Laurence Barnard Fishlock (2 January 1907 – 25 June 1986) 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 str ...
er, who played in four
Test matches from 1936 to 1947.
A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to
World War II
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 opposing ...
.
Colin Bateman, a cricket writer, noted that "Fishlock, a good county performer, was astonishingly unlucky when his Test chance did come along... A forcing left-hander, he went on two
Ashes tours (1936–37) and (1946–47) and suffered hand injuries both times, restricting him to one Test overseas".
Cricket career
He joined the staff of
Surrey in 1930, and made his
first-class debut the following season. However, he did not play in a substantial number of matches until 1934, when he made 598 runs with an average of 31.47. In 1935 he was a regular member of the side and passed 1,000 runs for the first time, and scored his first three hundreds. The following year he came right to the fore. He made 2,129 runs at an average of 53.22. He was selected for the
Players at
Lord's, played in two Test trials and was selected for two Tests against
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. He was selected for the following winter's tour of
Australia, but missed six weeks through a broken bone in his right hand, and thus missed his chance to press for a Test place. During the 1937 season, he switched to opening the batting for Surrey, and occupied that batting position for most of the remainder of his career. He continued to score heavily, and was selected for a Test trial in 1938, in which he made a hundred, but even so could not force his way into the Test team.
He had trained as an engineer, and during World War II he made aircraft parts for the
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
. After the war, he had a fine season in 1946, with 2,241 runs at an average of 50.47. As a result, he played in one Test against India and was selected as a
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
in the 1947 edition. He went on the
1946-7 tour of Australia and played in his fourth and final Test. In 1948 he made his highest score, 253 against
Leicestershire at
Grace Road
Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England. It is the home ground and administrative base of Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
History
Leicestershire ...
,
Leicester. In his final season of 1952, when he was 45 years old, he still made his 1,000 runs and helped Surrey to win the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
, the first of their record sequence of seven victories.
Later he was a coach at
Trinity School of John Whitgift
The Trinity School of John Whitgift, usually referred to as Trinity School, is a British independent boys' day school with a co-educational Sixth Form, located in Shirley Park, Croydon. Part of the Whitgift Foundation, it was established in 1 ...
, Croydon and
St Dunstan's College
St Dunstan's College is a coeducation, co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Catford, south-east London, England. It is a registered charity, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference a ...
.
Football career
Fishlock also played professional football as a winger, including three seasons (1929–1932) with
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
(19 senior appearances, two goals),
one season (1933–34) with
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
(36 senior appearances, seven goals)
and two with
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
(1934–1936). Prior to turning professional, he had played for
Dulwich Hamlet
Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill.
History
The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...
and in amateur international fixtures for
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 ...
. He played professionally for
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...
and
Gillingham.
Death
Fishlock died in hospital following an operation, in
Sutton, London, in June 1986, aged 79.
References
External links
*
Video of Fishlock training with Southampton in 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fishlock, Laurie
1907 births
1986 deaths
Footballers from Battersea
England Test cricketers
English cricketers
Surrey cricketers
Commonwealth XI cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Players cricketers
North v South cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
English footballers
Fulham F.C. players
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Aldershot F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
English Football League players
Association football outside forwards
England amateur international footballers
English cricketers of 1919 to 1945
Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players
H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers