John Daniell (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
John Daniell, was an international rugby union
player for England and a first-class
cricketer
for Somerset
and Cambridge University Cricket Club
.
Daniell achieved international success at rugby and was an international selector and a prominent administrator in the game for many years. He was president of the Rugby Football Union
for two seasons from 1945 to 1947. His longer playing career was as a cricketer: he was captain of Somerset for 13 of the 15 seasons in which first-class cricket was played between 1908 and 1926, acted as occasional secretary and general organiser for the county over many other years, and was a national selector for the England cricket team.
, Daniell went on to Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, and was immediately successful as a rugby player, representing the university as hooker in The Varsity Match
with Oxford University for three years. His club rugby was for Richmond
and he represented England in seven matches between 1899 and 1904.
His cricket career was slower to start. In the summer of 1898, having not played for the university cricket team
, he was picked for six Somerset matches by captain Sammy Woods
. The following season, he again played for Somerset during the university term, and in late June scored 107, his first century, as Somerset beat Lancashire
by 10 wickets. That led to his selection for Cambridge's last match before the Varsity Match and he retained his place in the team to meet Oxford University
.
In 1900, he played fairly regularly for Cambridge, made a century in the match against Surrey
and again won a cricket Blue
, but in 1901, his only appearance for the university team was in the Varsity Match. Up to 1904, he played a few matches each season for Somerset, but he was not notably successful as a cricketer and at the end of 1904 he left England to work in his family's tea estates in India.
, opening batsman and Test
player, who had played for Somerset since the county side's elevation to first-class
status in 1891, took over for 1907. But at the end of the season, with the county club's finances in disarray and fixtures with several other counties under threat, Palairet told an acrimonious annual meeting of the club that he was not willing to continue. It appeared possible that the county would be wound up, but Daniell, newly-returned to England and back as the protege of Woods, who remained county secretary, agreed to take on the captaincy for 1908.
The professional staff was cut to just three and Daniell embarked on the policy that was to serve Somerset well for many years: recruiting players from far and wide, particularly from the public schools and the English universities, but also from overseas. The policy did not bring the county any great successes, though at times the team could surprise even the best opponents. But Somerset cricket was rarely dull, and the club remained in business.
His main role, though, was as an aggressive captain who used all means at his disposal to make up for the playing deficiencies of the Somerset sides of his time.
In The Guardian
obituary of Mandy Mitchell-Innes
, Somerset and England cricketer of the 1930s and 1940s, the following is told: "His (Mitchell-Innes') favourite memory was of sitting alongside Daniell at Taunton. Suddenly, Frank Lee
, the batsman, was hit in the box. 'The box, you say,' thundered Daniell, a former England rugby captain. 'What namby-pamby nonsense is that?' A few minutes later it happened again and Daniell exploded: 'What does he need a so-called box for? In my day, we hit fours with our private parts'."
A less reliable tale, but still apparently in character, was told by the writer Neville Cardus
in Playfair Cricket Monthly
in 1967.
The difficulty with the Cardus story is that no Somerset v Yorkshire match of the required period fits the description, though the anecdote appears to fit the characters of the three principal players involved.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player for England and a 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...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
and Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
.
Daniell achieved international success at rugby and was an international selector and a prominent administrator in the game for many years. He was president of the Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
for two seasons from 1945 to 1947. His longer playing career was as a cricketer: he was captain of Somerset for 13 of the 15 seasons in which first-class cricket was played between 1908 and 1926, acted as occasional secretary and general organiser for the county over many other years, and was a national selector for the England cricket team.
Early career
Educated at Clifton CollegeClifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, Daniell went on to Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
, and was immediately successful as a rugby player, representing the university as hooker in The Varsity Match
The Varsity Match
The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. By tradition, the match is held on the second Tuesday of December. In 2005, however, this changed, and the match was on Tuesday 6 December. In 2007, it was held on a Thursday for...
with Oxford University for three years. His club rugby was for Richmond
Richmond F.C.
Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs...
and he represented England in seven matches between 1899 and 1904.
His cricket career was slower to start. In the summer of 1898, having not played for the university cricket team
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, he was picked for six Somerset matches by captain Sammy Woods
Sammy Woods
Samuel Moses James "Sammy" Woods was an Australian sportsman who represented both Australia and England at Test cricket, and appeared thirteen times for England at rugby union, including five times as captain. He also played at county level in England at both soccer and hockey...
. The following season, he again played for Somerset during the university term, and in late June scored 107, his first century, as Somerset beat Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
by 10 wickets. That led to his selection for Cambridge's last match before the Varsity Match and he retained his place in the team to meet Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
.
In 1900, he played fairly regularly for Cambridge, made a century in the match against Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
and again won a cricket Blue
University Sporting Blue
A Blue is an award earned by sportsmen and women at a university and some schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of Blues began at Oxford and Cambridge Universities...
, but in 1901, his only appearance for the university team was in the Varsity Match. Up to 1904, he played a few matches each season for Somerset, but he was not notably successful as a cricketer and at the end of 1904 he left England to work in his family's tea estates in India.
The return
Somerset cricket was not very successful in the first decade of the 20th century, and the team was composed of a few professionals of mixed ability, a handful of talented amateurs and a steady procession of mostly ineffectual "country house" cricketers. After Woods retired from the captaincy in 1906, Lionel PalairetLionel Palairet
Lionel Charles Hamilton Palairet was a famous cricketer of the so-called "Golden Age" of English cricket before the First World War...
, opening batsman and Test
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...
player, who had played for Somerset since the county side's elevation to 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...
status in 1891, took over for 1907. But at the end of the season, with the county club's finances in disarray and fixtures with several other counties under threat, Palairet told an acrimonious annual meeting of the club that he was not willing to continue. It appeared possible that the county would be wound up, but Daniell, newly-returned to England and back as the protege of Woods, who remained county secretary, agreed to take on the captaincy for 1908.
The professional staff was cut to just three and Daniell embarked on the policy that was to serve Somerset well for many years: recruiting players from far and wide, particularly from the public schools and the English universities, but also from overseas. The policy did not bring the county any great successes, though at times the team could surprise even the best opponents. But Somerset cricket was rarely dull, and the club remained in business.
Daniell as county cricketer
As a player, Daniell was a pugnacious batsman of no exceptional talent, batting mostly in the middle order but occasionally promoting himself to open the innings. In almost 30 years of first-class cricket, he scored only nine centuries, and two of those were in one match in 1925. He never achieved 1,000 runs in a first-class season, and his career average was 21 runs an innings. He was noted as a fearless fielder, usually in positions in front of and close to the wicket. In his early career and at school, he had bowled fast, but in the 20 years from 1908 until he retired in 1927 he bowled only 10 overs in total in first-class cricket: that he took three wickets in them suggests he might have been better than he considered himself.His main role, though, was as an aggressive captain who used all means at his disposal to make up for the playing deficiencies of the Somerset sides of his time.
Character and personality
There were many stories of John Daniell as cricketer, administrator and martinet. Some of them had a basis in fact.In The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
obituary of Mandy Mitchell-Innes
Mandy Mitchell-Innes
Norman Stewart Mitchell-Innes, known as Mandy Mitchell-Innes was an English cricketer who played in one Test in May 1935. He became England's oldest surviving Test cricketer on 7 October 2001, on the death of Alf Gover. Following his own death, that distinction passed to Ken Cranston, who...
, Somerset and England cricketer of the 1930s and 1940s, the following is told: "His (Mitchell-Innes') favourite memory was of sitting alongside Daniell at Taunton. Suddenly, Frank Lee
Frank Lee (cricketer)
Frank Stanley Lee, born at St. John's Wood on July 24, 1905 and died in Westminster on March 30, 1982 was an English first-class cricketer and an umpire who officiated in Test matches....
, the batsman, was hit in the box. 'The box, you say,' thundered Daniell, a former England rugby captain. 'What namby-pamby nonsense is that?' A few minutes later it happened again and Daniell exploded: 'What does he need a so-called box for? In my day, we hit fours with our private parts'."
A less reliable tale, but still apparently in character, was told by the writer Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
in Playfair Cricket Monthly
Playfair Cricket Monthly
Playfair Cricket Monthly was a monthly British cricket magazine that ran from May, 1960 to April, 1973, when it was absorbed by The Cricketer. Its comprehensive statistical content was taken on by The Cricketer Quarterly. It was edited by Gordon Ross and - until his death in 1962 - Roy Webber...
in 1967.
- “In the 1920s, Yorkshire, playing Somersetshire at Bath, were determined, in the last overs of the game, not to win a first innings decision. At this period in cricket’s history, an outright win was worth five points. In drawn games, the side leading on the first innings scored two points. Matches in which no result on the first innings was arrived at had no bearing at all on the Championship. The scoring was reckoned on the percentage of points obtained to points obtainable. Obviously, if rain prevented play at a game’s beginning, limiting the issue to a first innings’ decision, percentage could suffer if two points were gained out of a ‘possible’ five. (The system was unfair because weather frequently did not allow time or scope for the winning of five points.)
- “So, at Bath, Yorkshire obstinately declined to score and pass Somersetshire’s first innings’ total. The time of the afternoon reached five minutes to six – five minutes before close of play. Emmott RobinsonEmmott RobinsonEmmott Robinson was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1919 to 1931. He was awarded his county cap in 1920. Robinson was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast-medium pace.-Life and career:Robinson was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, England...
was the obstructive force at one end of the wicket, in his broadest pads. Somersetshire in those days was one of the country’s – nay, the nation’s – great humorous assets. John Daniell was captain, and amongst his co-laughers and practical jokers were Robertson-Glasgow (of everlasting and affectionate memory) and M.D.LyonDar LyonMalcolm Douglas Lyon , generally known as Dar Lyon was an English first-class cricketer who played for Somerset County Cricket Club through the 1920s...
. The grim intention of Yorkshire not to score and win on the first innings, this late summer day at Bath, was too much for the comic imagination of Daniell. With only time for the bowling of two overs, he claimed a new ball. Yorkshire would take the lead (first innings) if they scored eight more runs – and lose precious percentage. Daniell gave the new ball to Robertson-Glasgow, perfect instrument in this gorgeous leg-pull of Yorkshire. He at once bowled four byes right down the leg-side, wide of Emmott’s pads, right down to a bank of geraniums in front of the pavilion. Emmott was in high dudgeon, 'Ah’m surprised at you, Dr Glasgow, usin’ new ball that way'. And Robertson-Glasgow, who never missed a cue, retorted, ‘That comment Emmott, coming from one who knows all, and more than all, of the uses and abuses of new ball manipulation, touches me sorely’. But Daniell, standing at mid-off and wearing an ancient brown ‘trilby’ hat, cried out, ‘Well bowled, Crusoe. Now – four more gerania!’ And again, Robertson-Glasgow sent the new ball fast down the leg-side into the flower-bed – four byes and four more ‘Gerania’; and Yorkshire won on the first innings and suffered serious hurt to their Championship percentage and prospects. Here was a classic example of Gamesmanship of wit and picturesque vocabulary – ‘Four more Gerania, Crusoe,’ a saying as well worth preserving historically as Nelson’s ‘Kiss me, Hardy’.”
The difficulty with the Cardus story is that no Somerset v Yorkshire match of the required period fits the description, though the anecdote appears to fit the characters of the three principal players involved.