Alick Handford (3 May 1869 – 15 October 1935) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er whose first-class career spanned from 1892 to 1915, and included matches for American, English, and New Zealand teams. He later worked as a cricket coach, and also umpired several first-class matches.

Career in the United States

Born in

Wilford Wilford is a village and former civil parish in the Nottingham district in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. The village is to the northeast of Clifton, Nottinghamshire, Clifton, southwest of West Bridgford, northwest of Ruddi ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

,Alick Handford
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 January 2015. Handford made his first-class debut in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, appearing in 1892 for the Players (professional cricketers) in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

fixture.First-class matches played by Alick Handford (26)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 January 2015. He had been preceded in American cricket by his older brother,

Sanders Handford Sanders may refer to: People Surname * Sanders (surname) Given name *Sanders Anne Laubenthal (1943–2002), US writer *Sanders Shiver (born 1955), former US National Football League player Corporations * Sanders Associates, part of BAE Syste ...

(1858–1917), who played four first-class matches for American sides. Alick Handford opened both the batting and the bowling on debut, but the professionals lost the match comprehensively, by an innings and 281 runs. The Players side generally consisted of expatriate Englishmen, often employed as coaches, with the Gentlemen allowing only non-Americans with amateur status, five years' residency, and intended naturalization.

Career in England

Handford had returned to England by 1894, where he appeared twice for Liverpool and District early in the season – in a first-class match against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and then in a two-day fixture against the touring South Africans. He made his

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

debut for Nottinghamshire, the county of his birth, in July 1894, and played four matches in his debut season. In those four matches, Handford, a right-arm medium pacer, took 25 wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 17.44, which included three five-wicket hauls. These were 5/25 on his Nottinghamshire debut against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, 7/75 in the next match, against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, and 5/53 in his final match of the season, against

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. After his successful debut season, Handford appeared for Nottinghamshire again in the 1895 County Championship. However, he took only 13 wickets from eight matches, six of which came in a single match 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 ...

(including a five-wicket haul, 5/23). During the 1895 season, Handford also appeared 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) for the first time, having had a position found for him on the MCC groundstaff. He would go on to play matches for the MCC around England, including against many of the non-first-class counties, and also in Wales and Ireland. He was also sent by the MCC to spend a season in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

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 ...

, to assist with the development of the game there.(29 September 1923)
"EMPIRE CRICKET COACH."
– ''

New Zealand Truth ''NZ Truth'' was a tabloid newspaper published weekly in New Zealand from 1905 to 2013. History ''NZ Truth'' was founded in 1905 by Australian John Norton in Wellington, as a New Zealand edition of his Sydney ''Truth'', aiming a sensational ...

''. Retrieved 18 January 2015. Handford made only three further appearances for Nottinghamshire after the 1895 season, once in 1896 and twice in 1898. Playing for the MCC against

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

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 June 1898, he took 7/39, his best first-class bowling figures. Despite his performance, the MCC lost the match by nine wickets, after twice being bowled out for under 100 runs. Handford's final first-class match in England came when he was aged 32, for the MCC against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in May 1901. He subsequently gained employment as a coach, working in

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

, at the

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, and again in South Africa, for several schools in

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 ...

. While in South Africa, he helped train the South African team that won its first series against

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 ...

during the 1905–06 season. Returning to England, he coached at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, and also made his first-class umpiring debut during the 1908 season, officiating a match at the

County Ground, Derby The County Cricket Ground (usually shortened to the County Ground, also known as the Racecourse Ground) is a cricket ground in Derby, England. It has been the home of Derbyshire County Cricket Club since 1871. The ground was first used by South ...

, between

and the touring Philadelphians. His umpiring companion was Henry Shaw, an ex-Derbyshire player.

Career in New Zealand and later life

Initially sent by the MCC to coach at

Christ's College, Christchurch Christ's College, Canterbury is an independent Anglican secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. Founded in 1850 by Reverend Henry Jacobs in Lyttelton as a school for early settlers, t ...

, in 1912, Handford remained in New Zealand until 1927. During the 1913–14 season, he umpired five matches for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

(three 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 ...

, and two against the touring Australians). The following season, he played in one last first-class match, after a gap of almost 14 years. Handford, aged 46, captained Southland in its inaugural first-class match, played against

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

. He was the only player in the Southland side with prior first-class experience, but failed to have any impact as the team lost by 118 runs. Handford subsequently became a resident of

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori language, Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast List of regions in New Zealand, region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The populat ...

, coaching in towns on the West Coast of the South Island. Returning to England, he coached

's second XI during the 1930 season, but the following year, in November 1931, he was convicted of fraud for

obtaining property by deception Obtaining property by deception was formerly a statutory crime, offence in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales This offence was created by section 15 of the Theft Act 1968. Sections 15(1) and (2) of that Act read: This off ...

. He had stayed at several hotels without paying, and was sentenced to 28 days' imprisonment.(26 November 1931)
"Professional Cricketer Guilty of Fraud"
– ''

The Adelaide Advertiser ''The Advertiser'' is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,

''. Retrieved 18 January 2015. Handford died in

Tavistock, Devon Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the United Kingdom 2011 Census, 2011 census, t ...

, in October 1935.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handford, Alick 1869 births 1935 deaths English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand English cricketers English cricket coaches English cricket umpires English fraudsters Liverpool and District cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers People from Rushcliffe (district) Cricketers from Nottinghamshire Players of United States of America cricketers Southland cricketers English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa British sportspeople convicted of crimes