Albert Edward Relf (26 June 1874 – 26 March 1937) was a professional cricketer who played for

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Relf was an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

who batted in the middle order and bowled off-breaks at medium pace with great accuracy. Gilbert Jessop described him as “the master of the swerve”. He played

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket for

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, a coaching engagement with the Earl of Wilton at Houghton Hall gaining him a residential qualification. At the age of 25, he returned to Sussex to play for the county of his birth, initially enjoying mixed success. At first he played as a batsman who bowled a bit, his bowling developed in 1903 to the point where he was picked for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) tour to Australia under

Plum Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport ...

. He played in two Tests, helping Tip Foster add 115 for the ninth wicket in his first match at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Most of Relf's 13-match Test career, though, was played on two tours to South Africa in 1905–06 and 1913–14, and he played only once against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in England, taking five wickets for 85 in a total of 350 at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in 1909, but then being dropped to accommodate

Sydney Barnes Sydney Francis Barnes (19 April 1873 – 26 December 1967) was an English professional cricketer who is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He was right-handed and bowled at a pace that varied from medium to fast-medium with ...

for the remainder of the series. In the first Test at

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

in 1905–06, he bowled the ball, allegedly down the leg-side, that enabled South Africa to record the first-ever victory over England. Warner, again his captain, was reported to have sighed: "Oh, Albert. How could you?" In county cricket, Relf was prolific, achieving the "double" of 1000 runs and 100 wickets eight times, with a best in 1913 of 1846 runs and 141 wickets. He was a ''Wisden'' Cricketer of the Year in 1914, where it was said of his batting style: "No one seeing him for the first time would suppose him capable of getting his hundreds in high-class company," ''Wisden'' said. "He has a way of letting the ball hit the bat that is certainly not impressive to the eye. Still, the fact remains, that season after season he makes as many runs as men who look twice as good as he is." He coached in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

from 1907–08 to 1909–10. Writing in the 1940s, Dan Reese said, "He was the best cricket coach we have had in New Zealand, being most thorough in his methods and making his young players work at the game." Relf also played eight first-class matches for

, scoring 633 runs at 52.75 and taking 53 wickets at 11.79. Auckland were unbeaten in the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octo ...

during Relf's tenure. Relf played on after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, scoring 153 against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

in his final season, 1921. He was awarded a benefit game (v Leicestershire) in 1921. The funds raised included the generous donation of 100 guineas by his former captain, KL

Ranjitsinhji Colonel Kumar Sri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was an Indian cricketer who later became ruler of his native Indian princely state of Nawanagar State, Nawan ...

. By this time, Relf's appearances were limited as he had succeeded his father as cricket coach at Wellington College, and he played later for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

in the Minor Counties. Relf shot himself at Wellington, apparently depressed by the illness of his wife. He left the considerable estate for the time of £20,880. His two younger brothers,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...

, also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Relf, Albert 1874 births 1937 suicides 1937 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 Auckland cricketers Sussex cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Burwash Norfolk cricketers Berkshire cricketers Players cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers London County cricketers Cricketers from East Sussex Players of the South cricketers North v South cricketers Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers Suicides by firearm in England Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers