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.
All-rounder Frank Woolley, who was becoming an established international player, was selected as one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1911 after a successful 1910 season.
The Championship title was the third of four by Kent in the years before the First World War. It followed their success in 1909. The club's fourth title was won in 1913.
Background After decades of underachievement, Kent won their first County Championship in 1906.Kent County Cricket Club Timeline, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 23 November 2017.1906: Kent's First Championship in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2006, Kent County Cricket Club, p.56. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club. A mid-table finished in 1907 was followed by second place in 1908, despite winning more matches than the Champions Yorkshire.Moseling M, Quarrington T (2013) A Half-Forgotten Triumph: The story of Kent's County Championship title of 1913, p.6. Cheltenham: SportsBooks. . A second Championship title followed in 1909 with the Kent team securing the title well before the end of the season after losing only two matches.Rice J, Renshaw A (2011) 1910, The Wisden Collector's Guide, pp.98–99. London" A & C Black. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
The re-emergence of strong Kent teams was based on the development of a mix of "gifted"Moseling & Quarrington op. cit., p.3. 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 rose to 68% in 1910 and provided a solid foundation for the team to achieve success on the field.Moseling & Quarrington op. cit., pp.2–3.Moseling & Quarrington op. cit., pp.11–12.Lewis, Paul (2013). For Kent and Country, p.33. Brighton: Reveille Press. .McCanlis W (1907) 1907 – Blythe blooms in Kentish nursery, 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.
1910 season Kent's opening match of the season, against the MCC at Lord's, was cancelled following the death of King Edward VII and the county began the 1910 season with a loss to Oxford University before the County Championship got under way with an innings victory against Middlesex at Lord's. The second match of the Championship season, against Lancashire, was declared as "Not counted" as there was no play on the second day, 20 May, due to the funeral of the King.Lancashire v Kent in 1910 – scorecard, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
Four away Championship matches saw Kent win three times before losing to Leicestershire, a set of games which also featured a win against Cambridge University at Fenner's. Kent's first home game of the season was against Sussex at Tonbridge in June and saw the county begin a series of 10 unbeaten matches which lasted until the end of July. Eight of these matches were wins. A loss to Essex at Leyton was followed by seven successive winning matches, including two innings victories during Canterbury Cricket Week at the beginning of August.
By 12 August Kent had guaranteed the Championship title, the earliest date that the County Championship has ever been won.Ask Bearders #155, Test Match Special, BBC Sport, 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2016. A loss against Championship runners-up Surrey at The Oval, a draw against Hampshire and a loss in the Champion County match in September completed the season.
Players The 1910 team was captained by Ted Dillon in his second year of captaincy and featured England international players Colin Blythe, Douglas Carr, Arthur Fielder, Kenneth Hutchings and Frank Woolley.Obituary – Colin Blythe, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1918. Retrieved 17 February 2016.Obituary – Arthur Fielder, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1949. Retrieved 17 February 2016.Lieut K L Hutchings – Deaths in the war 1916, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1917. Retrieved 17 February 2016.Carr, Mr Douglass Ward – Obituaries in 1950, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1951. Retrieved 2 June 2016. Blythe and Woolley had toured South Africa with England over the 1909–10 English winter, but only Woolley, who had played in all five Test matches during the tour, would go on to play again for England, having debuted the summer before.Mukherjee A (2013) Frank Woolley: A giant among the great English all-rounders, Cricket Country, 23 May 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
Carr, along with Arthur Day had been chosen as two of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in the 1910 edition of the almanack and Woolley was chosen in the 1911 edition.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.Wilde S (2013) "1911 Five cricketers of the year" in Wisden Cricketers of the Year: A Celebration of Cricket's Greatest Players, A&C Black, pp.70–72. Fielder and Hutchings had been chosen in 1907 and Blythe in 1904.Wilde S (2013) "1904 Five cricketers of the year" in Wisden Cricketers of the Year: A Celebration of Cricket's Greatest Players, pp.49–52.Wilde S (2013) "1907 Five cricketers of the year" in Wisden Cricketers of the Year: A Celebration of Cricket's Greatest Players, pp.58–60. (Available online) The nucleus of the team remained the same as the Championship winning teams of 1906 and 1909, with the core of the team increasingly becoming professionals who had developed in the county's Tonbridge Nursery. When Dillon, a shipbroker whose profession sometimes kept him away from cricket, was unable to play, former club captain Jack Mason generally led the team.Lewis, Paul (2014). For Kent and Country, pp.148–151. Brighton: Reveille Press.
Fred Huish was the main wicket-keeper for Kent, with Jack Hubble replacing him in one non-Championship match. Huish, the senior professional in the Kent team at the time, was in the process of making 151 consecutive Championship appearances for Kent.Fred Huish – Obituary, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1959. Retrieved 10 April 2016.Geraint Jones reaches impressive County Championship milestone, Kent County Cricket Club, 3 September 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2016. Hubble, who succeeded Huish as wicket-keeper after World War I, played primarily as a batsman.Hubble, John Charlton – Obituaries in 1966, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1966. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
Former captain Cloudesley Marsham made his last first-class appearance for Kent before the First World War against Cambridge University and did not play in a Championship match during the season. Keith Barlow played against both Cambridge and Oxford University, the only first-class appearances of his career. Other than Barlow, four players made their senior debuts for Kent during 1910: Eric Hatfeild, Charles Hooman, Freddie Knott and Percy Morfee. Hooman appeared 15 times for the county during the season, his only season of first-class cricket with Kent.
Ages given as of the first day of Kent's 1910 County Championship season, 16 May 1910. Name Birth date Batting style Bowling style Apps Notes Right – 2 Right Slow left arm 26 Right Right arm leg-break 10 Right Right arm leg-breakRight arm fast-medium 9 Right Right arm fast 1 Right Right arm leg-break 23 Club captain Right Right arm off-break 19 Right Right arm fast 18 Right Slow left arm 5 Right Slow left arm 2 Right Right arm medium 15 Right – 18 Wicket-keeper Right – 28 Wicket-keeper Right Slow left arm 29 Right Right arm fast 25 Right – 2 Right Right arm leg-break 6 Right Slow left arm 1 Right Right arm fast-medium 9 Right Right arm fast 5 Right Right arm medium 7 Right Right arm off-break 29 Right Right arm medium 1 Left Slow left armLeft arm medium 29 Source: CricketArchive and Cricinfo statistics
Statistics During 1910 Kent played 29 first-class matches, including 26 in the County Championship. They won 20, drew four and lost five matches, with 19 of the wins and only three losses occurring in the Championship. One match, against the MCC, was cancelled following the death of Edward VII.
Match typePWLDTieAbPtsPosCounty Championship 26 19 3 3 0 0 – 1 19 1stOther first-class matches 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 – – –
Punter Humphreys led the county in run scoring with a total of 1,618 runs, including 1,483 in the County Championship.County Championship 1910 – Batting and fielding for Kent, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. James Seymour, Kenneth Hutchings and Frank Woolley each scored over 1,000 runs for Kent, with Ted Dillon adding 919. Hutchings scored four centuries for Kent, with Humphreys, Seymour and Woolley each scoring three.First-class batting and fielding in England in 1910, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. Humphreys' score of 200 not out against Lancashire at Tunbridge Wells was the highest score for Kent during the season and was his second double century for the county.County Championship 1910 – Centuries, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. At the time it was the third highest score in Kent history, beaten only by the 208 he had scored in 1909 and James Seymour's 204 from the 1907 season.Most runs in an innings for Kent, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. Seymour made a top score of 193 against Middlesex at Canterbury in 1910, Kent's second highest score of the year.
Seymour and Hutchings shared a partnership of 205 at Derby which was the highest third-wicket partnership of the Championship season and Humphreys and Arthur Day's stand of 254 was the highest fifth-wicket partnership of the season, set against Lancashire at Tunbridge Wells.County Championship 1910 – Highest partnerships for each wicket, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. As of 2016 this remains the highest fifth-wicket partnership at the Nevill Ground.The Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells – Highest partnership for each wicket in first-class cricket, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. Kent's total of 607/6 declared against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham was the highest team total of the Championship seasonCounty Championship 1910 – Highest team totals, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. and, as of 2016, remains Kent's highest score against Gloucestershire on any ground.Highest total for Kent against each team, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
Colin Blythe was Kent's leading wicket taker in 1910, taking 149 Championship wickets at an average of 13.77.County Championship 1910 – Bowling for Kent, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2016. He took 165 wickets in total during the season for Kent, including taking 10 wickets in a match four times and five wickets in an innings 17 times during the season with his left arm spin bowling. Frank Woolley was the second leading wicket-taker with 132 wickets, whilst Arthur Fielder, with 77, Douglas Carr, with 63, and Bill Fairservice, with 37, also made significant bowling contributions.