William John Fairservice (16 May 1881 – 26 June 1971) was an English professional

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 ...

er who played

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

between 1902 and 1921. He was a right-arm medium-pace off-break bowler who batted in the lower order and played over 300 first-class matches in his career. After his cricketing career he coached cricket and was a scorer. His son, Colin Fairservice, played for Kent and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

from 1929 to 1936.

Early life

Fairservice was born at

Nunhead Nunhead () is an inner-city suburb in the London Borough of Southwark, England,Southwark Council Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the Nunhead Cemetery.BBC London Nunhead Cemetery/ref> ...

in what was then part of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in 1881. He was the son of toy maker William Fairservice and his wife Lucia, whose family had moved to

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

by 1902. After leaving school Fairservice worked as a toy store keeper, probably alongside his father.Lewis P (2014) ''For Kent and Country'', pp.170–171. Brighton: Reveille Press.

Cricket career

After an initial trial in 1899, Fairservice was employed at Kent's Tonbridge Nursery in 1902. He first played for Kent's Second XI in 1901 and made his

debut for the county in May 1902 against MCC at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

.Miscellaneous matches played by Bill Fairservice
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-03-01. He played in two matches in 1902, taking five wickets.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-03-01. Fairservice is often credited with taking the wicket of

W.G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

as his first wicket in first-class cricket.Obituaries in 1971 - Fairservice, William John
''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1972. Retrieved 2016-02-01.Kent cricket star's memorabilia at auction
BBC News website, 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2016-02-24. Fairservice did bowl Grace twice in the same match in May 1903, again against MCC at Lord's, but his first wickets were taken in the same fixture the previous year in which Grace did not play.Mukherjee A (2015
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle set on fire while batting at Lord’s
Cricket Country, 2015-04-29. Retrieved 2016-03-01. Fairservice played fairly regularly from 1903 until the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

during a period in which Kent won four County Championship titles.A brief history
Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2016-03-01. He took at least 35 wickets in every season other than 1912, although his opportunities were limited as Kent had spin bowlers

Colin Blythe Colin Blythe (30 May 1879 – 8 November 1917), also known as Charlie Blythe, was an English professional cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team during the early part of the 20th century. Blythe was a Wisden Cricketer of ...

and

Frank Woolley Frank Edward Woolley (27 May 1887 – 18 October 1978) was an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1906 and 1938 and for the England cricket team. A genuine all-rounder, Woolley was a left-handed batsm ...

as regulars in the team at this time. He was awarded his county cap in 1903.Bill Fairservice
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-03-01. With Blythe killed in the war, Fairservice had increased opportunities in 1919 and 1920. In the latter, a cool summer with many wet pitches, Fairservice had his most productive season, taking 113 wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 17.46, although ''

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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' admitted that batsmen still did not find him difficult when pitches were firm. A highlight of that season was when he and Woolley bowled out

for 61 and 73 on a slow, sticky wicket at Blackheath. In the exceptionally hot and dry summer of 1921, however, Fairservice was less effective, taking only 50 wickets at an average of 32.50,Pardon S (1922) ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanac ''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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', part II, pp. 153, 170 and announced his retirement at the close of 1921 after being awarded a benefit match against Surrey, although he played for

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

between 1924 and 1926.Minor Counties Championship matches played by Bill Service
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-03-01.

War service

During

Fairservice served with the

Kent Fortress Royal Engineers The Kent Fortress Royal Engineers (KFRE) was a volunteer Territorial unit of the British Army that saw service in both World Wars. They are notable for their successful actions in May 1940, when they destroyed substantial oil stocks and installat ...

(KFE). He is believed to have been stationed in the UK throughout the war and appeared for KFE cricket teams alongside fellow Kent professionals

, David Jennings and

Claud Woolley Claud Neville Woolley (5 May 1886 – 3 November 1962) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire. He also served as a first-class umpire and stood in one Test during the 1948 Ashes series. ...

in 1916. By 1918 he was serving with the

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations ...

although none of his service papers survive.

Later life

After retiring from professional cricket, Fairservice coached cricket at

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

and

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

. He was an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

and for four years the groundsman at

Sevenoaks Vine The Vine Cricket Ground, also known as Sevenoaks Vine, is one of the oldest cricket venues in England. It was given to the town of Sevenoaks in Kent in 1773 by John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset (1745–1799) and owner of nearby Kno ...

and later acted as the scorer for Kent's Second XI until he was 87. His son, Colin Fairservice, played

for

and

before coaching at

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...

where Fairservice would bowl in the nets until he was in his eighties. He died in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 1971 aged 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairservice, Bill 1881 births 1971 deaths English cricketers Kent cricketers Northumberland cricketers Players of the South cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Engineers soldiers Royal Military Police soldiers People from Nunhead Military personnel from the London Borough of Southwark Cricketers from the London Borough of Southwark