Minor Counties Championship 1914

Berkshire that had been scheduled for 10-11 August was called off, the former county observed that they were missing no fewer than nine players whilst the latter claimed that they had lost the services of eight or nine individuals. None of the above-mentioned counties played again during the summer. After the two early cancellations, further call-offs came thick and fast with no fewer than 23 of the last 32 fixtures failing to take place. The number of matches cancelled for any given county was to some degree dependent on their fixture lists: those who were scheduled to play most of their matches in mid- and late-August tended to be the worst affected. As well as the counties already referred to, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, and Bedfordshire also lost a high proportion of their fixtures. However, the 14 other counties opted to struggle on and were able to contest most of their matches; none saw more than two call-offs, and those tended to occur late in the summer. Amongst these were the second elevens of the first-class counties, who were able to call on their staff of young professionals and whose administrations were on surer ground than those of the other elevens. As a result, Kent 2nd XI managed to complete their entire programme, whilst Surrey 2nd XI and Essex 2nd XI were able to play each other in what would have been the final match of the season, taking place at the Oval as late as 26-27 August. Like Kent 2nd XI, Hertfordshire managed to play all their matches but were unusual in that their final two fixtures were played as late as 21-22 August and 24-25 August: apart from the contest at the Oval mentioned above these were the last two matches that went ahead. Cambridgeshire also tried hard and, despite having scheduled many of their matches to be played late in the season, missed only their final match. Norfolk’s penultimate fixture was scratched at the request of Staffordshire but they were able to contest their final match, which saw them visit Cambridgeshire at Fenner’s. The composition of their eleven repays some consideration as it typifies some of the problems that were faced by the counties during the summer. They were able to call on the services of their three professional bowlers but struggled (and failed) to put eight decent amateurs into the field. They were forced to give debuts to no fewer than four individuals and also had to select another whose first match had been in their previous fixture, and yet another whose experience was limited to two matches in the previous summer. As many as ten players who had appeared earlier in the season were absent; these included skipper Michael Falcon, who had scored the second highest number of runs during the season and been easily the most successful bowler; Reginald Popham, who had been comfortably the most prolific batsman; and Ralph Thurgar and Guy Pedder, the county’s two custodians. As a result, Norfolk had the services of just two of their regular amateurs: journeyman Eric Fulcher, who was not having a great summer, and Geoffrey Stevens. The latter was asked to wear three hats, being appointed both stand-in skipper and keeper, and expected to score most of the runs. They duly lost but were far from disgraced, the margin of defeat being just 38 runs. Perhaps other counties could have tried as hard as Norfolk to persevere in the face of the impending conflict. In passing, not all matches were cancelled due to a shortage of amateurs. For instance, Norfolk’s home match against Staffordshire, which was scheduled for 10-11 August, was cancelled “at the request of the Midlanders whose chief difficulty was the train service.” And Lincolnshire’s match with Durham, due to take place on 12-13 August, had to be called off as the military authorities had requisitioned the ground at Grantham. When the season was over and the dust had settled, the winners of the Championship remained to be decided. A ‘final’ table based on the fixtures that actually took place was drawn up and three contemporary commentators had the following to say:- 7