| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Archibald Newcombe Difford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 April 1883 Cape Town, Cape Colony | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 20 September 1918(1918-09-20) (aged 35) Kh Jibeit, Ottoman Syria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Ivor Difford (brother) Murray Bisset (brother-in-law) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1904/05–1907/08 | Western Province | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1908/09–1911/12 | Transvaal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: Cricinfo, 30 March 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Archibald Newcombe Difford (9 April 1883 – 20 September 1918) was a South African first-class cricketer and South African Army officer.
The son of Abraham Difford, he was born at Cape Town in April 1883. He was educated at the Diocesan College, with his obituary describing him as academically gifted. Described by Wisden as "a useful cricketer", Difford made his debut in first-class cricket for Western Province against Eastern Province in the quarter-final of the 1904/05 Currie Cup. He played first-class cricket until the 1911/12 season, making eleven appearances for Western Province, in addition to four for Transvaal and one for The Rest. Playing primarily as a batsman, he scored 842 runs in sixteen first-class matches, making six fifties and one century, a score of 103 against Griqualand West. Alongside cricket, Difford also played rugby.
Difford later married Katrina Wilhelmina van Lier Kuys in June 1913, with the couple having two children. He served in the First World War with the South African Army, being commissioned in January 1917 as a temporary second lieutenant in the 1st Cape Corps. He was killed in action in Ottoman Palestine on 20 September 1918, during the Battle of Nablus. He was buried at the Jerusalem War Cemetery. His brother Ivor and brother-in-law Murray Bisset both played first-class cricket. His name was memorialised by the Gauteng Cricket Board in 2000, with the erection of a Memorial Wall for Transvaal cricketers killed in both world wars.
References
- ^ McCrery, Nigel (30 July 2015). Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War. Pen and Sword. p. 589. ISBN 978-1473864191.
- "Old Diocesans Union" (PDF). Diocesan College. September 2013. p. 78.
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help) - ^ Harmse, Kyle (2012). The Cape Corps: South Africa's Coloured Soldiers in the First World War. University of Johannesburg. p. 45. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "Wisden - Obituaries during the war, 1918". ESPNcricinfo. 2 December 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "First-Class Matches played by Archibald Difford". CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Archibald Difford". CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "No. 30212". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 July 1917. p. 7870.
- Watling, Linda (16 May 2000). "Gauteng erects a Memorial Wall". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 March 2021.