Minor Counties Championship 1914

G A Wilson – Staffordshire 1898-1914 (born 5 April 1877; died 3 March 1962) George Alfred Wilson, a right-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman, was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Wilson opened the bowling in Worcestershire’s very first County Championship match against Yorkshire on 4 May 1899, after they attained first-class status for the 1899 season, and made his mark at once by dismissing England batsman Jack Brown before Yorkshire had scored a run, thus becoming the first man to take a wicket for Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Wilson enjoyed a fine first season in first-class cricket, finishing with 92 wickets at 22.46, including 8–46 in Worcestershire’s first win, against Oxford University and eight wickets in the match in their first Championship win, against Leicestershire in late July. For the 1st XI in 1900, Wilson passed 100 wickets for the first time, a feat he was to repeat in 1901 and 1902, his best being 122 wickets in 1901. The 1900 season also saw him make his highest score of 78 against London County, batting at number 11 and adding 97 for the last wicket with Albert Bird. In these three summers combined, Wilson took five or more wickets in an innings on 30 occasions. The last season for Worcestershire in Minor Counties Championship in 1898, Wilson made his debut and claimed 42 wickets at an average of 10.31 with a best of 8-28 against Northamptonshire at New Road. In the eight matches he played, he took 5 wickets in an innings four times and had a ten-wicket match haul twice. After leaving Worcestershire, Wilson played for his native county of Buckinghamshire in the seasons 1907- 08 and in that time he took 81 wickets in the ten matches he played. Wilson took 5 wickets in an innings 10 times and ten in a match, four times. He had best figures of 8-109 against Dorset at Slough, finishing with 15-191 for the match. Wilson then stopped playing Minor Counties cricket and played as professional at Nelson Cricket Club in the Lancashire League, and then Norton in the North Staffordshire League. Whilst at Norton, Staffordshire signed him as one of their professionals for the 1912 season. Wilson played in all 12 matches that season, taking 38 wickets at an average of 13.34. He played another 7 matches for Staffordshire in the curtailed 1914 season with even greater success with 43 wickets at an average of just 5.34. In total, Wilson played 37 Minor Counties Championship matches and took 205 wickets for an average of 12.34. He took 5 wickets in an innings 19 times and 7 ten wicket matches. His best figures were still the 8-28 against Northamptonshire. A decent lower order batsman he scored 705 runs with 4 half centuries, his highest score being 80 not out against Wiltshire at Swindon in 1898. His son, George Clifford Wilson, played 70 times for Worcestershire between 1924 and 1926. George Wilson died in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, just over a month short of his 85th birthday on 3rd March 1962. THE BOOK The Match Scores The scores are presented in the same format as in previous books. Scorebooks exist for Devon, Durham and Staffordshire. The MCCA handbook for 1914 and yearbooks for Kent and Staffordshire and Surrey were also referenced. As in previous years, newspapers remain the main source of information, with over 75 being consulted in researching the scores. 23