# Alfred Atfield > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alfred_Atfield > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alfred_Atfield.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Atfield > Source revision: 1298877064 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{EngvarB|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Alfred Atfield | image = | country = England | fullname = Alfred John Atfield | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1868|3|3}} | birth_place = [Ightham](/source/Ightham), Kent, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1949|1|1|1868|3|3}} | death_place = [Caterham](/source/Caterham), Surrey, England | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm medium | role = Batsman | club1 = [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_County_Cricket_Club) | year1 = 1893 | club2 = [Wiltshire](/source/Wiltshire_County_Cricket_Club) | year2 = {{nowrap|1897–1899}} | club3 = [Natal](/source/Natal_cricket_team) | year3 = 1897/98 | club4 = [London County](/source/London_County_Cricket_Club) | year4 = 1900 | club5 = [MCC](/source/Marylebone_Cricket_Club) | year5 = 1901 | club6 = [Transvaal](/source/Transvaal_cricket_team) | year6 = 1906/07 | umpire = true | testsumpired = 8 | umptestdebutyr = 1909/10 | umptestlastyr = 1913/14 | type1 = [FC](/source/First-class_cricket) | debutdate1 = 29 May | debutyear1 = 1893 | debutfor1 = Gloucestershire | debutagainst1 = [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex_County_Cricket_Club) | lastdate1 = 28 March | lastyear1 = 1907 | lastfor1 = Transvaal | lastagainst1 = [Border](/source/Border_cricket_team) | columns = 1 | column1 = [First-class](/source/First-class_cricket) | matches1 = 8 | runs1 = 137 | bat avg1 = 12.45 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 45 | deliveries1 = 168 | wickets1 = 3 | bowl avg1 = 34.00 | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 3/102 | catches/stumpings1 = 5/– | date = 23 August | year = 2012 | source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2810/2810.html CricketArchive }} '''Alfred John Atfield''' (3 March 1868 – 1 January 1949) played [first-class cricket](/source/first-class_cricket) in England and South Africa and was also a [Test match](/source/Test_cricket) [umpire](/source/umpire_(cricket)) and an influential cricket coach.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2810/2810.html| title = Alfred Atfield | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 3 August 2012}} He was born at [Ightham](/source/Ightham), Kent, England and died at [Caterham](/source/Caterham), Surrey.{{Cite book | title = [Wisden Cricketers' Almanack](/source/Wisden_Cricketers'_Almanack) | edition = 1950 | publisher = [Wisden](/source/Wisden_Cricketers'_Almanack) |chapter = Obituary, 1949 | page = 904}} A right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler, Atfield played for [Kent County Cricket Club](/source/Kent_County_Cricket_Club)'s second eleven before qualifying for [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_County_Cricket_Club), for whom he played three first-class matches in 1893. Those were the only competitive first-class games of his career and in the third of them, batting tenth in the order against Kent, Atfield scored 45, which was his highest first-class score.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/3/3954.html| title = Scorecard: Gloucestershire v Kent | date = 5 June 1893 | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 4 August 2012}} He was then recruited to play as a professional by the mill-owning cricket patron W. H. Laverton, who ran his own country-house cricket team at [Leighton House](/source/W._H._Laverton's_Ground), [Westbury](/source/Westbury%2C_Wiltshire) in Wiltshire. Over the next few years, Atfield played in many non-first-class games alongside some of the leading amateur players of the time: Laverton himself was the father-in-law of [Lionel Palairet](/source/Lionel_Palairet), for example, who was often included in Laverton's teams. While employed by Laverton, he also played regularly in [Minor Counties](/source/Minor_Counties) cricket for [Wiltshire](/source/Wiltshire_County_Cricket_Club) in the early seasons of the [Minor Counties Championship](/source/Minor_Counties_Championship).{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2810/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html | title = Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Alfred Atfield | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 11 August 2012}} From 1897 onwards, Atfield divided his time between playing, coaching and umpiring commitments in England and South Africa. In the 1897–98 South African cricket season, he was a professional in [Durban](/source/Durban) club cricket and played a single first-class match for [Natal](/source/Natal_cricket_team) in that season.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4934.html| title = Scorecard: Natal v A. Bailey's Transvaal XI| date = 7 March 1898 | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 13 August 2012}} By 1900, he was back in England playing for [W. G. Grace](/source/W._G._Grace)'s [London County](/source/London_County_Cricket_Club) team and the following year he became a professional for the [Marylebone Cricket Club](/source/Marylebone_Cricket_Club) at [Lord's](/source/Lord's), appearing in a couple of first-class matches in the 1901 season. In the second of these games, for MCC against London County, Atfield took his only first-class wickets; his first victim as a bowler was Grace.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/5/5782.html| title = Scorecard: London County v MCC| date = 8 August 1901 | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 13 August 2012}} Atfield began umpiring first-class matches with MCC from 1902 and by 1905 he had graduated to umpiring in [County Championship](/source/County_Championship) matches in the English first-class season, remaining on the first-class umpires list in England until 1924 and thereafter standing in occasional matches through to 1932.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2810/Umpire_in_First-Class_Matches.html | title = Alfred Atfield as Umpire in First-class Matches | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 13 August 2012}} He continued to spend his winters in South Africa, and in 1906–07, in a series of three matches between [Transvaal](/source/Transvaal_cricket_team) and [Border](/source/Border_cricket_team) he umpired two games and played for Transvaal in the third: his final first-class appearance as a player.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/7/7214.html| title = Scorecard: Border v Transvaal | date = 27 March 1907 | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 13 August 2012}} Most of Atfield's time in South Africa was spent as a coach and he was credited as an influence in the development of [Bob Catterall](/source/Bob_Catterall) at [Jeppe High School for Boys](/source/Jeppe_High_School_for_Boys) in [Johannesburg](/source/Johannesburg).{{Cite book | title = [Wisden Cricketers' Almanack](/source/Wisden_Cricketers'_Almanack) | edition = 1925 | volume = Part I | publisher = [Wisden](/source/Wisden_Cricketers'_Almanack) |chapter = Five Cricketers of the Year | page = 292}} He umpired only occasional first-class matches in South Africa, but was called on as an umpire for four Tests on each of two successive tours of South Africa by [England teams](/source/England_national_cricket_team) – the [1909–10 tour](/source/English_cricket_team_in_South_Africa_in_1909-10) and the [1913–14 tour](/source/English_cricket_team_in_South_Africa_in_1913-14).{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2810/Umpire_in_Test_Matches.html | title = Alfred Atfield as Umpire in Test Matches | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 13 August 2012}} He acted as umpire in England in [Gentlemen v Players](/source/Gentlemen_v_Players) matches and in a Test trial match in 1927, but was not picked to umpire any Tests in England. ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Atfield, Alfred}} Category:1868 births Category:1949 deaths Category:English cricketers Category:Gloucestershire cricketers Category:KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Category:Gauteng cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:London County cricketers Category:English Test cricket umpires Category:Wiltshire cricketers Category:People from Ightham --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alfred Atfield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Atfield) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Atfield?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.