Famous Cricketers No 59 - Aubrey Faulkner

himself in a storeroom at his cricket school, leaving a poignant note. His young widow was left with an estate of under £300. Faulkner’s death at the comparatively early age of 48 robbed the world of an exceptional cricket brain, which still had much to offer. There is no doubting his stature, and in his prime he would have been an automatic choice for a World XI. Even today, seventy years after his death, there are few who have followed him who could have been his equal when at his peak. Well-built, standing over six feet in height and weighing around 200 pounds when in his prime, Faulkner was an imposing figure. He had all the strokes in the batting textbook, but his pulling and cutting were particularly impressive, he glanced to leg with certainty and drove with power and grace. His leg-spin bowling could be deadly, his strong wrists imparting vicious spin and a high action adding steep bounce on responsive pitches. Although his delivery was perfect, his approach had none of the grace or fluidity one would have expected. His catching in the slips was superb and, in his younger days when mobility was no problem, he could field both close and in the deep with swiftness and certainty in stopping, picking up and throwing. His handsome features, fine physique and dark brooding eyes, made him an idol among women, and from an early age he had no shortage of female admirers. Tom Reddick in his book Never a Cross Bat , contended that Faulkner was particularly disappointed when a promise of financial assistance for his school from one of cricket’s hierarchy was broken, and quotes him as saying “I think it would be better for everybody if I moved on”. Reddick recalled that he took part in what was almost certainly Faulkner’s last match about a year before his death, against the full Essex County side on the new ground at Chelmsford. Faulkner, who had not played for about four years took the field in borrowed kit and consented to bowl after the shine had gone from the ball. He immediately dropped onto a length and finished with seven wickets. Freddie Brown, has much praise for Faulkner in his autobiography, Cricket Musketeer and Doug Wright said that he owed everything to Faulkner’s coaching. Ian Peebles, who probably knew him best of all his close associates, spent two and a half years working at the cricket school, and found him difficult to work for. His assessment of Faulkner as one of the six greatest all-rounders in history has more to do with hard fact that favouritism. The yardstick for assessing a great all-rounder is whether or not he could play Test cricket purely as a batsman or purely as a bowler. Faulkner was unquestionably one of that rare breed. 1902/03 Aubrey Faulkner was 21 years and 115 days old when he made his first-class debut, for Transvaal against Border in the Eighth Currie Cup Tournament, held in his birth place of Port Elizabeth. At that time the competition was played on a centralised basis over a period of about a fortnight. Because of the Anglo-Boer War no first-class cricket was played in South Africa between the tour by Lord Hawke’s team in 1898-99 and the tour by the Australians in 1902-03. Following the departure of the visitors, the Currie Cup Tournament took place in April 1903, with Border, Eastern Province, Griqualand West, Transvaal and Western Province (the holders) entering. Under the regulations in force, the holders stood out until the final round, when they defended the Cup against the team with the best record. This was the last time that this ridiculous situation took place. Transvaal, with four of the men who had played in the Tests against Australia, including Jimmy Sinclair, who had hit two 6