Arthur Fielder
Encyclopedia
Arthur Fielder was the leading fast bowler in English cricket for the decade before World War I
and one of the key contributors to Kent's four County Championship
successes between 1906 and 1913.
In some ways the founder of modern fast bowling, Fielder was the first fast bowler to rely on swing rather than the traditional break-back. He took a fairly long run for his time and could make the ball move away from leg stump to off with great effect. On the very fast pitches that prevailed in his time in dry weather Fielder could be a very dangerous bowler, especially with Kent's array of slip fieldsmen. This swerve, and an occasional break-back that bowled many batsmen made Fielder still effective even when his pace declined after 1909.
Whilst strictly a tail-end batsman, he scored an undefeated 112 against Worcestershire
at Stourbridge
batting at number 11 and shared a partnership of 235 for the tenth wicket with Frank Woolley
who scored 185. This is still the highest last-wicket partnership in county cricket. The pair came together when Kent were still 40 behind Worcestershire's first innings of 360 and raised Kent's total to 555. Kent went on to win by an innings. Woolley had retired hurt earlier in the innings after being hit in the mouth by a ball from Ted Arnold
. Fielder also took part in a tenth-wicket stand with Sydney Barnes
that gave England the first victory by one wicket in the history of Test cricket
.
Fielder first played in first-class cricket
in 1900, but was known only in local cricket until the decline of Bill Bradley caused Kent to search for another fast bowler. Though the summer was mostly exceedingly wet and it was often impossible for fast bowlers to obtain a foothold, Fielder bowled so well that with Richardson
and Lockwood on their last legs, he was surprisingly chosen for that winter's Ashes tour. With several wickets affected by rain in a La Niña
summer, Fielder had few opportunities: he was omitted from three Tests and did not bowl in one other. Though 1904 was a fair season, in 1905 Fielder fared so badly (though this was partly due to an incredible number of dropped catches against Nottinghamshire on a Gravesend wicket that was a fast bowler's paradise) that he was dropped from many games and only took 55 first-class wickets.
In the remarkably dry Home Counties
summer of 1906, though, Fielder not only returned to form but surpassed everything he did before by far. Not only did he take 158 wickets in county matches on consistently hard pitches, but on an over-watered wicket - which was common then whenever very dry weather occurred in England - at Lord's he took all ten wickets for the Players against the Gentlemen. This made Fielder a certainty for Cricketer of the Year status and established himself in the elite of county bowlers. The bowling of Fielder and Colin Blythe
allowed Kent to win eleven successive games to clinch the Championship. 1907 was a very wet summer that was all against fast bowlers, yet Fielder, taking advantage of any moisture on top or underneath whenever he could obtain a foothold, had so many deadly days against the weaker counties that, although against Worcestershire and Essex exceptional batting made him ineffective on helpful pitches, he took 172 wickets for only 16 runs apiece. Although he surprisingly did not play at Lord's or the Oval against South Africa, this made him a certainty for the Ashes tour that winter, and he did very well when the difficulties England faced due to the absence of leading players due to business are taken into account. For the whole series, he took 25 wickets at 25.08. Though he did not produce any startling performances, Fielder was for the moment the leading fast bowler in the world.
The three season 1908, 1909 and 1910 were plagued by injuries which prevented Fielder from taking part in many games, yet he showed many times that when fit he was still the best professional fast bowler in England. This was seen when he took 13 for 164 on a good wicket against Yorkshire in 1909, and when he took 12 for 76 at Northampton a year later. Injury prevented Fielder playing against Australia in 1909 - he would certainly have been picked for the Oval
Test were he fit - and this meant Fielder was never to play in a home Test in his career.
The exceptionally dry summer of 1911, though he was fitter than in any season since 1907, showed Fielder rarely at his best: only in two or three matches was he the Fielder of 1906 or 1907, and this caused Kent to surprisingly lose the Championship and place him out of contention for the winter tour of Australia. 1912 was an absolute disaster: Fielder was so ineffective that he was dropped in mid-July and did not play again: though in the later part of 1912 fast bowling was utterly worthless because wickets were so wet a firm footing never existed and Kent did not miss him an iota. Nonetheless, when the first hard pitches came in 1913, it was a shock to see how Fielder rebounded: if not as fast as in 1906 or 1907, his swerve away from the bat made him still a very difficult bowler and this helped Kent have their best season ever in the County Championship.
After a disappointing 1914 - though he did take 7 for 34 against Warwickshire
- World War I
ended Fielder's career. However, in 1919 and 1920 Kent were so short of pace bowling that they considered recalling him at the age of forty-three, but common sense prevailed and he did not tarnish his reputation by playing when obviously too old.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and one of the key contributors to Kent's four County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
successes between 1906 and 1913.
In some ways the founder of modern fast bowling, Fielder was the first fast bowler to rely on swing rather than the traditional break-back. He took a fairly long run for his time and could make the ball move away from leg stump to off with great effect. On the very fast pitches that prevailed in his time in dry weather Fielder could be a very dangerous bowler, especially with Kent's array of slip fieldsmen. This swerve, and an occasional break-back that bowled many batsmen made Fielder still effective even when his pace declined after 1909.
Whilst strictly a tail-end batsman, he scored an undefeated 112 against Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
at Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
batting at number 11 and shared a partnership of 235 for the tenth wicket with Frank Woolley
Frank Woolley
Frank Edward Woolley was an English cricketer, one of the finest all-rounders the game has seen. In a career lasting more than thirty years, he scored more first-class runs than anyone but Sir Jack Hobbs, and took over 2,000 wickets at an average of under 20...
who scored 185. This is still the highest last-wicket partnership in county cricket. The pair came together when Kent were still 40 behind Worcestershire's first innings of 360 and raised Kent's total to 555. Kent went on to win by an innings. Woolley had retired hurt earlier in the innings after being hit in the mouth by a ball from Ted Arnold
Ted Arnold
Edward George Arnold was an English cricketer who played in ten Test Matches from 1903 to 1907, and most of his 343 first-class matches for Worcestershire between 1899 and 1913...
. Fielder also took part in a tenth-wicket stand with Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
that gave England the first victory by one wicket in the history of Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
.
Fielder first played in first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
in 1900, but was known only in local cricket until the decline of Bill Bradley caused Kent to search for another fast bowler. Though the summer was mostly exceedingly wet and it was often impossible for fast bowlers to obtain a foothold, Fielder bowled so well that with Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
and Lockwood on their last legs, he was surprisingly chosen for that winter's Ashes tour. With several wickets affected by rain in a La Niña
La Niña
La Niña is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of El Niño as part of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation climate pattern. During a period of La Niña, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3–5 °C...
summer, Fielder had few opportunities: he was omitted from three Tests and did not bowl in one other. Though 1904 was a fair season, in 1905 Fielder fared so badly (though this was partly due to an incredible number of dropped catches against Nottinghamshire on a Gravesend wicket that was a fast bowler's paradise) that he was dropped from many games and only took 55 first-class wickets.
In the remarkably dry Home Counties
Home Counties
The home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...
summer of 1906, though, Fielder not only returned to form but surpassed everything he did before by far. Not only did he take 158 wickets in county matches on consistently hard pitches, but on an over-watered wicket - which was common then whenever very dry weather occurred in England - at Lord's he took all ten wickets for the Players against the Gentlemen. This made Fielder a certainty for Cricketer of the Year status and established himself in the elite of county bowlers. The bowling of Fielder and Colin Blythe
Colin Blythe
Colin Blythe , also known as Charlie Blythe, was a Kent and England left arm spinner who is regarded as one of the finest bowlers of the period between 1900 and 1914 - sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age" of cricket.-Career:Blythe first played...
allowed Kent to win eleven successive games to clinch the Championship. 1907 was a very wet summer that was all against fast bowlers, yet Fielder, taking advantage of any moisture on top or underneath whenever he could obtain a foothold, had so many deadly days against the weaker counties that, although against Worcestershire and Essex exceptional batting made him ineffective on helpful pitches, he took 172 wickets for only 16 runs apiece. Although he surprisingly did not play at Lord's or the Oval against South Africa, this made him a certainty for the Ashes tour that winter, and he did very well when the difficulties England faced due to the absence of leading players due to business are taken into account. For the whole series, he took 25 wickets at 25.08. Though he did not produce any startling performances, Fielder was for the moment the leading fast bowler in the world.
The three season 1908, 1909 and 1910 were plagued by injuries which prevented Fielder from taking part in many games, yet he showed many times that when fit he was still the best professional fast bowler in England. This was seen when he took 13 for 164 on a good wicket against Yorkshire in 1909, and when he took 12 for 76 at Northampton a year later. Injury prevented Fielder playing against Australia in 1909 - he would certainly have been picked for the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
Test were he fit - and this meant Fielder was never to play in a home Test in his career.
The exceptionally dry summer of 1911, though he was fitter than in any season since 1907, showed Fielder rarely at his best: only in two or three matches was he the Fielder of 1906 or 1907, and this caused Kent to surprisingly lose the Championship and place him out of contention for the winter tour of Australia. 1912 was an absolute disaster: Fielder was so ineffective that he was dropped in mid-July and did not play again: though in the later part of 1912 fast bowling was utterly worthless because wickets were so wet a firm footing never existed and Kent did not miss him an iota. Nonetheless, when the first hard pitches came in 1913, it was a shock to see how Fielder rebounded: if not as fast as in 1906 or 1907, his swerve away from the bat made him still a very difficult bowler and this helped Kent have their best season ever in the County Championship.
After a disappointing 1914 - though he did take 7 for 34 against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
- World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
ended Fielder's career. However, in 1919 and 1920 Kent were so short of pace bowling that they considered recalling him at the age of forty-three, but common sense prevailed and he did not tarnish his reputation by playing when obviously too old.