totalled 424 runs at 38.54. There were relatively few centuries in 1914 – just 29 in total – and Titchmarsh , Carroll , and Riches were the only batsmen to make two. Carroll made the highest total of the season when he made 197 for Devon against Monmouthshire whilst Albert Ashley of Durham played the second highest innings when he made 164 against Northumberland in the opening match of the summer. No new record partnerships were made during the 1914 season. The bowling averages were dominated by Staffordshire, who provided all four bowlers who took wickets at an average of less than ten runs apiece. They were George Wilson (43 wickets at 5.34), Sydney Barnes (48 wickets at 6.18), Bertie Morgan (20 wickets at 8.05), and Herbert Sedgwick (32 wickets at 9.59). Another Staffordshire bowler, John Heath , took two hat-tricks during the season. As in 1913, the leading wicket-taker was Alf Morris of Durham, who took 65 wickets at an average of 15.09 (including seven five-wicket hauls). The other bowlers who took 50 or more wickets were: ‘Tich’ Freeman of Kent 2nd XI (57 wickets at 12.47, including seven five-wicket hauls), Henry Smoker of Cheshire (55 wickets at 10.23), Frank Whiting of Cornwall (54 wickets at 10.57), and William Penfold of Suffolk (52 wickets at 15.53, including eight five-wicket hauls). As well as taking most five-wicket hauls, Penfold was the only bowler to take ten wickets in a match on three occasions. No bowler took all ten wickets in an innings, but there were four occasions in which a bowler took nine wickets in an innings: Smoker took 9-33 against Essex 2nd XI and 9-37 against Durham, whilst Morris took 9-36 against Cheshire and John Broughton of Lincolnshire took 9-80 against Northumberland. John Day of Lincolnshire returned the best match figures of the season, taking 15-47 against Cambridgeshire whilst Smoker had an analysis of 15-65 against Essex 2nd XI. 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 1914 season was William Hickmott of Kent 2nd XI with 605 points, who was closely followed by Frank Harry of Durham who totalled 603 points. This duo were well ahead of the field. The other players to score more than 500 points were: William Penfold of Suffolk (519), Sydney Barnes of Staffordshire (518), Edwin Myers of Surrey 2nd XI (513), and Michael Falcon of Norfolk (501). In terms of averages, the most impressive figures of these players 9