Sydney George Fairbairn MC (13 October 1892 – 19 January 1943) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

officer. The son of Victorian

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

Steve Fairbairn Stephen Fairbairn (25 August 1862 – 16 May 1938) was a rower and an influential rowing coach at Jesus College Boat Club, Cambridge University, Thames Rowing Club and London Rowing Club in the early decades of the 20th century, and founded the ...

and Eleanor Sharwood, he was born in "Carrick"

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Potts Po ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Fairbairn made his first-class debut for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influenc ...

against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

, during the MCC tour of the West Indies in early 1913. The remainder of his 7 first-class matches came on this tour, with his final appearance coming against British Guiana. In his 8 first-class appearances on tour, he scored 241 runs at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 20.08, which included a single

half century One half ( : halves) is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two or the fraction resulting from dividing any number by its double. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely, d ...

score against British Guiana, in which he made an unbeaten 62. As an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

, he took 12 wickets at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 31.08, with best figures of 3/55. In that year's English cricket season, Fairbairn made his

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket 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 cou ...

for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

against

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

. He made 6 further Minor Counties Championship matches for Buckinghamshire, the last coming against Wiltshire in 1914. During the course of the First World War he had a short-lived marriage to

Nancy Cunard Nancy Clara Cunard (10 March 1896 – 17 March 1965) was a British writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. She became a muse to some of the ...

, a writer, heiress and political activist. Their marriage lasted less than two years before they separated. In 1926 Fairbairn married Angela Maude, daughter of Onslow Powell Traherne (her mother Muriel married secondly Cecil Francis William Fane, of the family of the

Earls of Westmorland Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the Nort ...

;Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 3, p. 4139 Angela was given the surname of 'Fane' in 1912) who survived him. Fairbairn joined the

Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry is an Operational Hygiene Squadron of the Royal Logistic Corps, originally formed as cavalry in 1794, and has also served in artillery and signals roles. The lineage is continued by 710 (Royal Buckinghamshire H ...

before the start of the First World War and was later wounded at Gallipoli. He joined up again in 1916 this time with the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

and was awarded the

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

in 1919. He re-joined the Guards in the Second World War and died on active service in London on 19 January 1943. He was buried at St Nicholas Church,

Steventon, Hampshire Steventon is a village and a civil parish with a population of about 250 in north Hampshire, England. Situated 7 miles south-west of the town of Basingstoke, between the villages of Overton, Oakley and North Waltham, it is close to Junction 7 o ...

Honours and awards

*10 December 1919 Lt Sydney George Fairbairn of the Grenadier Guards (Special Reserve) and attached to the 3rd Battalion is awarded the

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

Sydney Fairbairn
at

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Sydney Fairbairn
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbairn, Sydney 1892 births 1943 deaths English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Buckinghamshire cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Grenadier Guards officers Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry officers Sydney Cunard family British Army personnel killed in World War II Military personnel from Sydney Cricketers from Sydney