William Lovat Fraser (7 November 1884 – 21 November 1968) was a Scottish sportsman who played

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 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

at an international level, representing Scotland in cricket and touring Argentina with the 1910 Combined British rugby union side, an early incarnation of the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Early life

William Lovat Fraser was born in 1884 in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Scotland. He was the older brother of Alan Fraser who also played cricket for Scotland (in 1921). Both attended

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled a ...

Rugby union

Fraser played his rugby for his school's old boys club,

Merchistonian FC Merchistonian Football Club is a rugby football team based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was for former pupils of Merchiston Castle School. History Merchistonian was a founding member of the Scottish Rugby Union and one of the five Scottish club ...

. Although he was never selected to play rugby for Scotland, he was selected to tour with the Combined British on the 1910 tour to Argentina where he played in what count as their first test match. Notably, Fraser scored the first try of that match.

Cricket

Lovat Fraser was also a noted cricketer. He had played at

and continued to play for his school's old boys side. He was predominantly a bowler (right-arm medium pace). He played his three first-class matches between 1909 and 1913. The first match was on 22 July 1909 when Scotland faced

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 ...

in Scotland, at North Inch, Perth. Although he was out for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

in Scotland's first innings, his contribution of 3 wickets in Ireland's first innings, and a

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 ...

in their second went a long way towards Scotland's win by an innings and 132 runs. Three years later he was in the Scotland side that faced Australia on 11 July 1912. The match was drawn and Fraser once again registered a duck but took a wicket. His final first class match was in a 10 July 1913 encounter with Ireland at the Grange Cricket Club Ground,

Raeburn Place Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there. Rugby The first ever international rugby football game was played on the playing fields at Raeburn Place on 27 Ma ...

, Edinburgh. Although the match was drawn, Fraser hit a first class high of 44 in the first innings and took six wickets over the two innings. In 1919 he again played for Scotland against the

Australian Imperial Force Touring XI When the First World War ended in November 1918, thousands of Australian servicemen were in Europe as members of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and many remained until the spring of 1919. In England, a new first-class cricket seas ...

and in 1921 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, but neither match was deemed first-class.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, William Lovat 1884 births 1968 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Cricketers from Perth, Scotland People educated at Merchiston Castle School Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Perth, Scotland Scottish cricketers Scottish rugby union players Merchistonian FC players