Elliot Dowell Tillard (22 July 1880 – 19 February 1967) was a British officer who played

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 officia ...

for the

Europeans cricket team The Europeans cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament and Lahore tournament. The team was founded by members of the European community in Bombay who played cricket at the Bombay Gymkha ...

in India and for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Early life and military career

Tillard was born at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in 1880. He joined the Royal Engineers as a second lieutenant on 20 August 1899, and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 1 April 1902. In late 1902 he was stationed in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He died at

Flexbury Flexbury is a village about 0.8 miles from Bude, in the civil parish of Bude–Stratton, north Cornwall, England. Described as a hamlet in 1887, residential properties have since been built to the coast at Crooklets beach. In 2018 it had an esti ...

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Corn ...

, Cornwall, in 1967.

Cricket

A middle- or lower-order batsman and a fairly regular though usually not front-line bowler, Tillard's batting and bowling styles are not known. His first appearances in first-class cricket were for the Europeans team in the Bombay Presidency matches at

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and the Bombay Triangular competition. In 1912, he was in England for the cricket season and played nine times for Somerset, playing as a batsman. His highest score in these matches (and his highest in first-class cricket) came in the match against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, when he made 39 in the first innings and followed with 29 in the second. Tillard's final match for Somerset was in late July 1912; less than a month later, he was playing first-class cricket in Pune again, and in the second of two matches at the end of August 1912, and having previously taken only one first-class wicket, he took six for 40 playing for J. G. Greig's XI against the

Hindus cricket team The Hindus cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament. The team was founded by members of the Hindu community in Bombay. The Hindus joined the Bombay tournament in 1906, when they chall ...

, the best bowling performance of his first-class career. Tillard then appeared in only one further first-class cricket match: just over 10 years later, he played in the

Bombay Quadrangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

tournament for the Europeans against the

Parsees cricket team The Parsis (''aka'' Parsees) cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament. The team was founded by members of the Zoroastrian community in Bombay. It is affiliated to Mumbai Cricket Associa ...

and took five for 71 in the Parsees' second innings, and scored 34, his highest in India, in the Europeans' second innings. As late as 1927, when he was 47, he was playing in non-first-class matches in what is now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Family

Several of Tillard's family played first-class cricket. Tillard's father Charles Tillard played for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

and Surrey; his grandfather Edward Dowell played for Cambridge University. An uncle Avison Terry Scott played for both Cambridge University and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

in first-class matches; Scott's son

George Arbuthnot Scott George Arbuthnot Scott (12 April 1879 – 8 June 1927) played first-class cricket for Cambridge University in 1900 and 1901. He was born at Wimbledon, then in Surrey (now London), and died at Ore, Hastings, Sussex. Educated at Tonbridge ...

played for Cambridge University, while a second son (Tillard's cousin) Arthur Avison Scott played one first-class match for the Royal Navy cricket team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillard, Elliot 1880 births 1967 deaths English cricketers Europeans cricketers Somerset cricketers Royal Engineers officers British people in colonial India Cricketers from Cheltenham