Dick Lilley
Encyclopedia
Arthur Frederick Augustus ("Dick") Lilley (November 28, 1866, Holloway Head, Warwickshire
– November 17, 1929, Sandy Park
, Bristol
) was an English
cricket
er who played in 35 Tests
from 1896 to 1909, more than any other England wicket-keeper in the first sixty years of Test cricket.
The conservative cricket establishment of the time was not effusive in its appreciation of this great keeper mainly because he broke with the tradition of standing up to the faster bowlers as was practised by all the great keepers till then. He did so on the advice of W. G. Grace
who, on seeing him standing up to Tom Richardson
, the legendary England fast bowler, suggested that he would "do better by standing back", which Lilley did for the rest of his career.
He was renowned for his cricketing knowledge, and advised English captains. However, he once started to set the field without consulting his county skipper, Frank Foster, 23 years his junior, who told him there and then to mind his own business. Foster later advised the Warwickshire committee to drop him. Lilley last played for Warwickshire in July 1911, and the county went on to win the championship that year.
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
– November 17, 1929, Sandy Park
Sandy Park
Sandy Park is a rugby union stadium in Exeter, England. It is the home ground of Exeter Chiefs who from the 2010/11 season will play in the Aviva Premiership, the top flight of the English rugby union league system. The club relocated there from their former stadium at the County Ground in 2006....
, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played in 35 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
from 1896 to 1909, more than any other England wicket-keeper in the first sixty years of Test cricket.
The conservative cricket establishment of the time was not effusive in its appreciation of this great keeper mainly because he broke with the tradition of standing up to the faster bowlers as was practised by all the great keepers till then. He did so on the advice of W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
who, on seeing him standing up to Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
, the legendary England fast bowler, suggested that he would "do better by standing back", which Lilley did for the rest of his career.
He was renowned for his cricketing knowledge, and advised English captains. However, he once started to set the field without consulting his county skipper, Frank Foster, 23 years his junior, who told him there and then to mind his own business. Foster later advised the Warwickshire committee to drop him. Lilley last played for Warwickshire in July 1911, and the county went on to win the championship that year.