Colin Fairservice (6 August 1909 – 29 December 1999) was an English professional cricketer. He played for Kent County Cricket Club from 1929 to 1933 and for Middlesex County Cricket Club in 1936, making a total of 74 first-class cricket appearances in his career.

Colin Fairservice
Personal information
Full name
Colin Fairservice
Born(1909-08-06)6 August 1909
Hadlow, Kent
Died29 December 1999(1999-12-29) (aged 90)
Canterbury, Kent
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off-break
RelationsBill Fairservice (father)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1929–1933Kent
1934–1936MCC
1936Middlesex
FC debut22 June 1929 Kent v Derbyshire
Last FC20 June 1936 Middlesex v MCC
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 74
Runs scored 1,650
Batting average 17.55
100s/50s 1/6
Top score 110
Balls bowled 1,519
Wickets 18
Bowling average 38.55
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 3/49
Catches/stumpings 44/–
Source: CricInfo, 14 June 2017

Fairservice was born in Hadlow in Kent in 1909, the son of Bill Fairservice who made over 300 first-class appearances for Kent between 1902 and 1921.[1][2] He grew up in Kent and Northumberland and attended Newcastle Royal Grammar School.[3][4]

Having played for Northumberland Juniors, Fairservice first played for Kent Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship in 1927. He made his first-class debut in 1929 against Derbyshire at Queen's Park, Chesterfield. After playing occasionally for the county in 1929 and 1930 he became a regular in the First XI in 1931 and was awarded his county cap in that season.[3][4][5] Fairservice made a total of 59 appearances for Kent before leaving the county at the end of the 1933 season. He spent the following two years qualifying to play for Middlesex, during which he made occasional first-class appearances for MCC. During 1936 he played six times for Middlesex before ending his first-class career.[4]

Fairservice worked at Stonyhurst College and then coached cricket and rugby at The King's School, Canterbury between 1954 and 1975.[3][6][7] He coached David Gower who went on to captain the England cricket team.[8] He died at Canterbury in 1999 aged 90, at the time Kent's oldest living cricketer.[1][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Colin Fairservice, CricInfo. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  2. ^ Bill Fairservice, CricInfo. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  3. ^ a b c d Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939, pp.75–76. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-23.)
  4. ^ a b c Colin Fairservice, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-06-14. (subscription required)
  5. ^ Kent County Cricket Club - Capped Male Players, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  6. ^ King's Canterbury, Schools Cricket Online. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  7. ^ Lewis P (2014) For Kent and Country, pp.170–171. Brighton: Reveille Press.
  8. ^ Gower D (2014) An Endangered Species, pp.42–43. London: Simon & Schuster. (Available online. Retrieved 2016-11-15).
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Colin Fairservice at ESPNcricinfo