Robert St Leger Fowler

mathepac

I came across this gentleman's name by accident while doing a bit of Googling into something entirely unrelated to cricket.

I have the wiki stuff from here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_St_Leger_Fowler

and here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fowler's_match

so I'm not looking for any information that's already in wiki-land but I wondered :

• Has Irish cricket commemorated him in any way (grounds, competitions, trophies, scholarships named after him)?
  
• Have we as a proud sporting nation with a history of achievements well in excess of our physical size / population commemorated him in any way?
  
• Is there more information about him that I have been unable to trace? (I'm not a county man of his nor am I a cricketer)
  
• Can anyone explain why he was never capped by his country at cricket or "racquets" (tennis? badminton? squash?)?
  
• What are his achievements like relative to the current crop of top-class Irish cricketers?

I've never run across his family name before but in a sporting context, I've heard it used as a nick-name for a couple of hurlers in the Kilkenny / Tipperary areas (it is not "The Fouler"). Given his ancestors' long and illustrious service to religious life in Ireland, his family should be well-known

Dead at 34 from leukemia, it seems the British cricketing establishment reveres his memory; should we do any less? Any links however tenuous would be appreciated and if his name is already up there in lights in Irish cricketing circles, please forgive my ignorance.

Mods if this is not appropriate to here, please feel free to move it on.

Thanks lads.

TrueDub

mathepac wrote: »

I came across this gentleman's name by accident while doing a bit of Googling into something entirely unrelated to cricket.

I have the wiki stuff from here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_St_Leger_Fowler

and here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fowler's_match

so I'm not looking for any information that's already in wiki-land but I wondered :

• Has Irish cricket commemorated him in any way (grounds, competitions, trophies, scholarships named after him)?
  
• Have we as a proud sporting nation with a history of achievements well in excess of our physical size / population commemorated him in any way?
  
• Is there more information about him that I have been unable to trace? (I'm not a county man of his nor am I a cricketer)
  
• Can anyone explain why he was never capped by his country at cricket or "racquets" (tennis? badminton? squash?)?
  
• What are his achievements like relative to the current crop of top-class Irish cricketers?

I've never run across his family name before but in a sporting context, I've heard it used as a nick-name for a couple of hurlers in the Kilkenny / Tipperary areas (it is not "The Fouler"). Given his ancestors' long and illustrious service to religious life in Ireland, his family should be well-known

Dead at 34 from leukemia, it seems the British cricketing establishment reveres his memory; should we do any less? Any links however tenuous would be appreciated and if his name is already up there in lights in Irish cricketing circles, please forgive my ignorance.

Mods if this is not appropriate to here, please feel free to move it on.

Thanks lads.

I'd heard of him and his match, but to my knowledge there's not a lot said of him in cricket circles these days.

There are is book I'd suggest you look at - Ireland's 100 Cricket Greats, by Ger Siggins & James Fitzgerald.

Also, I found this article, which may be of interest.

As regards commemorating him, I don't know if anything's done so far. There are many other cricketers also deserving of such commemoration (Jimmy Boucher, Dermot Monteith, Alec O'Riordan etc), and the circumstances of Fowler's cricketing immortality (public school cricket) may work against him.

Corsendonk

The obvious source, Cricinfo, 3 articles on him and some photos.


http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/13232.html


Article on his family might be of interest, Jessica Harrington the famous horse trainer is a family member.
http://www.turtlebunbury.com/interviews/interviews_ireland/sporting%20legends/interviews_sports_jessie_harrington.html

crackit

Personally I don't think there's a lot there to be commemorating. I don't see why you would be naming any grounds or tournaments after him or erecting any statues.

There are a whole host of more prominent Irish cricketers who would be far ahead of him on any list I'd draw up for such accolades or honours.

24 first class matches in 12 years and a really good performance in an Eton-Harrow match. All well and good but hardly a stellar career.

I think you may be making more of this particular cricketer than there actually is there. You'd do worse than read the book that was recommended anyway