Published: Jul 11, 2016, 03:04 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 11, 2016, 03:07 PM (IST)
The 1907 County Championship had sprung a surprise with a new Champion County being anointed; Nottinghamshire won by a considerable margin, winnings all 15 of their games in a 16-team field, and collecting 15 points. This was the first Championship win for them. Yorkshire collected 9 points when they won 12 of their 28 games (3 losses and 11 draws), 2 of their matches being abandoned. Cricketing coincidences, 4 of 4: Give and take
April had not been kind to most of Britain in early 1908, a severe snowstorm lasting from 23rd to 26th and affecting most of the Southern parts of the land, with temperatures being recorded at less than — 10° C in many places. Cricket aficionados were left apprehensive about the fate of the early part of the County Championship games in the face of this unusual and unseasonal weather patterns.
It was only the second County Championship match of the 1908 season, and the proud Yorkshire team were determined to set the record straight when they made their first ever journey to Northampton to take on the Northamptonshire team; the hosts had won only 2 of their 20 games and had come second-last in the Championship table the previous year. Under the able leadership of Harold Kaye, the Yorkshire brigade had talent and experience in their side. Andrew Ward gives a charming account of the match in his matchless book, Cricket’s Strangest Matches. Cricketing coincidences, 3 of 4: They keep coming back
The match started on Thursday, May 7. Winning the toss, Yorkshire had opted to bat first and closed Day 1 at 333 for 8, with Hubert Myers on 2 and John Newstead on 9. The highlight of the first day had been 110 from David “Lucky” Denton, the season’s first centurion, replete with 9 fours and coming in a little over 3 hours. One over from George Thompson (martyr to lumbago and unable to bat in both Northamptonshire innings) went for 3 fours and 2 twos from consecutive deliveries from the bat of Denton. The left-handed duo of Wilfred Rhodes (40 at the top of the order) and George Hirst (44) provided solidity to the innings.
The weather in the early part of Day 2 was not conducive to cricket and play could only be resumed at about 2.30. The match, however, was over by 5.50, following some sensational bowling from the Yorkshire bowlers. Shortly after play started on Day 2, Yorkshire declared their 1st innings closed at 356 for 8, Roger Hatwin taking 5 for 78. He was probably showing his younger brother, the debutant Rawlins, what First-Class cricket was all about. Cricketing coincidences, 2 of 4: Settling scores
What followed next was quite remarkable. Northamptonshire were dismissed for 27 in 16.5 overs, with no one in double figures, and William Kingston (8), being the highest scorer (and with 4 extras). The figures of Hirst read: 8.5-4-12-6, while Schofield Haigh had figures of 8-1-11-3. They were the only bowlers used.
Invited to follow on, Northamptonshire could only manage 15 in 22.2 overs in their 2nd knock. Here again, Yorkshire used only the same bowlers. Hirst had 11.2-8-7-6, while Haigh recorded figures of 11-6-8-3. It was a complete devastation from these two wily Yorkshire purveyors of swing bowling, the ignominy lasting for all of 135 minutes for the two efforts by the home team.
As mentioned earlier, Thompson was unable to bat in either innings because the game slipped away from the home team so rapidly that he did not get enough time to recover from his disability. George Vials, another Northamptonshire man not fully fit, hit the only boundary for the home team, the stroke coming in the 2nd innings when he scored 5, the highest individual score of the innings.
The home team were crushed by an innings and 314 runs. Curiously, six of their batsmen were dismissed in identical fashion in both innings, while one man remained undefeated both times, as follows:
| Batsmam | 1st innings | 2nd innings | ||
| William Kingston | b George Hirst | 0 | b George Hirst | 3 |
| Mark Cox | b George Hirst | 0 | b George Hirst | 2 |
| Alfred Hawtin | lbw b George Hirst | 2 | lbw b George Hirst | 0 |
| Alexander Thompson | b Schofield Haigh | 1 | b Schofield Haigh | 1 |
| Walter Buswel (wk) | b Schofield Haigh | 4 | b Schofield Haigh | 0 |
| William Wells | not out | 5 | not out | 0 |
| Roderick Falconer | b George Hirst | 2 | b George Hirst | 0 |
For all their miserable batting in this match, Northamptonshire, dismissed for a mere 15 in their 2nd innings, improved on their 12 in their 1st innings against Gloucestershire at Gloucester in June 1907 (Edward Dennett of Gloucestershire took 8 wickets for 9 runs in 6 overs) — the lowest team total in the history of the County Championships till date, the undesirable record lasting for more than a century.
Smarting from this heavy reverse, Northamptonshire got the better of the other Roses County, Lancashire, about 3 weeks later, in a close match by 1 wicket, the unfinished last-wicket stand realising 23 vital runs.
Brief scores:
Yorkshire 356 (Wilfred Rhodes 40, David Denton 110, George Hirst 44; Roger Hatwin 5 for 78) beat Northamptonshire 27 (George Hirst 6 for 12, Schofield Haigh 3 for 11) and 15 (George Hirst 6 for 7, Schofield Haigh 3 for 8) by an innings and 314 innings.
(Pradip Dhole is a retired medical doctor with a life-long interest in cricket history and statistics)
