Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Robert St Leger Fowler MC (7 April 1891 – 13 June 1925) was an Irish

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, often regarded as the best Irish cricketer not to have represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

itself. Fowler was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

. He is perhaps best known for his outstanding all round performance as captain of

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in the match against Harrow in 1910, the match commonly referred to as

Fowler's match Fowler's match is the name given to the two-day Eton v Harrow cricket match held at Lord's on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July 1910. The match is named after the captain of Eton College, Robert St Leger Fowler, whose outstanding all round batting an ...

Family

Fowler was born at his family home at Rahinstown, in

Enfield, County Meath Enfield () or Innfield is a town in south County Meath, Ireland, situated between Kilcock and Kinnegad and very close to the border with County Kildare. The town is on the Dublin-Sligo railway line. It is located on the R148 regional road, fo ...

, Ireland. His father

Robert Henry Fowler Robert Henry Fowler (28 June 1857 – 11 May 1957) was an Irish soldier and first-class cricketer of English descent. He died seven weeks before what would have been his 100th birthday, making him the longest-lived person to have played intern ...

had attended

RMC Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

and joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1878, becoming a captain in the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

in 1886, and had played one first-class cricket match for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

against the

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 1876. His great-great grandfather, also Robert, was

Bishop of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remain ...

and then

Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin The Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin in the Ecclesiastical Province of Dublin. The diocese consisted of counties Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois and Wexford in Ireland. ...

from 1817 until his death in 1841, and his great-great-great grandfather, Robert Fowler was a Protestant clergyman who settled in Ireland in the 1760s and was

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

from 1779 until his death in 1801. Fowler attended Mr Hawtrey's prep school in

Westgate-on-Sea Westgate-on-Sea is a seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of Kent, England. It is within the Thanet local government district and borders the larger seaside resort of Margate. Its two sandy beaches have remained a popular touri ...

, and then

, where he was influenced by his housemaster,

Cyril Wells Cyril Mowbray Wells (21 March 1871 – 22 August 1963) was an English cricketer, rugby footballer and schoolmaster. Educated at Dulwich College and Trinity College, Cambridge, Wells played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Surrey ...

, an amateur cricketer who played for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. Fowler played for Eton against

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

in the 1908 and 1909

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 ...

fixtures. Harrow won easily in 1908, and the 1909 fixture was drawn, although Fowler's 11 wickets for 79 runs gave Eton a fighting chance.

Fowler's match

In 1910, Fowler was 19 years old, and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of cricket in his last year at Eton. His performance in the 1910

match has become a cricket legend, of such note that the 1910 match has been nicknamed

. The two-day two-innings cricket match was held at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July 1910. He was one of only three survivors from Eton's 1909 team, but Harrow had seven veterans from the 1909 match and came to the match unbeaten. Before the match, The Times noted that Harrow's captain

Guy Earle Guy Fife Earle (24 August 1891 – 30 December 1966) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Surrey and Somerset for 20 years before and after the First World War. He also played in India, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand ...

"bowls extraordinarily fast for a boy" but that "is not deadly on a good wicket, but can make every use of a difficult one". Also playing in the match was a schoolboy who would become a field-marshal ( Alexander), another an air vice-marshal ( Blount), and a third an attorney-general ( Monckton), together with various sons of nobility. Harrow won the toss, and batted first, scoring 232. Despite some bad luck, Fowler took 4 wickets. Eton were dismissed early on the second day for 67, with Fowler top scorer on 21, the only Eton batsman to reach double figures. Eton followed on, and subsided to 65-5 shortly after lunch. But Fowler was still batting, and added 42 runs for the sixth wicket with Wigan and 57 runs for the seventh wicket with Boswell. Fowler was eventually out for 64 runs, the highest individual innings in the match, with 8 fours, a three, 10 twos and 9 singles, with Eton one run ahead. Heroic batting by the tenth wicket partnership of Manners and Lister-Kaye gave Eton a slender lead of 55 runs. Fowler's extraordinary bowling took 8 wickets, 5 bowled, to dismiss Harrow for 45, 10 runs short of the target. Fowler's outstanding all round

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

and

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

performance allowed Eton to win a match that appeared all but lost after

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

asked Eton to follow on 165 runs in arrears. '' Wisden'' stated that: "In the whole history of cricket, there has been nothing more sensational"Bob Fowler – The student prince
Cricinfo, 23 May 2006 and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' said that "A more exciting match can hardly ever have been played", continuing effusively, with a reference to the inaugural Ashes Test at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

in 1882, "to boys the bowling of Fowler was probably more formidable than Spofforth's to England". Fowler ended the match having scored 21 and 64 runs, and taken 4-90 and 8-23. ''The Times'' described Fowler's contribution in the following terms: "in the whole history of public school cricket nothing better can have been seen than Fowler's play on the second day".''The Times'', 11 July 1910, p.21

Army career

Fowler enrolled at Sandhurst in 1910, where he won the Sword of Honour in 1911. He was commissioned in the

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lanc ...

. Fowler served in the First World War as a

in the 17th Lancers. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in the defence of Amiens in 1918. He was also British Army rackets champion.

Cricket

Fowler made his first-class debut for the

against Fowler's future club,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Fowler played two matches for the MCC in 1913, with his final appearance coming against

. After the war, Fowler represented the

in first-class matches, making his debut against the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1919. Fowler represented the Army in fifteen first-class matches, making his final appearance for the Army in 1924 against the Royal Navy. In his fifteen matches for the Army, Fowler scored 636 runs at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 35.30, with a high score of 92 *, one of four half centuries. With his tidy and accurate off breaks, Fowler took 49 wickets at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 17.85, with best figures of 7-22 which was one of Fowler's two

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

s, both in 1924. As well as representing the Army, Fowler also represented the Combined Services in three first-class matches against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

in 1921,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 1922 and the touring

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics Sout ...

in 1924. In 1924 Fowler made his first-class debut for

against

, in the 1924

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

. Fowler played two more matches for the club, all in the same season against the touring South Africans and Middlesex. Fowler scored 106 runs at an average of 17.66, with two half centuries and a high score of 51. Fowler was less successful with the ball for the club, taking only four wickets at an average of 51.50. Fowler's final first-class match came for the Gentlemen in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

fixture in Blackpool in 1924. Outside of first-class cricket, he toured North America with

Incogniti The Incogniti cricket club was founded in 1861. It claims to be the third oldest "wandering" cricket club – a nomadic cricket club without its own home ground – after I Zingari and Free Foresters (founded in 1845 and 1856 respectively). How ...

in 1920, where he scored 142 against All Philadelphia, playing with Douglas Jardine. The same year Fowler toured Germany with the

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Willi ...

and in 1923 Fowler toured Canada with them. He played for the Army against

Public Schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

in 1922, 1923 and 1924, having played for Public Schools against the MCC in 1909 and 1910, and for Eton Ramblers. He is regarded as the best Irish cricketer not to have represented

itself. He was selected to tour New Zealand in 1922-23 in a team led by Archie MacLaren, but the Army refused him leave. He was appointed captain of a proposed MCC tour to West Indies in 1924–25, but the tour was postponed until the following year.

Early death

Fowler died at Rahinstown,

from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in June 1925. He was 34 years old.

References

External links

Robert Fowler
at

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

Robert Fowler
at CricketArchive
Profile of Robert Fowler

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Robert 1891 births 1925 deaths Military personnel from County Meath Cricketers from County Meath People educated at Eton College People educated at Hawtreys Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers British Army cricketers Combined Services cricketers Hampshire cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Gentlemen cricketers British Army personnel of World War I 17th Lancers officers Recipients of the Military Cross Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland Deaths from leukemia Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People from Enfield, County Meath