Dick Lilley

Who was Dick Lilley?

Arthur Frederick Augustus Lilley was an English cricketer 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.