Alfred Renfrew Richards (14 December 1867 – 9 January 1904) was a South African sportsman who represented his country at

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. Born in

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, and educated at

The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational private school in Cambridge, England. It is a boarding and day school for about 565 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen. The head is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. ...

in Cambridge, Richards was capped three times for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in rugby, including captaining them once, and made one Test cricket appearance, also as captain.

Cricket career

Richards, an opening batsman, played for

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

in some of the earliest provincial matches in South Africa. In 1893–94, his 108 was the highest score as his team beat

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

to win the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

. His next first-class match came when he captained Western Province against the touring Lord Hawke's XI in 1895–96, when his 58, scored out of a total of 122, won him selection for the third Test match of the series, which followed a few days later. Richards captained the Test side, but scored only 6 and 0 as South Africa lost by an innings and 33 runs. He never played first-class cricket again.

Rugby career

Richards made his international rugby debut for South Africa in 1891, the year that the British Isles rugby team came to South Africa for the very first time. He made his debut on 30 July in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

. South Africa were outscored three tries to nil, and Great Britain won the match 4 points to nil. He was capped again on 29 August in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

, which Great Britain also won, 3 to nil. On 5 September, he was chosen as the captain to lead South Africa out against Great Britain once again, in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

. The tourists also won the match, four points to nil. Richards did not play for South Africa again after the tour. Richards did however referee one match in 1896, when Britain returned, at Newlands, which South Africa won five points to nil.

Test history

Personal

Richards' older brothers, Dicky and Joseph, also played cricket for Western Province and Dicky appeared in one Test match in 1888–89. He died at

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

, of typhoid fever, in January 1904, aged 36.

References

External links