Minor Counties Championship 1914

400 wickets (2) 421 Light, W F Devon 414 Silverlock, A J Monmouthshire 300 wickets (1) 307 Gibson, E Norfolk 200 wickets (3) 208 Day, J W Lincolnshire 205 Shelford, W Hertfordshire 204 G A Wilson Staffordshire 100 wickets (3) 122 Freeman, A P Kent Second XI 105 Watson, H Norfolk 100 G A Rose Cambridgeshire 50 catches (3) 52 Whiting, F J Cornwall 51 Shelford, W Hertfordshire 50 Creber, H Glamorgan 150 matches (1) 156 Golding, A J Hertfordshire 100 matches (3) 103 E S Phillips Monmouthshire 102 Newman, A W Wiltshire 100 Brown, W Staffordshire Final Season A number of players making their final appearance for their county in 1914 deserve special mention. C Y Adamson – Durham 1895-1914 (born 10 April 1875; died 17 September 1918) Charles “Charlie” Young Adamson played in 78 Championship matches for Durham, making his debut in his county’s first ever match in 1895. He was appointed captain in 1912 and also skippered two matches in both 1897 and 1911 and one in 1914. He both batted and bowled left- handed. Adamson’s forte was batting – he usually opened the innings and scored a total of 2,895 runs at an average of 23.73. His best year was 1904 when he scored 340 runs at an average of 37.77. He made two centuries; against Northamptonshire in 1897 his innings of 139 (the fourth highest score in that year’s Championship) was a very significant factor in Durham securing a draw after trailing by 212 on the first innings, whilst he scored 116 against Northumberland in 1910. He also passed 50 on 13 other occasions. There was a touch of speculation about his slow left-arm bowling and he rarely made an important contribution with the ball, the seasons of 1906 and 1912 being the exceptions. In the former year Adamson took 7-28 against Lancashire 2nd XI whilst, in the latter, he captured 21 wickets at a cost of just 9.38 apiece. In the sixth match of Durham’s eight-match season, against Cheshire, he brought himself on in the second innings and had the remarkable figures of 4.3-2-7-5. In their next match, versus Lincolnshire, he was obliged to bowl as, apart from Alf Morris, he was the only other player who had sent down even a single ball all season. Fortune smiled upon Adamson, who took 8-25 and 3-30; Morris took 2-32 and 6-28 as they bowled unchanged throughout the match, their opponents being dismissed for 67 and 65 and slumping to a ten-wicket defeat. He took 30 catches. He represented the county against the South Africans in 1907, the Gentlemen of Philadelphia in 1908, and the Australians in 1912. He recorded figures of 6-36 against the Philadelphians and scored 65 (out of an innings total of just 142) against the Australians. Adamson’s career 11