Alastair McCorquodale (5 December 1925 – 27 February 2009) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
athlete and
cricketer.
McCorquodale was educated at
Harrow where he opened the bowling for the 1st XI in the 1948
Eton v Harrow
The Eton v Harrow cricket match is an annual match between public school rivals Eton College and Harrow School. It is one of the longest-running annual sporting fixtures in the world and is the last annual school cricket match still to be pla ...
match at Lord's. He represented Britain in Athletics at the
1948 Olympic Games in London. He was denied a bronze medal in the
100m final by a photo finish, but won a silver medal in the
4 × 100 m relay
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
. He never ran again.
He also represented the Free Foresters,
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
in 1948 and
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
in three matches in 1951, as a left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. He toured Canada with MCC in 1951–52. He was the seventh oldest living Middlesex first-class cricketer prior to his death.
Early life
McCorquodale was born in
Hillhead
Hillhead ( sco, Hullheid, gd, Ceann a' Chnuic) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming th ...
,
Glasgow City, on 5 December 1925. He spent his childhood growing up in Essex, and was educated at Harrow School.
He was in both the football and cricket first XIs, and was in Elmfield House.
Athletics career
As the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
was ending, he joined the
Coldstream Guards
The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...
straight out of school in 1944.
He was deployed to Germany as a Lieutenant, where he took up athletics to avoid having to do many drills.
He was successful at it, winning the army 100 metres title in 1946.
The following year he managed a sprint double, taking both the 100 metres and 200 metres titles.
Success at the
AAA Championships
The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...
followed, as he took the 220 yards title in 1947. He managed all of this while remaining rather unfocused on athletics, preferring rugby and cricket and having a relaxed attitude to training where it is said that he would stub out his cigarette to go on the track.
He was coached by
Guy Butler, when he joined London Athletic Club.
McCorquodale had a pair of running shoes made and Butler gave him a short plan, from which he went on to compete at the Olympics.
In 1948 at the
Summer Olympics, he competed individually in the
100 metres and the
200 metres, as well as part of the silver medal-winning quartet in the
4x100 metres relay.
1948 Olympics
The 1948 Olympics was regarded as odd as it did not have the electronic timing to 1/100th of a second that the previous two games in 1936 and 1932 had. Instead timing was done by hand to 1/10th of a second.
100 metres
He competed in the 100 metres, negotiating a first and second round as well as a semi-final before making it to the final. He set times of 10.5, 10.5 and 10.7 seconds respectively, coming second in both the first and second round, then third in the semi-final. He then came fourth in the final, originally being awarded the same time as both second and third place, 10.4, but the medals were decided in a photo finish, with technology typically found on a racecourse being used to separate the athletes for the silver and bronze medals.
200 metres
He also competed in the 200 metres, winning the tenth heat in 22.3 seconds in the first round. In the second round he ran half a second faster, running 21.8 to come second to the eventual Olympic champion
Mel Patton, but he was finally knocked out by coming fifth in the second semi-final.
4x100 metres relay
He ran in the relay along with
John Gregory, the
European 100 metres champion from two years prior, and
Ken Jones and
John Archer, both of whom were rugby internationals for
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
respectively.
The British team won their heat in 41.4 seconds, ahead of Hungary, who were awarded the same time.
In the final the British team ran 41.3 seconds, and came in second behind the Americans, but officials thought that the baton changeover between
Barney Ewell
Henry Norwood "Barney" Ewell (February 25, 1918 – April 4, 1996) was an American athlete, winner of one gold and two silver medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Born into poverty in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Ewell was one of the world's lead ...
and
Lorenzo Wright
Lorenzo Christopher Wright (December 9, 1926 – March 27, 1972) was an American athlete. A Detroit native, he started at Miller High School and Wayne State University; Wright is renowned for his noteworthy accomplishments in the spor ...
of the USA was outside the box, and disqualified them, before reinstating them two days later after being presented with video evidence to the contrary, demoting the Britons back to second place and a silver medal.
Cricket career
McCorquodale began his cricket career when a schoolboy at Harrow, playing for the 1st XI in 1943 and 1944, playing in the annual
Eton vs Harrow match in both years. The first year, the match was rained off before he had come to bat. The second year, he scored 27 and was the second highest scorer in the Harrow team as they lost by 5 wickets, bowling three of the Eton cricketers out before they successfully chased the total of 147 that had been set by Harrow. He was then selected for Lord's Schools teams in both 1943 and 1944, before he left school.
After his Olympic success, he picked cricket back up again in August 1948 playing for
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
both on tour in Ireland and in 1949 in Germany, taking six wickets in a match that was played against the British Army that were based in the region.
After this he joined the
Free Foresters Cricket Club, playing various matches for them including one against the Dutch national team.
He joined the Marylebone Cricket Club again when they toured Canada in 1951, playing twelve games, including one against a Canadian XI.
Personal life
He married Rosemary Turnor, a daughter of Major Herbert Broke Turnor and his wife Lady Enid Fane (a daughter of the
13th Earl of Westmorland). They had a daughter Sarah (who married Geoffrey van Cutsem, son of
Bernard
Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...
and brother of
Hugh van Cutsem
Hugh Bernard Edward van Cutsem (21 July 1941 – 2 September 2013) was an English banker, businessman, landowner and horse-breeder.
Early life
Hugh Bernard Edward van Cutsem was born on 21 July 1941.Gordon Cramb ''Financial Times'', 6 Septembe ...
, in 1969) and a son Neil (who married
Lady Sarah Spencer, sister of
Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1980).
Life after sport
After he retired from cricket he joined the family business, a printing firm named McCorquodale and Co., which had been responsible for printing the Olympic programmes in 1948 amongst other things.
He became chairman of the family firm in 1967, a role he took over from his cousin, and stayed in until he retired in 1986.
He also was on the boards of British Sugar and the Guardian Royal Exchange.
He was a governor at Harrow school up until his death.
At one point in his fifties he chased two men off of his land, who were then both fined £60 for trespassing with a gun.
After he retired he supported local charities and managed the family estate at Little Ponton Hall, where he had moved to in 1955 and where he lived until his death.
The estate's gardens are known to be very beautiful, spanning four acres, and in 2014 they were opened to the public, in aid of charity.
He died aged 83, survived by his wife, son, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Competition record
References
External links
"Grantham Today"The Peerage ''Track Stats, November 2007
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCorquodale, Alastair
1925 births
2009 deaths
People educated at Harrow School
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes of Great Britain
Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
Middlesex cricketers
Scottish male sprinters
Scottish cricketers
Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Scottish Olympic medallists
Free Foresters cricketers
Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)
People from Hillhead
Sportspeople from Glasgow
Sportspeople from Essex
Cricketers from Glasgow
British Army personnel of World War II
Coldstream Guards officers