Eric Jesser Fulcher (12 March 1890 – 14 February 1923) was an English

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. He played ten first-class matches between 1913 and 1921.

Early life

Fulcher was born at

Bearsted Bearsted ( , ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish with a railway station in mid-Kent, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Maidstone town centre. Geography The village was historically concentrated around Church Lan ...

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 ...

in 1890. His father,

Arthur Fulcher Arthur William Fulcher (7 May 1855 – 17 May 1932) was an English businessman, soldier, sailor, and cricketer. He played seven first-class cricket matches for Kent County Cricket Club, was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron and served in both ...

, had played cricket for Kent and was a noted yachtsman and his eldest brother, Edward, played cricket for

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and for Kent's Second XI. Fulcher was educated at Castlemount College in

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

and then at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

where he played cricket for the school in 1906 and 1907.Lewis P (2013) ''For Kent and Country'', pp.180–181. Brighton: Reveille Press. He scored over 350 runs and took 51 wickets in his final year at school, and was described as an "outstanding" fielder by ''

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 ...

''.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939'', pp.84–85.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 23 December 2020.)Fulcher, Capt. Eric Jesser
Obituaries in 1923, ''

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 ...

'', 1924. Retrieved 23 December 2020. After leaving school he moved to

Attleborough Attleborough is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish located on the A11 road (England), A11 between Norwich and Thetford in Norfolk, England. The parish is in the district of Breckland (district), Breckland and has an area ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, farming and studying land management.

Cricket

Fulcher played 71

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

matches for

Norfolk County Cricket Club Norfolk County Cricket Club is one of twenty National County Cricket Clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Norfolk. The club is a member of the National Counties Championship ...

between 1910 and 1922 as an attacking middle-order batsman and change bowler. He toured

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

with an MCC side led by

Lord Hawke Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near ...

in 1912 and played the first of his 10 first-class matches on the tour. He played first-class matches for LG Robinson's XI at Old Buckingham in

in both 1913 and 1914.Hounsome K (2015) ''A Game Well Played: a history of cricket in Norfolk'', p.190. Norwich: Hounsome. Eric Fulcher
CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 December 2020. Norfolk won the Minor Counties Championship in 1913 in a rain affected match, Fulcher taking a

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 batter. Takin ...

to bowl

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

out and ensure Norfolk had a first-innings lead - the method of breaking a tie in the competition. After the end of the

First World War 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 ...

, Fulcher played again at Old Buckingham in May 1919 against the

Australian Imperial Force Touring XI When the First World War ended in November 1918, thousands of Australian servicemen were in Europe as members of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and many remained until the spring of 1919. In England, a new 1919 English cricket sea ...

. He was part of a side which included several Kent players, and made his first-class county debut in June, playing in four

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

matches for

. His final first-class appearance came for MCC against

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1921.Lewis, ''

op. cit. ''Op. cit.'' is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ' or ''opere citato'', meaning "the work cited" or ''in the cited work'', respectively. Overview The abbreviation is used in an endnote or footnote to refer the reader to a cited work, standing ...

'', pp.183–186. His final match for Norfolk was the challenge match to determine the 1922 Minor Counties champions, a match which Norfolk lost to

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, being bowled out for 89 chasing just 98 for victory. Fulcher scored 2,057 Minor Counties Championship runs for Norfolk 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 19.40 runs per innings. He took 64 wickets for the county.

Military service

During World War I Fulcher served in the

Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...

, enlisting in the army in 1914 and being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the RWK by the end of the year. He served in France from 1915 onward, initially with the 1st battalion around

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

. He was promoted to temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

at the end of 1915 and saw action during the closing stages of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

the following year. A series of illnesses kept him out of the front line at times throughout the war, and he spent the first half of 1918 away from the battalion before returning in August and was given command of A company, promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Fulcher led the company during the

Second Battle of the Somme The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to th ...

during August, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for bravery. He remained at the front through to the end of the war and spent the winter in Belgium before being demobilised in February 1919. He joined the

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

as a captain but resigned his commission in December 1920.

Family and later life

After leaving the military, Fulcher returned to play cricket for Norfolk and joined the board of

Norwich City F.C. Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

In 1922 he moved to

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

and farmed near

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

. He died as a result of a shotgun accident in February 1923, aged 32.Jeater D (2020) ''County Cricket: Sundry Extras'' (second edition), p.62.
Available online
at the

. Retrieved 21 December 2020.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulcher, Eric 1890 births 1923 deaths Military personnel from Kent English cricketers Kent cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Norfolk cricketers L. G. Robinson's XI cricketers People from Bearsted British Army personnel of World War I Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Norfolk Regiment officers Firearm accident victims Accidental deaths in Wales Deaths by firearm in Wales Cricketers from Kent People educated at Radley College 20th-century English sportsmen