Lives in Cricket No 7 - Richard Daft

From the date of his marriage, Richard played less and less cricket for the All England Eleven. His travels diminished under the watchful eye of his father-in-law, as his participation in the brewery business came increasingly to the foreground. Soon, he came to have other interests of his own, for when his brother Thomas died, all too young at 49 in 1867, Richard as one of his executors is described as a cricket outfitter. In 1862, his first first-class match of the season came at the end of May at Old Trafford, playing for North versus South. He then played for Notts against Cambridgeshire at Fenner’s, when his 40 in the second innings helped his county to win by three wickets. The following week he contributed 36 to the All England Eleven’s first-innings lead of 77 over the United All England Eleven, whose second-innings collapse enabled the All England Eleven to scrape home by four wickets, but it was then nearly six weeks before he again came to the fore when the North took on the South at Lord’s, beginning on 21 July. His innings, described by Scores and Biographies as ‘a splendid display of science’ against the best bowling, continued until the North’s score reached 233, to which Richard’s contribution was 118. Ultimately, they gained victory by an innings and ten runs. William Caffyn wrote: ‘One of the London papers declared that the Notts batsman had now immortalised himself! It certainly was a fine performance, as the wicket was a very bumpy one, even for Lord’s. Daft batted for over four hours and never gave the ghost of a chance. He was at length out through an accident, Willsher hitting him on the hand and the ball dropping onto the wicket.’ Lillywhite’s Guide added: ‘Daft was presented with a new bat, and if ever a new bat was deserved, it was by the 118 obtained at Lord’s Ground by Richard Daft.’ Willsher was the central figure in an historic match at The Oval, which began on 25 August, 1862. At the end of the first day, England had reached 244 for three wickets, and on the second, with Carpenter scoring 94 and Hayward 117, they reached the dizzy heights of 503 by 5.30 pm. Shortly before 6 pm, Surrey sent in Mortlock and Thomas Humphrey to face the England attack. When Willsher bowled, the umpire John Lillywhite called ‘no ball’ and it went away for four: what happened next became historic. Lillywhite called each of the next four or five balls ‘no ball’. A dramatic scene followed. Indignantly, Willsher threw the ball to the ground and left the field, soon followed after an interval by the rest of the England side, including Richard, and play ended for the 32 More at Home