Pilling Dick Image 1 Lancashire 1888

Description

Old Warden, Bedfordshire born wicket-keeper Dick Pilling moved to Church, near Accrington, Lancashire in his infancy, which is where he made his name as one of the finest wicket-keepers of his time. In a first class career lasting from 1877 to 1889 he played 250 matches, 8 of which were Test matches. In 1889 he was awarded a benefit by Lancashire which raised £1,500.

His first appearance in the Lancashire eleven dates back to 1877. His appearance for Lancashire was very happily timed, as, with Mr. E. Jackson so often prevented by business reasons from playing, the northern  County might have been left without a top grade wicket-keeper. Almost from the first time he was seen in the Lancashire eleven it was felt that a great wicket-keeper had been found, and he at once became a first team regular fry, August, 1877 until the end of the season of 1889.

Several pages of Wisden might easily be filled with a record of his doings. For all the hard work he did on the cricket field, Pilling was never constitutionally robust, and the serious illness which kept him out of cricket in 1890 originated in a severe cold which he caught during the winter when taking part in a football match. At the end of the summer he journeyed to Australia for his health, leaving in the same steamer that took a large proportion of the Australian team back from their 1890 tour. In 1891, Pilling was rated by Wisden to the second best wicket-keeper in the world, with Jack Blackham being rated the best. His style was described as “the perfection of neatness and rapidity, without the least unnecessary show”.

Pilling first visited Australia with Alfred Shaw and Shrewsbury’s team in 1881-82, making his Test debut at Melbourne on the last day of 1881, and went out again under the same auspices in the winter of 1887-88, and it was on these tours and in games played at Lancashire’s home ground of Old Trafford that he played his Test matches. At the time, it was feared that much of his subsequent ill-health dates from a sunstroke that he suffered during the former of these trips. As a batsman Pilling had occasional success for his County and could reliably hold up his end. This led to Pilling being named as the Wisden Wicket-keeper of the Year in 1891. Unfortunately the accolade turned out to be a posthumous one. To try to improve his deteriorating health, he was sent on a cruise to Australia by Lancashire County Cricket Club in the winter 1890-91. It did not work, and Pilling died aged 35 six days after returning home in March 1891.

In a 250 match first class career, Pilling took 459 catches and stumped 259 batsmen, 10 catches and 4 stumpings being during Test matches. He scored 2,572 runs at an average of 9.85 with a highest score of 78 and one other half century. His highest Test score was 23.

NB Pilling is on the far left of the photograph, with Lancashire team mates (l-r) Alec Watson, Albert “Monkey” Hornby and Dick Barlow.