Former England and Western Suburbs fast bowler Angus Fraser fires up against Randwick in November 1994
Western Suburbs District Cricket Club Sydney | September 06, 2023
Former England fast bowler Angus Fraser spent two summers playing Sydney Grade Cricket for Western Suburbs.
Angus shares some special memories.
I look back at my two winters playing for Western Suburbs with a huge amount of pride and joy, and my Magpie cap proudly hangs on a hook next to my Middlesex and England caps in my office at Lord’s.
Pride - because Wests got through to the end of season finals on both occasions and I performed pretty well.
Joy – it was great fun; I made many great friends whilst in Sydney and I benefitted enormously from each experience.
Stories?
In 1988/89 I spent much of the summer with Brad McNamara and Scott Hookey. We spent a few Saturday evenings at Carmens in Miranda, so there are some stories I will leave alone. I do remember getting a bollocking from Greg Matthews one Saturday whilst Wests were batting for sunbathing on one of the grassy banks at Pratten Park. He took his shirt off and showed me the damage the sun can do. It was a good point, quite forcibly made??
In 1994/95, having been omitted from England’s Ashes squad, I positioned myself in Australia in case any England players got injured. They did, and I got called up to the squad. Before getting called up I played in a game against Randwick at Coogee Oval.
On first innings Wests won a low scoring game and I took five or six wickets on a slow pitch. I then got called up to the England touring squad.
In an attempt to provide a bit of colour to the news a national paper spoke to one of the Randwick players about batting against me. The bloke completely nailed me on every front – no pace, didn’t do much with the ball, easy to play etc etc. I wouldn’t have minded, but Wests won the game, and I bowled pretty well. I bit my lip with the media when I got a few wickets in the Sydney Test that followed.
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The game Angus refers to was Round 4 - Western Suburbs v Randwick at Coogee Oval
Day One was Saturday 5th November 1994 and as you can see in the scorecards Western Suburbs were bowled out for 149.
In reply Randwick were 4 for 82 at stumps needing 68 runs to win with 6 wickets in hand.
At stump Angus had bowled 7 Over, 3 Maidens with no wickets for 10 runs.
Day One
It was during the week when the comments from a Randwick player appeared in the newspaper.
The following Saturday, 12 November 1994 was day 2 and it would seem the comments in the newspaper during the week might be created a bit of stir amongst the Western Suburbs players.
Randwick stumbled from being 4 for 82 to be all out for 119. They’d lost 6 for 37 and Angus Fraser had bowled 7.4 overs, 3 maidens and took 6 for 8.
Angus figures were 14.4 Overs, 6 maidens, 6 wickets for 18 runs.
Western Suburbs had won on the first innings by 29 runs.
Western Suburbs started their 2nd innings and whatever euphoria Western Suburbs were experiencing on day 2 when Angus Fraser went through the Randwick batters was being doubled down by the Randwick as Western Suburbs stumbled losing wickets quickly.
It was a lone hand of 94 by Michael Swan to stabilise the innings and victory as Western Suburbs finished 9 down for 142 off 69.2.
Day Two
Angus Fraser was called up for the 3rd test of the 1994/95 Ashes Series at the SCG.
In Australia’s first innings he took 2 for 26 and then took 5 for 73 in the 2nd innings as the test was drawn.
Angus also played in the 4th and 5th test of the series and took 14 wickets at 27.78 to be England’s 3rd highest wicket taker for the series.
Angus Fraser is the proud owner of Western Suburbs District Cricket Club cap number 522. He made his first-grade debut for the club on 29 October 1988 against Gordon District Cricket Club
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Great man, no surprise he went on to have a great Test career. Heart of a lion, bowled three bad balls a season! Fond memories of the big fella tearing around Sydney in a Mini Moke, not the ideal car when you're 6 foot 6!
He coached our Green Shield team, I still remember how sunburnt he was when he arrived for the first game