Angus Robert Charles Fraser (born 8 August 1965) is an English cricket administrator. He served as the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of Middlesex Cricket between 2009 and 2021, before assuming a new role heading the club's academy

He is also a former 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 st ...

er, journalist and England selector. Fraser played in forty-six Test matches and forty-two

One Day Internationals A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...

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 ...

. Cricket commentator Colin Bateman commented that Fraser was "a reliable, intelligent and hard-working bowler".

Early life

Born in Billinge Higher End, Lancashire, Fraser was educated at the Gayton High School in

Harrow, London Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a popula ...

and Orange Hill High School, Edgware, Greater London.

Cricket career

Fraser began his career with Middlesex in 1984, helping them to win the

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 b ...

in 1985, 1990 and 1993. He also helped Middlesex to win the

1988 NatWest Trophy The 1988 NatWest Trophy was the 8th NatWest Trophy. It was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 22 June and 3 September 1988. The tournament was won by Middlesex who defeated Worcestershire by 3 wickets in th ...

, taking 3–36 in the final, and the 1990 Refuge Assurance Cup. He made his Test match debut with England in 1989 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. In his fourth Test in 1990 he took his first

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. Takin ...

in Tests, in the process helping England to their first Test victory over the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

for sixteen years and 30 Tests. However England missed his contributions when he was forced to withdraw from this series with injury, as was the case during the Ashes series the following winter. A hip injury then kept him out of Test cricket for two and a half years, but he made an immediate impact on his return 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 1993, taking eight wickets as England recorded their first Test victory over Australia for 18 Tests and six and a half years. Perhaps his finest hour came in the

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 estima ...

Test match of the 1993/94

tour when Fraser took 8–75 in the first

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is ...

to help set up a famous victory, West Indies' first defeat at

Bridgetown Bridgetown ( UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The ...

for over half a century. His career-best

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 ...

innings bowling figures of 8–53 were taken in a

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

match and against the same opposition, this time at

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a muni ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, in 1997/98. Despite taking eight wickets in that innings, and Test career best match figures of 11–110, he was not named Man of the Match which was awarded to

Carl Hooper Carl Llewelyn Hooper (born 15 December 1966) is a former Guyanese cricketer who captained the West Indies in Tests and ODIs. An all-rounder, he was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a sid ...

, from the victorious West Indies side. In all, Fraser toured the West Indies three times, and as of 2022, he has taken more Test wickets in the West Indies than any other visiting bowler. His

one-day international A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...

highest score of 38 not out was made late in the innings at number 10, which included a massive six off

Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a medium-pace bowler. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Austral ...

and almost brought England back from the brink of defeat against

during the 1990/91 tour (Australia won by three runs). Another fine moment with the bat was in a last-wicket second-innings stand with

Robert Croft Robert Damien Bale Croft MBE (born 25 May 1970) is a former Welsh cricketer who played international cricket for England. He is an off-spin bowler who played for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006. He retired from first class ...

to save the Third Test 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 Wembl ...

against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in 1998. According to the recollection of then England coach David Lloyd, as Fraser went out to face the bowling of

Allan Donald Allan Anthony Donald (born 20 October 1966) is a South African former cricketer who is also the current bowling coach of Bangladesh national cricket team. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his lightning quick bowling, he is considered ...

, Fraser said :"‘The only way he'll get me out is if he knocks me through all three tumps’ I said: 'He probably will, Gus, but good luck'. But he survived. A red-inker it was and in retrospect one of the most important innings of the series". Fraser's short innings indeed helped to reverse the momentum in the series, Fraser taking three fivefers in the next two Tests to help England to an unlikely series victory. He also toured

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

, and played in one-day tournaments in Asia, representing

. Throughout his career he used a bat nicknamed the "Gussy Hitter", the blade of which was designed by his mother. Fraser last played for England during the 1999

Cricket world cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), ...

. Although born in Lancashire, Fraser played all of his

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

in a first-class career lasting until 2002; he served as county captain from 2001 until his retirement in 2002. After that, he worked as the cricket correspondent of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' newspaper (2002–2009), until his appointment to the newly created role of managing director of Cricket by Middlesex County Cricket Club in January 2009. He is a regular contributor to the BBC's ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ...

'' and a cricket

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. In the 1996 edition of ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', Fraser was one of the

Wisden Cricketers 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 ...

. Fraser served as the managing director of cricket at Middlesex County Cricket Club between 2009 and 2021. He assumed a new role in heading the club's academy in July 2021.

He also served as a selector for the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. En ...

for a period after 2014.

Personal life

He now resides in

Pinner Pinner is a London suburb in the London borough of Harrow, Greater London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 31,130 in 2011. Originally a med ...

with his wife Denise and two children, Alex and Bethan. In 2008, in his first managerial role, Fraser secured the U15 Middlesex Schools Association County Cup with

The John Lyon School ("May the fortune of the house stand") , established = 1876 , closed = , type = Public School Independent Day School , religion = , president = , head_ ...

, where his son was in the squad. Fraser is a fan of, and regular visitor to, Wealdstone Football Club.

References

External links

*
Debrett's People of Today
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Angus 1965 births Living people English cricket administrators English cricket coaches English cricket commentators English cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 English male journalists England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers Managing Directors of Cricket Members of the Order of the British Empire Middlesex cricket captains Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People educated at Harrow High School People from Higher End Wellington cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Middlesex cricketers