Alfred Lubbock

Lubbock was born in London in 1845, the seventh son of Sir John Lubbock.[1][2] he was educated at Eton College where he played cricket, captaining the school team in 1863, his final year at school.[3][4] In his Wisden obituary Sydney Pardon argued that, given the relatively low scoring nature of cricket in the 1860s, Lubbock had a claim to have had one of the best season's batting for the school.[3]

Lubbock made his first-class cricket debut for Kent County Cricket Club during Canterbury Cricket Week in 1863 against an England side. He played a total of 28 first-class matches for a variety of teams, including Gentlemen of Kent and MCC,[5] until "practically giving up" first-class cricket before the age of 28 in 1871.[3] He played eight times in Gentlemen v Players matches and scored two centuries, one for the Gentlemen and one, his highest score of 129, for England in 1867. Pardon was of the opinion that if Test cricket had existed at the time Lubbock played that "he would have had every right to play for England" in his best seasons.[3]

In club cricket Lubbock played for a wide variety of sides, including Eton Ramblers, of which he was the founder with seven others in 1862, the Gentlemen of West Kent and I Zingari.[5] He scored "hundreds of runs", including a score of 200 against Royal Engineers in 1866 but chose to play relatively little first-class cricket.[3] Pardon believed him to have been "one of the greatest batsmen" of his era who had "threatened to be WG Grace's most formidable rival".[3]

Lubbock also played football and appeared for Old Etonians in the replay of the 1875 FA Cup Final against the Royal Engineers, one of the dominant teams of the day. The first match had finished 1–1, but several Old Etonians were unable to play in the replay at The Oval and Lubbock was called in as a replacement. He finished on the losing side, Royal Engineers winning 2–0.[6]

Two of Lubbock's brothers, Nevile and Edgar also played some first-class cricket for Kent and most of his brothers played cricket for the Gentlemen of West Kent at some point. Edgar played in the 1875 FA Cup Final replay alongside Alfred for Od Etonians, the first time that two brothers had appeared on the same side in an FA Cup Final. His oldest brother, John, became the first Baron Avebury in 1900.

Lubbock married Louisa Wallwroth in 1875. The couple had five children.[7] He died at Killmarth Manor at Par, Cornwall in 1916 aged 70.[1]