Alexander Ogilvie Shirley, MBE, (14 May 1927 – 4 January 2016) was a

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

cricketer,

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, and social activist who pioneered the development of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in the territory. He was the Accountant General of the British Virgin Islands from 1967 until his retirement in 1987. The British Virgin Islands' New Recreation Ground were renamed the A. O. Shirley Recreation Ground in his honor in June 1990. Shirley, in his role as Accountant General of the BVI, requested land from the

Administrator of the British Virgin Islands The governor of the Virgin Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the British Virgin Islands. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The r ...

(now called the Governor) to construct the New Recreation Ground on

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

. The A. O. Shirley Recreation Ground, located in

Road Town Road Town, located on Tortola, is the capital and largest town of the British Virgin Islands. It is situated on the horseshoe-shaped Road Harbour in the centre of the island's south coast. The population was about 15,000 in 2018. The name is d ...

, remained the territory's main cricket field until 2005, when the sport relocated to the Mondo athletic facility. Shirley remains the only BVI athlete to have a

cricket field A cricket field or cricket oval is a large grass field on which the game of cricket is played. Although generally oval in shape, there is a wide variety within this: perfect circles, elongated ovals, rounded rectangles, or irregular shapes with ...

named after him. Today, the A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds are a multi-sport venue for cricket,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and school sports. Shirley began his career as a medium pace bowler for the Junior Cricket Club. After the Club broke-up into the Blitz and Atomics. Shirley eventually played for Bucks, with whom he won several league titles. Shirley, a former President of the BVI Cricket Association, managed the BVI cricket team during the Leeward Islands Cricket Association's tournament. He also was on the board of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association from 1991 to 1998. He retired from cricket in 1998. Shirley was the Accountant General of the British Virgin Islands from 1967 until his retirement in 1987. Prior to becoming Accountant General, Shirley held positions throughout the territory's

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, including the Departments of Customs, Inland Revenue, which was the tax collector in the BVI at the time, Education, Post Office, and Agriculture. He also was acting Financial Secretary of the British Virgin Islands. Shirley was awarded the

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in November 1969 for his work in the civil service. Shirley was an active member of the Anglican Church. Shirley died at

Peebles Hospital Peebles Hospital is the main public hospital in the British Virgin Islands. The hospital is located in the capital, Road Town, on the island of Tortola. It was founded in 1922 by Major H.W. Peebles, and was originally known as the Cottage Hospi ...

, British Virgin Islands, on 4 January 2016, at the age of 88. He was the chairman of the Legal Aide Board of the BVI at the time of his death. Shirley was survived by two children and three sisters. His son,

John Shirley John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...

, competed as a sailor for the

British Virgin Islands at the 1992 Summer Olympics British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirley, Alexander O. 1927 births 2016 deaths British Virgin Islands cricketers British Virgin Islands civil servants Members of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing