County Championship 10th (6W, 5L, 8D, 1A)
Captain Arthur Owen Jones
With Notts slipping even further down the table to finish tenth just two seasons after winning the title the Committee said to members: ‘It was an unsuccessful and disappointing season, but the Eleven shewed their best form against in their strongest opponents.’
Even that was a tad optimistic – Notts did not play the eventual champions, Kent, at all and though they beat Lancashire handsomely at Trent Bridge, they lost at Old Trafford and lost and drew with Yorkshire, so matches against the top three in the table produced just one win.
The Committee could have had in mind that the six Championship wins were all by healthy margins, a two-wicket win at Gloucester being the closest finish when Notts emerged victors.
It was a similar story in the defeats, the nearest Notts came in those was going down by four wickets to Yorkshire at Bradford.
The season opener rather set the tone. In their first match of the summer, the touring Australians cantered home by an innings and 6 runs. This despite skipper AO Jones carrying his bat for 125 out of Notts’s first innings of 239; Warwick Armstrong made the first hundred of the tour for the Aussies as they replied with 389 and chipped in with three wickets as the home side fell a six-hit away from making the tourists bat again.
Things improved in the next ‘friendly’ at Lord’s when Notts dismissed a strong MCC eleven – ‘Plum’ Warner and Archie MacLaren were the openers – for 196 and 143. In response, Notts made 221 and 122-4, winning by six wickets.
Notts came up against Sussex – more particularly, the Relf brothers – at Hove and were soundly beaten by an innings and 107 runs. Albert Relf took twelve wickets in the match – 5-52 and 7-41 – and his brother Bob made 159, opening the Sussex innings that finished on 344, more than enough to see off the visitor’s 121 and 116.
Joe Hardstaff made 111 and three other batters passed the half-century as Notts compiled 451 at home to Leicestershire; the away team made 250 and, following on, 240, leaving Notts (40-3) victors by seven wickets.
Their next game was even more emphatic and perhaps partially explains that Committee comment as Notts beat a Surrey team containing Jack Hobbs, Tom Hayward and Herbert Strudwick by an innings and 170!
Bill Riley, who had set a career-best in the Leicestershire game went one better, taking 6-27 as Surrey fell to 108 in reply to the Nottinghamshire first innings of 446, built around Wilf Payton’s 101no. Following on, Surrey did improve but with Topsy Wass claiming 8-64, their 168 all out left them well short.
A tepid draw against Essex was followed by a bowlers’ match at Gloucester. The home side were shot out for 44, Wass and Hallam sharing the wickets, and Notts proceeded to struggle to a meagre first innings lead, making 69 as George Dennett and Percy Mills shared the spoils. Gloucester made 110 in their second innings, Wass and Hallam again taking 5-apiece before Notts struggled to 87-8. Wass, who passed 1100 First-Class wickets; Hallam, 800 championship wickets; and Dennett, 900 First-Class wickets, each passed a career milestone in this game.
Leicester gained revenge for their earlier defeat by winning at Aylestone Road. Notts made 148 and 134, leaving the home side (266 in first innings) the simple task of scoring 17, which they did for a ten-wicket win.
A home defeat by Northamptonshire followed in which Notts were on fairly even terms until the final innings. The visitors made 229 and Notts replied with 198; in their second innings, Northants made 206, challenging Notts to make 237 to win. They collapsed to 78 all out in 49 overs to leave Northants winners by 159 runs.
A similar margin was played out in the next match against Middlesex at Lord’s. Notts took a slight first innings lead, 274 against 239, then Frank Tarrant, the Aussie with an apparent taste for Notts bowling, made 138 at the home side registered 336-7 declared. Edward Mignon took seven wickets as Notts collapsed to 125 all out and lost by 170 runs.
Lancashire, who were eventually to finish second in the table, were soundly beaten – by an innings and 80 – with Nottinghamshire making 414, led by Iremonger’s 130. This gave them a first innings lead in excess of 200 and Lancs could not get close, falling to 121, with Iremonger doing his best to underline his all-rounder status with 5-45.
Although Yorkshire won the next fixture by four wickets, it was a great deal closer than the bare figures suggest. Notts scored 157, Wilfred Rhodes taking seven wickets, and Yorkshire replied with 228. Batting again, Notts could only manage 155, Haigh with six the main threat this time. Yorks needed just 45 runs but they were six down, and with Hubert Myers unable to bat, before they sneaked across the line.
It was a short trip across the Pennines for the next match at Old Trafford where Lancashire romped home by ten wickets to repay the heavy defeat they had suffered at Trent Bridge. Notts scored 120 and 162; Lancashire’s 280 was enough to leave them needing just five runs to win which they knocked off in five balls.
Yorkshire at home were the next opponents and again Notts failed to reach 200, posting 188 in reply to the visitors’ 331 (David Denton 184). Yorks declared at 111-4 and Notts batted out for the draw, ending on 82-2.
Another defeat followed and two more innings short of 200 (now nine in a row) as Notts made 146 and 184 and Northants scored 301 and 30-3 to win by seven wickets.
Nottinghamshire eventually made a decent score in the home game versus Gloucestershire; they made 351 with three batters getting 70 or more. In reply, the visitors made 209. Notts declared their second innings on 191-4, Jimmy Iremonger 100no, and bowled Gloucester out for 151. Skipper Jones employed his occasional leg break to good effect, taking a career-best 8-71 as Notts won by 182 runs.
The match against Derbyshire fell victim to the weather, being abandoned without even the toss being made. Thus the next completed match was away at The Oval where Surrey, 221 and 222-4, beat Notts, 185 and 226, by six wickets.
This was the last defeat of the season as there followed three drawn games and a final win against Derbyshire.
Albert Iremonger, better known as a goalkeeper for Notts County, played 14 First-Class games, six of those in the 1909 season during which he made his highest score of 60no against Sussex and had his best bowling, 5-83 versus Essex. In the draw at Leyton, Albert’s wickets were not enough to secure a win and Notts settled for the draw. James Barnes, son of Notts and England star Billy Barnes, played the first of his three First-Class games in this fixture.
Notts made their highest score of the season against Sussex at home, George Gunn’s 138 and Albert Iremonger’s 60no being the bedrocks of 472. Sussex replied with 433, Albert Relf renewing his successes against Notts with 125. The home side were 172-4 when the match ended.
A third successive draw followed when Middlesex came to Trent Bridge; the match was interrupted by the weather as Middlesex made just 114 and Notts replied with 308-5 declared, Wilf Payton with 142. The visitors batted again and were 97-4 when time was called.
After a lacklustre season, Nottinghamshire finished on a high, beating neighbours Derbyshire at Trent Bridge by an innings and 94 runs. Notts made 274, thanks largely to 101 from George Gunn, and dismissed Derbyshire for 76 and 104. With a nice touch of symmetry, Wass took seven wickets and Hallam three in the first innings and then Hallam took seven and Wass three in the second. En route, Topsy Wass took his 100th First-Class wicket of the season and George Gunn passed 1,000 championship runs.
January 2024
Scorecards and stats can be seen here