Lives in Cricket No 7 - Richard Daft

On 28 August, the party lunched at the Angel Hotel in Liverpool before boarding the S.S.Sardinian and were in high spirits as she sailed down the Mersey on a remarkably fine evening. It did not last. In Kings of Cricket , Richard wrote: ‘It was alright until we got out of the Mersey, which we did just before we sat down to dinner. I already began to feel queer, and directly the soup was placed in front of me I had to get up and make a rush for the door.’ . . . ‘I got down to my berth and there I stayed until we ran into the St. Lawrence.’ For others, the following morning brought brilliantly sunny weather as they gazed on the Giant’s Causeway and the Isle of Arran. Once they were halfway across the Atlantic, the time passed pleasantly enough for the majority in a little exercise, conversation, reading, smoking and cards – mainly whist. On 4 September, they saw their first iceberg, and in dense fog they entered the Gulf of St Lawrence, where for eight hours they were stranded. Eventually, they disembarked at Quebec but saw nothing of it as they were soon on the Grand Trunk Railway bound for Montreal and Toronto. There they found the city in a state of excitement as the Governor-General was visiting. The Marquis of Lorne, heir to the Duke of Argyll, was married to Princess Louise, the daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. There was no doubt that she and not the Duke was the focus of attention. Princess Louise was regarded as the most attractive and accomplished of the Queen’s daughters. She was a sculptor and writer, and moved in much wider circles than other members of the Royal Family; her relationships with artists were the subject of gossip. At Toronto, the Princess on the first day, and the Duke on the second, made visits to the cricket, and Richard was called from the field to be presented to each of them. He had a long conversation with the Princess. It must have been a memorable occasion for him – which is more that can be said for the cricket. Richard top-scored for the English team with 34, out of 101. Twenty-two of Canada did less well, scoring 31, but fared slightly better with 72 at their second attempt, leaving Shrewsbury and Bates only three to win. The pattern was repeated as the Englishmen played twice more at Toronto against Twenty-twos before moving on to Hamilton, Ontario, but the highest total of the opposition was no more than 76. The best individual effort was by a bowler named Logan, who had seven victims for 35 in the first match at Toronto and a further six wickets at Hamilton. Shrewsbury, 66, and Barnes, 59, had a big 92 America