Frank Fairbairn Crawford

Major Frank Fairbairn Crawford (17 June 1850 – 16 January 1900) was a British Army officer who was killed in the Second Boer War. He also played first-class cricket in two countries – in England for Kent and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and in South Africa for Natal.

Crawford was born in Hastings, Sussex, into a cricketing family – his older brother, the Rev. John Charles Crawford, and three nephews, Jack, Reginald, and Vivian, all played first-class cricket, with Jack playing Test cricket for England.^[1] He made his first-class debut during the 1870 season, aged 20, when he appeared for Kent against Surrey.^[2] This was more than two years before his brother debuted for Kent.^[3] Crawford enlisted in the army in 1873, joining the Royal Artillery, and in late 1874 was sent to India, where he remained for several years.^[4] An amateur player, his cricket career was interrupted by his military service, although he featured in two first-class games for Kent during the 1879 season, after his return.^[2] From 1880 to 1884, when he was posted to South Africa, Crawford also played in several fixtures for the MCC, including at first-class level. Overall, he played 15 first-class matches for Kent, making 335 runs at an average of only 11.96, and five first-class matches for the MCC, making 157 runs at an average of 26.16.^[5] His highest score was made in his final first-class match on English soil, 38 runs for the MCC against his old side, Kent, during the 1884 season.^[6]

Predominantly stationed in the Colony of Natal, Crawford continued playing cricket in South Africa, making his debut for Natal in the 1887 Kimberley Tournament (which did not have first-class status).^[7] However, five of Natal's matches during the 1889–90 season were assigned first-class status (the Currie Cup not yet having been established). Aged 39, Crawford played in all of those games,^[2] although he scored only 87 runs from his ten innings.^[5] His best was 30 runs opening the batting against Kimberley (now Griqualand West), out of a team total of only 108.^[8] By the time of the Second Boer War, Crawford had reached the rank of major, and was serving with the Army Veterinary Department. He died in January 1900 at the military hospital in Pietermaritzburg, of dysentery.^[4][9] Crawford had married twice, with his first wife, Marianne Ada Robinson, dying less than a year of their marriage. With his second wife, he had at least two children – Loris Muriel Natalie (later Callingham), who died in the torpedoing of RMS Leinster in 1918, and Ivo Frank Fairbairn, who adopted the surname Fairbairn-Crawford and represented Great Britain in athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics.^[10]

See also

• List of cricketers who were killed during military service

References