Alfred Dipper
Encyclopedia
Alfred Ernest Dipper was a cricket
er who played for Gloucestershire
and once for England
.
Dipper made his first-class
debut in 1908 when called into the Gloucestershire side which was a man short for the match against Kent
at Tonbridge
. He batted at number nine and top scored, but failed to keep a regular place in the team. He re-emerged as an opening batsman in 1911 and was then a regular in the team until 1932, when he retired. A defensive batsman in what was, until the arrival of Walter Hammond in the mid 1920s, usually a weak batting line-up, Dipper exceeded 1,000 runs in a season 15 times and went on to 2,000 five times. His full aggregate of 28,075 runs puts him 73rd on the all-time list of run-getters and he made 53 centuries.
Dipper played in just one Test match
for England, against Australia
at Lord's in 1921, the year when many new players were tried against the all-conquering team led by Warwick Armstrong
. Dipper scored 40 and 11, but was dropped. His lack of mobility as a fielder probably cost him further consideration.
In retirement, Dipper stood as a first-class umpire
. He was also a high standard player of bowls
and billiards
.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played for Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
and once for England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
.
Dipper made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut in 1908 when called into the Gloucestershire side which was a man short for the match against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
at Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
. He batted at number nine and top scored, but failed to keep a regular place in the team. He re-emerged as an opening batsman in 1911 and was then a regular in the team until 1932, when he retired. A defensive batsman in what was, until the arrival of Walter Hammond in the mid 1920s, usually a weak batting line-up, Dipper exceeded 1,000 runs in a season 15 times and went on to 2,000 five times. His full aggregate of 28,075 runs puts him 73rd on the all-time list of run-getters and he made 53 centuries.
Dipper played in just one Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
for England, against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
at Lord's in 1921, the year when many new players were tried against the all-conquering team led by Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
. Dipper scored 40 and 11, but was dropped. His lack of mobility as a fielder probably cost him further consideration.
In retirement, Dipper stood as a first-class umpire
Umpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
. He was also a high standard player of bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
and billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
.