Minor Counties Championship 1914

for 46 against Hertfordshire in July 1908 (which included a ‘hat-trick’) and he also took ten wickets in a match on five occasions. Gibson was no bat, recording 28 ‘ducks’ in his 125 innings as a left-hander; however he was a safe field and took 58 catches. In friendly matches he dismissed a further 123 batsmen; only five bowlers have taken more wickets in ‘senior’ games for Norfolk than his final total of 430 (those five being Michael Falcon, Charlie Shore, Tracey Moore, Rodney Rought-Rought and Chris Brown). Following the end of his cricket career, he umpired in Norfolk for a spell before returning to his home town of Warrington, where he became a publican. E G Goatly – Surrey 2nd XI 1901-1914 (born 3 December 1882; died 12 February 1958) Edward Garnett Goatly, known as ‘Gar’, was born at Twickenham, Middlesex. A right-hand sound but unattractive batsman and occasional slow left-arm bowler, he first played for Surrey for both the 1st and the 2nd XI in 1901. He was, however, rather slow in the field which did not help to make him an automatic selection for the first team. He played 66 matches in the Minor Counties Championship, opening the innings and making 2,930 runs at an average of 28.17 with a highest score of 128 against Glamorgan at the Oval in 1905. Seldom bowling before 1910, he took 23 wickets at an average of 19.08 with best figures of 3 for 12 against Dorset at Poole Park in 1910. He played 126 matches for the 1st XI, batting in the middle order, and scoring 4,419 runs at an average of 24.96 with a highest of 147 not out. He served as dressing- room attendant at The Oval between the Wars and died at his home in Brighton, Sussex in 1958. A J Golding – Hertfordshire 1897 – 1914 (born 1874; died 3 November 1950) Arthur James (Jack) Golding played 156 matches for Hertfordshire scoring 7,052 Minor County Championship runs at an average of 30.26 with 13 centuries and 32 fifties. He also took 87 wickets at an average of 26.33. Although born in Buckinghamshire, Jack Golding lived nearly all his life in Hertfordshire and was involved with Bushey Cricket Club for over 50 years as player, groundsman, and umpire. He was a fine forcing batsman, hitting with tremendous power especially to the off and he had the rare ability to maintain his concentration for high scores. He made his debut for Hertfordshire in 1897 scoring his first century in the following year. He went on to score a further twelve centuries of which half were in excess of 150. He scored 170 against Norfolk in 1900 which at the time was the highest individual score by a Hertfordshire batsman in a minor county game before four years later breaking this record with 202 against Dorset. In the following year he scored 223 against MCC. In the Norfolk game in 1900 he and James Hickin put on 275 for the third wicket which was a record for the County which stood for 115 years. He scored 133 against Cambridgeshire in 1904 before being caught off the bowling of a youthful Jack Hobbs who had earlier made 195 against the Hertfordshire bowling. Hertfordshire awarded him a benefit in 1912 where he received the proceeds of the match against Suffolk at his home club of Bushey. Unfortunately, the weather reduced the game to a one innings match. When the war came, he had scored over 8,000 runs for the County which is the second highest in the history of Hertfordshire cricket. He was a useful bowler taking five wickets in an innings three times with his best figures of 8 for 43 in 31 overs against Norfolk in 1898. His son, Arthur Reginald George Golding, played once for Hertfordshire in 1938. For several seasons after the Great War he coached at Harrow. He was a genial character and popular wherever he went and was still umpiring for Bushey in the year before he died there in November 1950 aged 75. A diminutive figure with his white coat stretching from his ears to his ankles, he had a quiet dignity and good humour; few would have suspected that he was one of the finest batsmen the County had ever seen. 16