Sussex in the Second XI Championship

By David Jeater and Kevin Jones, May 2023

Analysis	Player	Match
12.4-1-35-9	J.A.North	v Derbysghire, Heanor, 1991
26.0-5-60-9	J.J.Bates	v Surrey, Kennington, 1998
20.2-9-33-8	J.A.Voros	v Middlesex, Southgate, 2001
31.5-11-40-8	B.T.B.Donelan	v Middlesex, Hove, 1990
23.0-13-42-8	H.Newton	v Essex, Hove, 1967
17.0-4-59-8	V.C Drakes	v Surrey, Banstead, 1994
14.2-2-64-8	C.R.Edwards	v Surrey, Sutton, 2005
46.2-22-65-8	O.P.Rayner	v Middlesex, Horsham, 2006
25.09-9-73-8	D.R.Doshi	v Middlesex, Hove, 1972
34.1-8-80-8	D.J.Semmence	v Essex, Corringham, 1967

The table lists, in runs-conceded order, all instances of bowlers taking nine or eight wickets in an innings.
The first column, headed Analysis, gives overs bowled, maidens, runs conceded and wickets taken, in that order. Edwards was playing in his first match in the competition.
The best seven-wicket return is by L.J.Hatchett with 11.5-4-15-7 v Hampshire, Birdham, 2010. Donelan took 15 wickets for 142 in the 1990 instance above, the only bowler to take fifteen wickets in a match for the side.

Pos	Player	Season	Mtch	Overs	Mdn	Runs	Wkt	Avge
1	V.C.Dreakes	1994	14	405.2	87	1,150	65	17.69
2	H.Newton	1966	15	495.1	150	1,254	64	19.59
3	R,J.Kirtley	1995	15	404.1	86	1,313	58	22.63
4	D.R.Doshi	1972	11	347.5	110	1,025	55	18.63
5	H.Newton	1965	16	505.1	162	1,176	53	22.18
6	R.G.L.Cheatle	1976	9	347.1	130	755	50	15.10
7	C.E.Waller	1978	7	317.2	132	568	47	12.08
8	R.G.L.Cheatle	1975	9	260.2	85	719	46	15.63
	B.T.P.Donelan	1990	13	363	114	919	46	19.97
	J.J.Bates	1996	16	468	112	1,340	46	29.13
11	A.Willows	1983	11	390.3	137	978	41	23.85

The table lists all bowlers taking 40 wickets or more in season.

Pos	Player	Seasons	Mtch	Pvers	Mdn	Runs	Wkt	Avge
1	H.Newton	1959, 1961-1967	60	1,817.1	546	4,488	208	21.57
2	R.G.L.Cheatle	1971-1983	47	1,451.2	529	3,362	198	16.97
3	W.A.T.Beer	2006-2021	64	1,371.4	258	4,308	177	24.37
4	R.J.Kirtley	1993-1997, 2006-2010	53	1,272	272	3,816	169	22.57
5	J.J.Bates	1995-2000	65	2,014.1	471	5,883	168	35.01
6	C.P.Phillipson	1970-1986	75	1,288.3	362	3,107	155	20.04
7	B.T.P.Donelan	1988-1993	44	1,554.2	417	4,341	151	28.74
8	A.Willows	1978-1984	55	1,645.5	499	4,681	144	32.50
9	O.P.Rayner	2002-2011	43	1,148	258	3,292	142	23.18
10	N.C.Phillips	1991-1997	60	1,704.1	492	4,484	126	35.58
11	D.L.Bates	1959, 1960, 1963-1972	34	795.1	21.4	2,130	123	17.31
	M.R.Strong	1994, 1996-1999	39	1,009.1	213	3,140	123	25.52

The table lists all bowlers taking 120 or more wickets. Cheatle took five wickets or more in an innings 13 times, the most for the side.

Pos	Catches	Player	Match
1	5	R.J.Langridge	v Gloucestershire, Eastbourne, 1966
	5	C.A.L.Davis	v Glamorgan, Abergavenny, 2016
3	4	D.J.Foreman	v Kent, Broadstairs, 1965
	4	L.J.Lenham	v Essex, Walthamstow, 1968
	4	J.J.Groome	v Middlesex, Harefield, 1976
	4	C.P.Phillipson	v Middlesex, Harefield, 1983
	4	M.W.Pringle	v Warwickshire, Horsham, 1988
	4	L.W.P.Wells	v Surrey, Purley, 2014
	4	H.Z.Finch	v Middlesex, Richmond, 2015

The table lists all fielders making four or more catches in an innings. There have been eleven instances of fielders taking five catches in a match.

Pos	Player	Season	Matches	Catches	Avge
1	D.J.Foreman	1965	16	24	1.50
2	K.Greenfield	1990	14	20	1.42
3	D.J.Foreman	1968	14	19	1.35
4	J.J.Bates	1996	16	18	1.12
5	K.Greenfield	1998	10	17	1.70
	K.Greenfield	1994	13	17	1.30
	K.S.McEwan	1972	12	17	1.41
8	S.J.Hoadley	1975	10	16	1.60
	C.P.Phillipson	1985	12	16	1.33
	M.A.Thornely	2007	11	16	1.45
11	H.Z.Finch	2015	9	15	1.66

The table lists all fielders making 15 or more catches in a season. The figures exclude catches made when players were wicketkeepers. Column six, headed ‘Avge’, gives the average number of catches per match for each player.

Pos	Player	Seasons	Matches	Catches	Avge
1	K.Greenfield	1986-2001	118	128	1.08
2	C.P.Phillipson	1970-1986	75	82	1.09
3	D.J.Foreman	1959-1969	69	71	1.04
4	O.P.Rayner	2002-2011	45	53	1.08
5	N.C.Phillips	1991-1997	60	49	0.81
6	J.J.Bates	1995-2000	65	47	0.72
7	H.Z.Finch	2011-2017, 2019	39	43	1.10
8	R.G.L.Cheatle	1971-1983	47	41	0.87
	P.R.V.Ledden	1960-1969	65	41	0.63
10	P.J.Graves	1962-1967, 1969, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977	42	40	0.95

Pos	Total	Ct/St	Player	Match
1	6	6/0	A.J.Hodd	v Yorkshire, Hove, 2006
	6	5/1	C.F.Jackson	v Hampshire, West End, 2015
3	5	4/1	P.Moores	v Essex, Eastbourne, 1985
	5	5/0	M.P.Speight	v Surrey, Banstead, 1988
	5	3/2	C.H.H.Pegg	v Derbyshire, Hove, 1990
	5	4/1	S.Humphries	v Warwickshire, Hove, 1993
	5	4/1	S.Humphries	v Essex, Eastbourne, 1996
	5	5/0	S.Humphries	v Warwickshire, Horsham, 1997
	5	5/0	T.R.Ambrose	v Kent, Hove, 2002
	5	5/0	C.F.Jackson	v Northamptonshire, Horsham, 2013
	5	4/1	C.F.Jackson	v Glamorgan, Fulking, 2015
	5	5/0	J.W.Jenner	v Hampshire, Newport [I.o.W], 2017

The table lists all wicketkeepers making five or more dismissals in an innings. Hodd’s six catches in the 2006 instance are the most catches for the side. H.J.Kasey made three stumpings in an innings v Surrey, Hove, 1989 and S Humphries, three in an innings v Nottinghamshire, Horsham, 1996, the most stumpings for the side. C.F.Jackson made a total of eight dismissals (7ct, 1st) in the 2015 instance above, the most dismissals for the side in a match.

Pos	Player	Season	Matches	Ct/St	Total	Avge
1	S.Humphries	1996	17	40/10	50	2.94
2	S.Humphries	1997	17	34/8	42	2.47
3	S.Humphries	1995	17	39/2	41	2.41
4	S.Humphries	1993	17	32/8	40	2.35
5	S.Humphries	1994	17	31/4	35	2.05
6	T.J.Head	1978	11	26/8	34	3.09
7	C.F.Jackson	2015	9	29/4	33	3.66
8	S.Humphries	1992	12	27/4	31	2.58
	R.T.Webb	1959	10	22/9	31	3.10
10	P.Moores	1985	11	25/3	28	2.54
11	J.N.Smith	1991	13	24/3	27	2.07

The table lists all wicketkeepers making 25 or more dismissals in a season. The figures exclude catches made when players were fielding. Column seven, headed ‘Avge’ gives the average number of dismissals per match for each player. Humphries’ 40 catches and ten stumpings in 1990 are both the most for the side in a season.

Pos	Player	Seasons	Matches	Ct/St	Total	Avge
1	S.Humphries	1992-2000	105	220/36	256	2.43
2	T.J.Head	1975-1981, 1983, 1984, 1986	67	146/23	169	2.52
3	T.Gunn	1960-1968	72	131/24	155	2.15
4	A.J.Hodd	2002, 2003, 2006-2012	40	84/6	90	2.25
5	A.W.Mansell	1968-1975	48	71/18	89	1.85
6	B.C.Brown	2004-2011, 2013-2015, 2019, 2021	40	69/15	84	2.10
7	C.F.Jackson	2011-2015	33	77/5	82	2.48
8	N.J.Wilton	1979-1984	42	56/12	68	1.61
9	D.J.Smith	1979-1984	42	56/12	68	1.61

The table lists all wicketkeepers making 50 or more dismissals for the side. The figures exclude catches made when players were fielding. Column seven headed ‘Avge’ gives the average number of dismissals per match for each player. Humphries’ 220 catches and his 36 stumpings are both, respectively, the most for the side.

The figures in the tables above derive largely from three sources.

These are

the CricketArchive database which now contains details of all Sussex matches in the competition;
the 38 editions of the First-Class Counties Second Eleven Annual, published by ACS; and
the Sussex County Cricket Club’s own annuals and scorebooks.

Our thanks our due, in particular, to the scorers who stand behind all this data; they have ranged from committed, dedicated experts through to twelfth men and even schoolboys pressed into service in the scorebox!

As this is the first time these tables have seen the light of day, there is a likelihood of errors and omissions; we’d appreciate it if readers would bring these to the attention of the Sussex Cricket Museum. You can do this by using the Contact Form here.

Click here for Part 1 – Appearances and Batting

Sussex in the Second XI Championship

Part 2 - Bowling, Fielding and Wicketing Records

Bowling

Fielding

Wicketkeeping