Frank Edwards (23 May 1888 – 10 July 1970) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Edwards was a left-handed batsman who initially bowled left-arm medium pace before turning to slow left-arm orthodox. He was born in Merstham, Surrey. Having played for the Surrey Second XI in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

since 1907, although infrequently so, Edwards made his only first-class appearance for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

against Oxford University in 1909, taking 3 wickets in the match. He continued to play Minor Counties Championship matches for Second XI until 1911, after which he was released along with several other players and staff, after Surrey encountered financial difficulty. He joined

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

for the 1914 Minor Counties Championship, making his debut against Wiltshire. This was to be the start of a prolific career for Buckinghamshire in Minor counties cricket, one in which he represented the county until 1946, with only World War I and World War II truncating his playing career. Edwards made 165 appearances for Buckinghamshire in the Minor Counties Championship. He finished his career with the county having taken 1,082 wickets at an impressive average of 10.91 runs. His most prolific season was in 1923, when in 10 matches he took 104 wickets at an average of 9.99. He was regarded by Sir Pelham Warner as one of the best slow-left arm bowlers in the country. His move down to Minor Counties cricket did not put an end to this first-class playing days. Edwards' next appearance in first-class cricket came for the Minor Counties cricket team against HDG Leveson-Gower's XI. He went wicket-less in the XI's first-innings, before taking 4 wickets in their second. He was selected to represent the Players in the annual Gentlemen v Players fixture in 1925. His next appearance came for the Minor Counties against the touring South Africans in 1929, bowling only 6

overs Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England *Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England **Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pete ...

in the match without taking a wicket. That same season he appeared for the Minor Counties against Lancashire at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, where he took the wicket of Thomas Halliday for the cost of 59 runs from 18 overs. His final first-class match turned out to be his most successful, which came against the West Indians in 1933. He took 8 wickets in the West Indians first-innings, for the cost of 98 runs. He followed this up by taking a further 2 in their second-innings, giving him a

10 wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

in the match. Edwards also played non-county cricket, appearing as Haslingden Cricket Club's professional from 1925 to 1929. He also played for Slough Cricket Club, taking all

10 wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bow ...

on three occurrences for the club. Following his retirement, he coached cricket at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, Uppingham and for 16 years at

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...

. He died in Winscombe, Somerset on 10 July 1970.

References

External links

Frank Edwards
at ESPNcricinfo
Frank Edwards
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Frank 1888 births 1970 deaths People from Reigate and Banstead (district) English cricketers Surrey cricketers Buckinghamshire cricketers Minor Counties cricketers Players cricketers English cricket coaches Cricketers from Surrey ta:பிரான்க் எட்வார்ட்ஸ்