[1][2] Longfield was born at High Halstow in Kent and educated at Aldenham School where he played in the cricket XI.
[3] He played for a variety of teams whilst in India, including the Europeans and Bengal.
[4] He captained Bengal to their first Ranji Trophy win in 1938/39,[7][8][9] and took a hat-trick for the side in 1936/37 against Bihar.
[15] In his Wisden obituary, Longfield was described as having been "an orthodox, old-fashioned medium-pace bowler" who "possessed a beautiful action, kept a good length, and could move the ball both ways".
[3] He was third in the Cambridge bowling averages in 1927 taking 46 wickets, followed by 44 in 1928, although for Kent he was "curiously ineffective" as a bowler.