Arthur Dolphin (24 December 1885 – 23 October 1942) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, who kept wicket for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

between

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

and 1927. He is part of a tradition of Yorkshire

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

s, stretching from Ned Stephenson, George Pinder, Joe Hunter and

David Hunter David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...

before him, to Arthur Wood,

Jimmy Binks James Graham Binks (born 5 October 1935) is a former English cricketer who played as a wicket-keeper for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire. Although he was regarded by many as the best wicket-keeper of his generation, his limited batting ...

David Bairstow David Leslie Bairstow (1 September 1951 – 5 January 1998) was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England as a wicket-keeper. He also played football for his hometown club Bradford City. He is the father of England internation ...

plus Richard Blakey to the present day. The successor to David Hunter as Yorkshire's wicket-keeper he served the county for twenty two years. He also played

for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC).

Career

Dolphin was born in

Wilsden Wilsden is a village and civil parish in west Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. Wilsden is west of Bradford and is close to the Aire Valley and the nearby villages of Denholme, Cullingworth, Harden, Cottingley and Allerton. Wilsden re- ...

Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census. Bingley railwa ...

, Yorkshire, England, and became the first

Bradford League The Bradford League was a football competition based in England. It sat at level 14 of the English football league system. The league was a feeder to the West Riding County Amateur Football League – in 2006 Dudley Hill Athletic made the step up ...

player chosen to represent Yorkshire. Dolphin was 14 years old when he first played for

Britannia, and 19 when he made his county debut in 1905. After playing for the Yorkshire Second XI, he took over as Yorkshire's first choice wicket keeper in 1910, and retained his position for seventeen years. He served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

alongside his county colleagues,

Roy Kilner Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

and

Major Booth Major William Booth (10 December 1886 – 1 July 1916) was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1914, a season in which he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Note that "Major" was a given n ...

, with the

Leeds Pals The Leeds Pals were a First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in the West Yorkshire city of Leeds. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 15th Battalion (1st Leeds), The Prince of Wal ...

but returned to Yorkshire's ranks in 1919, and enjoyed his most successful season with the gloves claiming 82 dismissals in the first post-war summer. Dolphin could defend with the bat when needed, as exemplified by his vigil against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

at Leyton in 1919. He scored 62 not out, and with E. Smith put on 103 for the last wicket, so saving their side from following-on when Yorkshire were in danger of doing so. He had previous form against Essex in 1914, going into bat as the nightwatchman, he added 124 for the second wicket with Benjamin Wilson. His one

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

came in 1920–21 in the Fourth Test against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He was remarkably consistent once he had won his first team place, but when he was injured it came about in unusual circumstances. Playing against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, he fell off a chair in the dressing-room as he reached for his clothes and broke his wrist, missing the remainder of the summer of 1921. His benefit match in 1922 against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

raised £1,891 and he hit the winning runs, after scoring 20 of the 24 required to win, to secure victory by ten wickets. He suffered from

sciatica Sciatica is pain going down the leg from the lower back. This pain may go down the back, outside, or front of the leg. Onset is often sudden following activities like heavy lifting, though gradual onset may also occur. The pain is often described ...

in the latter part of his career, and he played his last match for Yorkshire in 1927.

Herbert Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the tw ...

observed Dolphin and wrote: "His quick brain and exceptionally keen eyesight were responsible for disposing of large numbers of batsmen from chances which many keepers would have missed without even affecting their reputations". Nearly a third of Dolphin's dismissals were

stumping Stumped is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket, which involves the wicket-keeper putting down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground. (The batsman leaves his ground when he has moved down the pitch beyond the popping crease ...

s. After retiring as a player, Dolphin became an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

for a decade and officiated in six Tests. Dolphin died in Lilycroft, Heaton,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Yorkshire, at the age of 56 in October 1942.

References

External links

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Sportsmen Soldiers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolphin, Arthur 1885 births 1942 deaths British Army personnel of World War I C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Cricketers from Bingley England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 English cricketers English Test cricket umpires Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Patiala cricketers Players cricketers West Yorkshire Regiment soldiers Yorkshire cricketers Wicket-keepers Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers