Sydney George Fairbairn
MC (13 October 1892 – 19 January 1943) 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 and
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 ...
officer. The son of Victorian
rower
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...
Steve Fairbairn and Eleanor Sharwood,
he was born in "Carrick"
Potts Point
Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.
Potts ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
Fairbairn made his
first-class debut for 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 ...
against
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
, during the MCC tour of the West Indies in early 1913. The remainder of his 7 first-class matches came on this tour, with his final appearance coming against
British Guiana. In his 8 first-class appearances on tour, he scored 241 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 20.08, which included a single
half century
One half ( : halves) is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two or the fraction resulting from dividing any number by its double. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely, ...
score against British Guiana, in which he made an
unbeaten 62. As an
all-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...
, he took 12 wickets at a
bowling average of 31.08, with best figures of 3/55. In
that year's English cricket season, Fairbairn made his
Minor Counties Championship for
Buckinghamshire against
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. He made 6 further Minor Counties Championship matches for Buckinghamshire, the last coming against Wiltshire in 1914.
During the course of the First World War he had a short-lived marriage to
Nancy Cunard
Nancy Clara Cunard (10 March 1896 – 17 March 1965) was a British writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. She became a muse to some of the ...
, a writer, heiress and political activist. Their marriage lasted less than two years before they separated. In 1926 Fairbairn married Angela Maude, daughter of Onslow Powell Traherne (her mother Muriel married secondly Cecil Francis William Fane, of the family of the
Earls of Westmorland
Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the North ...
;
[Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 3, p. 4139] Angela was given the surname of 'Fane' in 1912) who survived him.
Fairbairn joined the
Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars before the start of the First World War and was later wounded at
Gallipoli.
He joined up again in 1916 this time with the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
and 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 ...
in 1919.
He re-joined the Guards in the Second World War and died on active service in London on 19 January 1943.
He was buried at St Nicholas Church,
Steventon, Hampshire
Steventon is a village and a civil parish with a population of about 250 in north Hampshire, England. Situated 7 miles south-west of the town of Basingstoke, between the villages of Overton, Oakley and North Waltham, it is close to Junction 7 ...
.
Honours and awards
*10 December 1919 Lt Sydney George Fairbairn of the Grenadier Guards (Special Reserve) and attached to the 3rd Battalion is 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 ...
:
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
External links
Sydney Fairbairnat
ESPNcricinfo
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 ...
Sydney Fairbairnat CricketArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbairn, Sydney
1892 births
1943 deaths
English cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Buckinghamshire cricketers
British Army personnel of World War I
Recipients of the Military Cross
Grenadier Guards officers
Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry officers
Sydney
Cunard family
British Army personnel killed in World War II
Military personnel from Sydney
Cricketers from Sydney