Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

South Africa on its behalf. In 1928 he was elected vice-president and, two years later, became president, retiring from this post in 1936. In parallel, he had been elected a director of the NU Fire Insurance Society in 1915, being elected vice-chairman in 1929 and chairman in 1930. Michael Falcon senior was a churchwarden of Horstead Parish Church and, having served as a magistrate, like his father, was appointed High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1925. 4 Until disabled by failing eyesight, he was a very fine shot and a keen fisherman: for many years he travelled to Scotland and Norway, inviting friends to join him in his hunting activities. In summary, he was a successful businessman of impeccable reputation and a fine role model for his three sons, all of whom were educated at Harrow School. Whilst there was thus a family tradition of public service which his oldest son would more than live up to, there was nothing to suggest that young Michael would become one of the finest amateur fast bowlers in England. Before Michael Falcon moved on to Harrow, he attended Gordon Winter’s Suffield Park Boys’ School in Cromer, and he was recorded there by the census of 1901. Unfortunately no details of his stay on the north Norfolk coast remain, and, outside of cricket, little is known of his time at Harrow, where the school archive was not established until 1981. What remains informs us that he was a member of Rendalls House, 5 that he was a monitor in his final year in 1907, and that he played in the school’s football first team in 1906. His son, Michael Gascoigne, remembers that his father won a trophy for finishing first in a four-mile cross-country run. Michael Falcon first steps into the spotlight as a cricketer when appearing in the 1906 and 1907 fixtures against Eton at Lord’s. Immediately one runs into the almost universally held misconception about his career: that he started off as a batsman who subsequently developed into a bowler (in the first-class game) or an all-rounder (in the Minor County game). The Cambridge University averages from 1908 to 1911 indeed reveal that he bowled little until his final year, in which he was the leading wicket-taker, as well as topping the batting averages. Similarly, 12 Early Life in Norfolk, and Harrow 4 The office of High Sheriff, once an important one in the administration of justice, was by this time largely, if not entirely, ceremonial in nature. Being elected High Sheriff constituted a recognition that an individual had undertaken a substantial body of work on behalf of the public good. 5 Rendalls later boasted the actors Edward and James Fox among its notable members.