The championship title was the second of four by Kent during the Golden Age of cricket in the years leading up to the First World War. It followed their first title in 1906, with the nucleus of the side unchanged from then. It was followed by their third title in 1910 and fourth in 1913.
Background
After decades of underachievement, Kent won their first County Championship in 1906,[2][3] with "the best county side of the year" which "showed the most brilliant form".[4] The re-emergence of strong Kent sides was based on the development of a mix of "gifted"[5] amateurs playing alongside an increasingly strong core of professionals, most of whom were a product of the club's Tonbridge Nursery - its player development centre based at the Angel Ground at Tonbridge. By 1906 professionals were making around 60% of all appearances for Kent, a figure which had increased markedly since the establishment of the Nursery in 1897 and provided a much firmer foundation for the side to achieve success on the field.[6][7][8][9]
After the success of 1906, Kent finished eighth in the County Championship in 1907 and second in 1908, winning more games than the champions Yorkshire but losing three compared to Yorkshire's unbeaten season.[10]C. H. B. Marsham, who had captained the side in 1906, gave up the captaincy at the end of 1908 and Ted Dillon was appointed to lead the side.[11]
1909 season
Kent started the season with a match against the MCC at Lord's which they won by 97 runs before the County Championship got under way with six away matches. The series of games saw four wins and two draws, with the first three matches of the season won by an innings in each case. A match against Oxford University divided this series of Championship matches and was also won by the margin of an innings.
A draw against Essex in Kent's first home match of the season in June at Catford was followed by two losses to Worcestershire and Lancashire, both matches taking place at Tonbridge. These were to be the only two losses of the Championship season as Kent went unbeaten for the remainder of the season.[12]
Seven wins and a draw from the middle of June to the end of July saw Kent in a commanding position in the Championship. These included an innings victory against Gloucestershire at Catford which saw Kent score 593, the second highest total in the Championship in 1909.[13] They were to continue their good form in August, winning their first two matches of the month during Canterbury Cricket Week and going on to draw three and win three of the remaining Championship matches, including a rain affected draw against third placed Yorkshire at Dover. A match against the touring Australian side at Canterbury in the middle of the month was also a rain affected draw.[14]
Carr, who bowled leg-spin and who was an early proponent of the relatively new googly delivery, made his first-class cricket debut against Oxford University in May at the age of 37.[19] He had not previously played any first-class cricket but, after developing his googly in 1908, he used it so well in club cricket that Kent offered him a trial. He had played only six first-class matches when he was selected for the fifth Test of the summer's Ashes series, taking five wickets in the first Australian innings and seven overall in the match.[20]
Carr capped his remarkable rise to fame by being selected as one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 1910 alongside batsman Arthur Day.[20][21] He played only one Test, although he made regular appearances for Kent until the end of the 1913 season.[19]
Dillon was unavailable from early August and Jack Mason, who had been club captain between 1897 and 1902, stepped in to captain the side in the last five Championship matches.[22][23] The 1909 side also included Woolley, by now a well established all-rounder, and James Seymour who each played in 29 of the 30 matches in the season as well as Punter Humphreys, Bill Fairservice, Fred Huish and Wally Hardinge, all six of whom were professionals and provided the core of the Kent team for the season. Huish was the main wicket-keeper and was considered the senior professional, beginning a streak of 151 consecutive County Championship appearances in 1909.[24] The reserve wicket-keeper was Jack Hubble who, as a result of Huish's dominant position, played only two matches in 1909.[25]
As well as Carr, batsmen David Jennings and Harold Prest made their debuts for Kent in 1909, Jennings playing once and Prest four times.[26][27]
Punter Humphreys led the county in run scoring with a total of 1,390 runs, including 1,207 in the County Championship, closely followed by Kenneth Hutchings with 1,368 total runs. Hutchings led the Championship aggregate for Kent with 1,251 runs.[28]Frank Woolley, James Seymour and Arthur Day also scored more than 1,000 runs for Kent during the season. Day and Hutchings both scored three centuries, as did Jack Mason who averaged 65.25 with the bat in 14 innings. Humphreys scored the County's highest score of the season with 208, at the time a record highest individual score for Kent.
Woolley and Arthur Fielder shared a partnership of 235 for the tenth wicket against Worcestershire at Amblecote.[16] As of April 2016 this remains the highest last-wicket partnership in the County Championship.[29] The pair came together when Kent were still 40 behind Worcestershire's first innings of 360 and raised Kent's total to 555 before Kent went on to win by an innings. Woolley, who scored 185, had retired hurt earlier in the innings after being hit in the mouth by a ball from Ted Arnold. Fielder contributed 112 not out to the partnership, the only first-class century of his career.[16]
Colin Blythe was Kent's leading wicket taker in 1909, taking 178 Championship wickets at an average of 14.07, a total which led all bowlers in the Championship. He took 185 wickets in total during the season for Kent, including taking 10 wickets in a match five times and five wickets in an innings 18 times during the season with his left arm spin bowling.[30] Fast bowler Arthur Fielder took 95 wickets with spinners Woolley, Douglas Carr and Bill Fairservice all making significant contributions.
Kent's best individual bowling figures for the season were Blythe's 9/42 taken against Leicestershire in May, closely followed by the same bowler's 9/44 against Northamptonshire in the same month.[31] His 16/102 in the match against Leicestershire were the season's best bowling figures in the County Championship, followed by his 14/75 in the match against Northamptonshire.[32]
Fred Huish took 63 wicket-keeping dismissals for Kent during the season, including 35 catches and 22 stumpings in the County Championship.[28] James Seymour took 35 catches in the Championship as part of Kent's well respected slip cordon.[28] Seymour played in every Championship match for Kent during the season, with Blythe, Humphreys, Hutchings and Woolley all playing in 25.[28]
Batting statistics
The table below includes all first-class batting for Kent during the 1909 season.
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Kent teams have played top-class cricket since the early 18th century, and the club has always held first-class status. The current Kent County Cricket Club was formed on 6 December 1870 following the merger of two representative teams. Kent have competed in the County Championship since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club's limited overs team is called the Kent Spitfires after the Supermarine Spitfire.
Colin Blythe, also known as Charlie Blythe, was an English professional cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team during the early part of the 20th century. Blythe was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1904 and took more than 2,500 first-class wickets over the course of his career, one of only 13 men to have done so.
Frank Edward Woolley was an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1906 and 1938 and for the England cricket team. A genuine all-rounder, Woolley was a left-handed batsman and a left-arm bowler. He was an outstanding fielder close to the wicket and is the only non wicket-keeper to have held over 1,000 catches in a first-class career, whilst his total number of runs scored is the second highest of all time and his total number of wickets taken the 27th highest.
Frederick Martin, also known as Fred Martin and Nutty Martin, was an English professional cricketer who bowled left-arm medium-pace spin. Martin played first-class cricket between 1885 and 1892, primarily for Kent County Cricket Club, and appeared twice in Test matches for the England cricket team. He was considered one of the best left-arm spin bowlers in the country between 1889 and 1891.
Arthur Fielder was an English professional cricketer who played as a fast bowler for Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team from 1900 to 1914. He played a major role in Kent's four County Championship wins in the years before World War I and toured Australia twice with the England team making six Test match appearances. He was chosen as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1907.
Kenneth Lotherington Hutchings was an English amateur cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team between 1902 and 1912. He was primarily a batsman who played a major role in three of Kent's County Championship wins in the years before World War I and who played seven Test matches for England. He was chosen as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1907. Hutchings was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme whilst serving with the King's Liverpool Regiment in 1916.
Harold Thomas William Hardinge, known as Wally Hardinge, was an English professional sportsman who played both cricket and association football for England. His professional cricket career lasted from 1902 to 1933 during which he played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and made one Test match appearance for England. He was described as being "for years ... one of the leading opening batsmen in England".
Alec Hearne was a member of the famous cricketing Hearne family. He played as a professional for Kent County Cricket Club between 1884 and 1906 and made one Test match appearance for England. He was an all-rounder who was named as one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 1894. His father, George played cricket for Middlesex during the 1860s and brothers George and Frank also played Test cricket, as did his cousin, John Thomas Hearne.
1906 was the 17th season of County Championship cricket in England. The title was decided in the final round of matches with Kent County Cricket Club finishing just ahead of Yorkshire. George Hirst completed a unique "double Double" of 2,385 runs and 208 wickets. Tom Hayward broke Bobby Abel’s 1901 record for the most runs scored in a first-class season.
1909 was the 20th season of County Championship cricket in England and featured a Test series between England and Australia. Kent won the championship and Australia, captained by Monty Noble, won the Test series.
Frederick Henry Huish, known as Fred Huish, was an English professional cricketer who played as a wicket-keeper for Kent County Cricket Club in the period before the First World War. Huish played over 450 times for Kent and was part of the sides which won four County championship titles in the Golden Age of cricket leading up to the war. He holds the record for the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in first-class cricket who did not play a Test match.
The Angel Ground was a sports ground at Tonbridge in the English county of Kent. It was used as a venue for first-class cricket by Kent County Cricket Club between 1869 and 1939 and then for association football by Tonbridge Angels F.C., until 1980. It was subsequently demolished and redeveloped by Tonbridge and Malling District Council in 1980.
Private Banks Sports Ground is a 20 acres (8.1 ha) cricket and multi-use sports ground in Catford Bridge in the London Borough of Lewisham. The ground, which was in the historic county of Kent until 1889, was used as a first-class cricket venue by Kent County Cricket Club between 1875 and 1921. In 2012, the ground was sold to the Educational Foundation of nearby independent school St Dunstan's College and renamed the Jubilee Ground.
Frederick Hammett Knott, known as Freddie Knott, was an English amateur cricketer. Knott played for Oxford University Cricket Club and Kent County Cricket Club in the years before the First World War. He played occasionally after the war, including once for Sussex in 1926.
Kent County Cricket Club's 1906 season was the seventeenth season in which the county competed in the County Championship and saw the county win their first Championship title. Kent played 25 first-class cricket matches during the season, losing only four matches overall and only two matches in the 1906 County Championship. They finished equal on points with Yorkshire and Surrey but won the title on the percentage of finished matches won.
David William Jennings was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club in the years before the First World War. Primarily a batsman, Jennings played in the Kent sides which won the County Championship in 1909, 1910 and 1913.
Kent County Cricket Club's 1910 season was the 21st season in which the County competed in the County Championship. Kent played 29 first-class cricket matches during the season, losing only five matches overall, and won their third Championship title. They finished well ahead of second place Surrey in the 1910 County Championship.
William Allan Powell was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club during the Golden Age of cricket before the First World War. He was born in 1885 Blundellsands in Lancashire and educated at Cranleigh School. He died in Earl's Court in London on New Years Day 1954, aged 68.
Henry Croxford was an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club during the 19th century. He was born at Hadlow in Kent in 1845, the son of William and Sophia Croxford. His father was a boot maker.
References
↑ Wilde S (2013) "1910 Five cricketers of the year" in Wisden Cricketers of the Year: A Celebration of Cricket's Greatest Players, A&C Black, pp.67–69.
↑ 1906: Kent's First Championship in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2006, Kent County Cricket Club, p.56. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.
↑ 1906 – Surprise surrounds first Championship, in Stern J & Williams M (eds) (2013) The Essential Wisden: An Anthology of 150 Years of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, p.657. London: A & C Black. Republished from Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, 1907.
↑ Moseling M, Quarrington T (2013) A Half-Forgotten Triumph: The story of Kent's County Championship title of 1913, p.3. Cheltenham: SportsBooks. ISBN978-1-907524-40-0.
↑ McCrery N (2015) Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War Pen and Sword, pp.432–433. (Available online, retrieved 2016-04-23).
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