Arthur Frederick Augustus Lilley (28 November 1866 – 17 November 1929), variously known as Dick Lilley or A. A. Lilley, was an English professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played for

Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Warwickshire. Its T20 team is called the Birmingham Bears. Founde ...

from 1888 to 1911, and in 35 Test matches for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1896 to 1909. He was born in Holloway Head,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, and died in

Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislington formerly hou ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Lilley was a

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. ...

who completed 714 catches and 197 stumpings in 416

first-class matches 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 ...

. As a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

, he scored 15,597 career runs at an average of 26.30 runs per completed innings with a highest score of 171 as one of sixteen

centuries A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. He was an occasional right-arm medium pace bowler and took 41 first-class

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s with a best return of 6/46, which was the only time he took five wickets in an innings.

Career

Second-class debut

Playing as the

, Lilley made his debut for

in 1888, seven years before they joined the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

to become a first-class team, and played for them continuously until 1911. His debut was against the touring Australians in a two-day match played 11–12 May 1888 at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

. The Australians won by an innings and 150 runs but Lilley had the satisfaction of stumping both

Harry Trott George Henry Stevens Trott (5 August 1866 – 9 November 1917) was an Australian cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "it is ...

and

George Bonnor George John Bonnor (25 February 1855 – 27 June 1912) was an Australian cricketer, known for his big hitting, who played Test cricket between 1880 and 1888. Career Bonnor was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, and made his international debut ...

. He batted at number 7 in the order, scoring 0 and 10."The Sixth Australian Team. Second Match—v. Warwickshire"
''Cricket'', issue 178, 17 May 1888, p. 140.

First-class debut

Lilley did not make his first-class debut until June 1891. Warwickshire were still a second-class county team at that time but Lilley had already established a good reputation and he was chosen to represent the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

in a

North v South The North of England and South of England cricket teams appeared in first-class cricket between the 1836 and 1961 seasons, most often in matches against each other but also individually in games against touring teams, Marylebone Cricket Club ( ...

match at Edgbaston from 29 June to 1 July 1891. Batting at number 11, he scored 44 and, in the South's first innings, he completed two catches and one stumping. His first dismissal in first-class cricket was none other than

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

, whom Lilley caught for 7 off the

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

William Attewell William Attewell (; commonly known as Dick Attewell) (12 June 1861 – 11 June 1927) was a cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and England. Attewell was a medium pace bowler who was renowned for his extraordinary accur ...

. The match was drawn after each side had played only one innings each, a downpour causing its abandonment."North v. South"
''Cricket'', issue 274, 2 July 1891, p. 222.

County Championship debut

Warwickshire joined the

in the 1895 season, the sixth edition of the competition. Their first match was 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 Grea ...

at Edgbaston on 6–8 May. Lilley was in the team so the match was also his championship debut. The match was a high-scoring

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

. Essex won the toss and chose to bat first on a pitch that was "much improved by recent fine weather"."Warwickshire v. Essex"
''Cricket'', issue 387, 9 May 1895, p. 122. They reached 350/5 at close of play on the 6th and went on to 410 all out. Lilley did not complete any catches or stumpings. Warwickshire were all out for 259 and were obliged to

follow on In the game of cricket, a team who batted second and scored significantly fewer runs than the team who batted first may be forced to follow-on: to take their second innings immediately after their first. The follow-on can be enforced by the team ...

. The highlight of their innings was a fourth wicket partnership of 144 by Lilley (82) and Walter Quaife (91). This was Lilley's highest first-class score at the time. Fast bowler Charles Kortright was outstanding for Essex, taking 8/94 including Lilley who was trapped lbw. At the close, Warwickshire were 28/1, still 123 behind. They batted through the final day to reach 344/5 and salvage a draw. Team captain Herbert Bainbridge led the defence with 111 and Lilley scored 34 before he was

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batsman, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (Th ...

by Walter Mead. In his second Championship match a week later, Lilley scored 139 in Warwickshire's first innings total of 305 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

at Edgbaston. This was his first century in both the County Championship and first-class cricket. The result was another draw: Warwickshire 305 and 239/7 declared; Derbyshire 234 and 197/3."Warwickshire v. Essex"
''Cricket'', issue 388, 16 May 1895, pp. 141–142.

Test debut

Lilley made his Test debut against Australia at Lord's in the first match of the 1896 series and went on to play in 35 Tests until 1909. His debut match was played 22–24 June and England won by 6 wickets. Lilley took four catches in the match, his first Test victim being

George Giffen George Giffen (27 March 1859 – 29 November 1927) was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia ...

who was out for 0 facing

George Lohmann George Alfred Lohmann (2 June 1865 – 1 December 1901) was an English cricketer, regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Statistically, he holds the lowest lifetime Test bowling average among bowlers with more than fifteen wickets ...

. Australia had batted first and were all out for only 53; England replied with 292 all out but Lilley was bowled for 0 by Charles Eady. Australia recovered in their second innings to score 347, leaving England with a target of 109. They scored 111/4; Lilley did not bat."The First Test Match"
''Cricket'', issue 424, 25 June 1896, p. 243.

Cricketer of the Year

For his performances in 1896, Lilley was chosen as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1897 and was described as "far and away the greatest cricketer Warwickshire has yet produced". ''Wisden'' said Lilley had no superior as a wicket-keeper against slow and medium pace bowling, but they criticised his strategy of standing back to fast bowling and commented: "he cannot be placed on quite the same level as Blackham, Mr McGregor, or the late Richard Pilling". In fact, Lilley began standing back on the advice of

who, on seeing him standing up to Tom Richardson, the England fast bowler, suggested that he would "do better by standing back", which Lilley did for the rest of his career.

Retirement

Lilley last played for Warwickshire in July 1911, retiring in "early August" and the county went on to win the championship that year. His place was taken by

Tiger Smith Ernest James "Tiger" Smith (6 February 1886 – 31 August 1979) was an English wicket-keeper who played in 11 Tests from 1911/1912 to 1914. In county cricket, he had a much longer career as the successor to Dick Lilley: he played for Warwicks ...

who played for Warwickshire until 1930. After his retirement, Lilley settled in

and was a member of the special advisory committee which helped to re-establish Gloucestershire County Cricket Club after the

Great War 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 ...

. In his ''Wisden'' obituary, his date of birth was given as 18 November 1867, but that was an error. ''Wisden'' said he died the day before his 62nd birthday; in fact, he was born on 28 November 1866 and was nearly 63 when he died on 17 November 1929 at his home in

Legacy

Lilley's ''Wisden'' obituary praised his consistency as a wicket-keeper and his reliability as a catcher. He was, they said, "so pronounced an artist that at the end of his career his hands and fingers showed scarcely a trace of the heavy strain to which they had been subjected in taking bowling of all descriptions". Lilley was renowned as "an exceptionally fine judge of cricket" and his team captains often consulted him during matches.

Pelham Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport in ...

said of him: "He was a most admirable and level-headed judge of the game, and his advice on critical occasions was almost invariably sought by a long succession of England captains".

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilley, Dick 1866 births 1929 deaths C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 London County cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Midland Counties cricketers North v South cricketers Players cricketers Second Class Counties cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Wicket-keepers Wisden Cricketers of the Year