John Frazer (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
John Ewan Frazer, sometimes known as Jack Frazer, (2 April 1901 – 2 January 1927) played first-class
cricket
for Somerset
, Sussex
and Oxford University
between 1921 and 1924. He was born at Sydney
, New South Wales
, Australia
and died following a ski-ing accident at Davos
, Switzerland
.
, Sussex
, Frazer was educated at Winchester College
where he was an all-round sportsman. As a cricketer he was a left-handed middle-order or opening batsman and a left-arm fast-medium bowler; however, his bowling "mysteriously deserted him – possibly a result of gymnastics", according to his obituary, written by his Winchester contemporary Douglas Jardine
in the 1928 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
, and he did not bowl in first-class cricket.
to read natural sciences at Balliol College, Oxford; he stayed at Oxford for four years from 1920 to 1924, completing his degree in three years and gaining a first-class honours, and then staying on to do chemistry research for a further year. His sporting record at Oxford was patchy. He played in the two non-first-class trial matches at the start of the 1921 season, but was not selected for the first-class team, instead making his first-class debut against the university side for Somerset: this was not an unusual arrangement for Somerset's matches with the universities in the first third of the 20th century, giving the county the chance to try new players (and also filling gaps in its largely amateur team) and allowing the university cricket club the opportunity to see potential players of its own. In the single match that Frazer played for Somerset, scoring 4 and 14, a second Oxford freshman (and chemist), Guy Blaikie
, also played for the county side; unlike Frazer, Blaikie returned to Somerset for further matches in subsequent seasons. Frazer did not play for Oxford that summer or the next, instead turning out for Sussex, for whom he was qualified by residence, in a couple of County Championship
matches in 1921, and a further five games in 1922. He had no great success in these matches, with a highest score of just 40, made in the match against Warwickshire
at Hove in 1922. In 1923, he captained one of the teams of "seniors" in a trial match and saved the game for his side by making an unbeaten 81 in the second innings: "his driving was powerful and his hitting on the leg side was very clean," said Wisden
in its report in the 1924 Almanack. However, he again failed to appear in any first-class games for the university first team and he once more played in a single match against the university cricket team, this time for Free Foresters in a first-class match in June; he then appeared in nine Sussex matches at the end of the university term, raising his personal highest score marginally to 43 in the game against Gloucestershire
at Bristol
. In September 1923, before starting his postgraduate year, Frazer was a member of a Free Foresters side that toured Canada, playing seven two-day matches.
While Frazer did not play first-class cricket during his undergraduate time at Oxford, he did play for the university's soccer team, winning a blue
in the 1922/23 match against Cambridge
at outside-left. He won a second blue in his postgraduate year when, in the report in The Times, he was "the most dangerous forward on the Oxford side".
In 1924, as a postgraduate student with more time, Frazer finally played first-class cricket for Oxford University. He played in most of the team matches in the 1924 season, batting mainly in the middle order, but his best score and his only total ever of more than 50 was made as an opening batsman, with 81 in the match against H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's XI at Eastbourne
, a rather weak team composed entirely of amateurs, many of them not in the first flush of youth (Ernest Smith, the captain, was 54 and had played for Oxford University 36 years earlier in 1888). Frazer's timing for a big innings was immaculate: the next Oxford game was the University Match and he duly won a cricket blue to go with his two soccer blues, scoring 5 and 20 in his two innings in a nine-wicket defeat by Cambridge
. Frazer played seven further matches for Sussex when the university term was over, without success, and appeared for two amateur teams in first-class matches against Oxford University in 1925, but that was the end of his first-class cricket career.
His death in a ski-ing accident appears to have been widely mourned. The Times obituary says: "Frazer was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant all-round men of his generation and all who knew him felt he would have gone far." It adds that "it is significant that when his death became known at Davos, the championship ski contest was suspended, although he was not himself a competitor". A response to the original obituary, published 12 days later, talked of his work in physical education with young people in a deprived part of the East End of London
; it ends with fulsome praise: "If Jack Frazer was typical and representative of the rising generation, we need not despair of England yet."
His younger brother, Charles, played a few first-class cricket matches for Oxford University in 1927 and 1928.
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...
cricket
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...
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...
, Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
and 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...
between 1921 and 1924. He was born at Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and died following a ski-ing accident at Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Background and education
The son of an Australian doctor who took his medical degree at Oxford University and then settled at East GrinsteadEast Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, Frazer was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
where he was an all-round sportsman. As a cricketer he was a left-handed middle-order or opening batsman and a left-arm fast-medium bowler; however, his bowling "mysteriously deserted him – possibly a result of gymnastics", according to his obituary, written by his Winchester contemporary Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
in the 1928 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, and he did not bowl in first-class cricket.
Cricket and soccer at Oxford
Frazer won an exhibition scholarshipExhibition (scholarship)
-United Kingdom and Ireland:At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, and at Westminster School, Eton College and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit. The...
to read natural sciences at Balliol College, Oxford; he stayed at Oxford for four years from 1920 to 1924, completing his degree in three years and gaining a first-class honours, and then staying on to do chemistry research for a further year. His sporting record at Oxford was patchy. He played in the two non-first-class trial matches at the start of the 1921 season, but was not selected for the first-class team, instead making his first-class debut against the university side for Somerset: this was not an unusual arrangement for Somerset's matches with the universities in the first third of the 20th century, giving the county the chance to try new players (and also filling gaps in its largely amateur team) and allowing the university cricket club the opportunity to see potential players of its own. In the single match that Frazer played for Somerset, scoring 4 and 14, a second Oxford freshman (and chemist), Guy Blaikie
Guy Blaikie
Kenneth Guy Blaikie , generally known as "Bill Blaikie", played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Somerset in the early 1920s. He was born at Johannesburg in South Africa and died at Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada...
, also played for the county side; unlike Frazer, Blaikie returned to Somerset for further matches in subsequent seasons. Frazer did not play for Oxford that summer or the next, instead turning out for Sussex, for whom he was qualified by residence, in a couple of County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
matches in 1921, and a further five games in 1922. He had no great success in these matches, with a highest score of just 40, made in the match against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire 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 Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
at Hove in 1922. In 1923, he captained one of the teams of "seniors" in a trial match and saved the game for his side by making an unbeaten 81 in the second innings: "his driving was powerful and his hitting on the leg side was very clean," said Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
in its report in the 1924 Almanack. However, he again failed to appear in any first-class games for the university first team and he once more played in a single match against the university cricket team, this time for Free Foresters in a first-class match in June; he then appeared in nine Sussex matches at the end of the university term, raising his personal highest score marginally to 43 in the game against 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....
at Bristol
Greenbank Cricket Ground
Greenbank is a cricket ground in Bristol. The ground was initially owned by H.J. Packer and Co Ltd. The first first-class match on the ground was in 1922, when Gloucestershire played Sussex...
. In September 1923, before starting his postgraduate year, Frazer was a member of a Free Foresters side that toured Canada, playing seven two-day matches.
While Frazer did not play first-class cricket during his undergraduate time at Oxford, he did play for the university's soccer team, winning a 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...
in the 1922/23 match against Cambridge
Cambridge University Association Football Club
Cambridge University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Cambridge. Official university publications have claimed that the club was formed in 1856 or 1857.-Foundation:...
at outside-left. He won a second blue in his postgraduate year when, in the report in The Times, he was "the most dangerous forward on the Oxford side".
In 1924, as a postgraduate student with more time, Frazer finally played first-class cricket for Oxford University. He played in most of the team matches in the 1924 season, batting mainly in the middle order, but his best score and his only total ever of more than 50 was made as an opening batsman, with 81 in the match against H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's XI at Eastbourne
The Saffrons
The Saffrons is a multi-purpose sports ground in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The ground is home to Eastbourne Cricket Club, Eastbourne Hockey Club and Eastbourne Town Football Club. There is also an astroturf pitch....
, a rather weak team composed entirely of amateurs, many of them not in the first flush of youth (Ernest Smith, the captain, was 54 and had played for Oxford University 36 years earlier in 1888). Frazer's timing for a big innings was immaculate: the next Oxford game was the University Match and he duly won a cricket blue to go with his two soccer blues, scoring 5 and 20 in his two innings in a nine-wicket defeat by Cambridge
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...
. Frazer played seven further matches for Sussex when the university term was over, without success, and appeared for two amateur teams in first-class matches against Oxford University in 1925, but that was the end of his first-class cricket career.
After university
According to his obituary in The Times, Frazer was awarded a first-class degree in 1924 and then stayed for a further year at Oxford to act as a chemistry "demonstrator" at Balliol. He then left to pursue a career in business in London.His death in a ski-ing accident appears to have been widely mourned. The Times obituary says: "Frazer was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant all-round men of his generation and all who knew him felt he would have gone far." It adds that "it is significant that when his death became known at Davos, the championship ski contest was suspended, although he was not himself a competitor". A response to the original obituary, published 12 days later, talked of his work in physical education with young people in a deprived part of the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
; it ends with fulsome praise: "If Jack Frazer was typical and representative of the rising generation, we need not despair of England yet."
His younger brother, Charles, played a few first-class cricket matches for Oxford University in 1927 and 1928.