Lives in Cricket No 7 - Richard Daft

which left Surrey 109 for victory – a task they readily achieved early on the third morning. Richard’s performance led to his selection a week later by the Surrey authorities for the Gentlemen versus the Players, again at The Oval. Dismissed lbw for nought in the first innings, he atoned in the second when he and V.E.Walker scored freely in the course of a stand of 77 for the eighth wicket. Richard’s contribution was 38 and as Bell’s Life reported, in a statement which defies analysis, it was ‘quite a cricket innings’ as he defied an attack consisting of Jackson, Caffyn, Martingell, Wisden and Grundy. In mid-July, he had a similar experience on his debut at Lord’s, playing an unbeaten innings of 29 at his second attempt for North versus South after being run out for nine in the first. He did little in his remaining matches, so his final figures for the season in the eight matches which we now treat as ‘first-class’ were 210 runs at an average of 16.15, with a highest score of 44 not out. What a summer it had been! He had passed from his first county match to a successful appearance for the Gentlemen almost while you blinked, and gone on to appear in a number of representative sides. That first match for Notts was one of only two first-class games played by the county in the season. In truth, there was not enough county cricket to occupy the professionals or give them a living wage. 18 Advancement in Life