England bowler, founder of the PCA
At 88 years old and using a walking frame, Fred has lost precious little of his wit and memory, delighting in gently joshing his ‘prompter’ for the night, author Stephen Chalke.
Despite – or perhaps because of – his stoic, working class London upbringing during the Blitz, Fred went on to become a somewhat unconventional, likeable character and high achiever in the game.
With typical pioneering spirit he used his experiences as a player (mainly with Worcestershire, Somerset, Derbyshire and England) to blaze a trail in the formation of the Professional Cricket Association in 1967.
That shouldn’t be underestimated as it helped unshackle players from the constraints long imposed upon them by MCC. Cricketers themselves had no voice about pay, poor facilities, schedules etc. But taking a lead – and advice – from football’s Jimmy Hill, Fred, through negotiation clever enough to avoid ruffling too many feathers with talk of a Union, led the way to progressive new agreements.
On the field he was a well respected fast bowler, ‘faster than I looked’ and to have hit speeds of 90 mph. He took 17 wickets in 5 Tests at 27.11 runs each and 580 at 20.29 in the first class game.
His stories about battles with Boycott, roving the county circuit in a camper van, and ‘romantic’ episodes with ladies were told with endearing humour by a man still squeezing everything out of life.