Lives in Cricket No 7 - Richard Daft

farmer and after his father, Samuel, died in 1857, he and his mother shared a much smaller house where Richard was their lodger for three or four years. In the 1850s, Radcliffe was still a rural community, greatly under the influence of the local land owner, Earl Manvers, the vicar, and a few other local gentry. The village lay across the Trent about five miles to the east of Nottingham, and the populace were fiercely concerned to maintain their independence from the town and to oppose any action, such as the installation of main drainage, which might increase their rates. When Richard was Parr’s lodger, the two men passed the winters in shooting and fishing, often, as Richard wrote, in the company of Earl Stanhope, himself an able cricketer (and a distinguished historian); or in coursing with other friends. In one sense, this was the time of his life: his cricket was still developing in the summers of 1857 and 1858. He had no family ties and he widened his horizons as he lived the life of the country gentleman he longed to be. Whether George Parr was entirely a suitable mentor for him is somewhat doubtful. True, he was of good character and acceptable manners, and he was one of the most famous sportsmen in the kingdom, nicknamed the ‘Lion of the North’, but he was not a good example for a young man to follow. He deliberately never took up any other occupation than cricket-lucky man – don’t we envy him – and later in life boasted that he had never had any intention of doing so. He added, with a beguiling lack of modesty, that if he had applied himself to developing his skills as a shot, he would have excelled his prowess as a cricketer! Parr attributed his good fortune to a memorable incident on the tour which he led to Australia and New Zealand in the winter of 1863/64. After being on the losing end of an argument with the fast bowler, John Jackson, as to which of them should kiss the aged Queen of the Maoris, Parr, on taking the plunge, Advancement in Life 16 George Parr, recipient of Maori blessings and Daft’s mentor.