04/10/2026
For cricket followers, Angus Fraser needs little introduction for cricket followers. The tall, accurate, fast-medium bowler represented England in 46 Test matches, taking 177 wickets, and spent his entire county career with Middlesex.
Angus, who lives in Pinner, joined the Pinner Local History Society for an evening of captivating conversation. We began closer to home in Harrow where as a boy playing cricket with his brother in the garden and on the grass-verges he began a journey neither of them could possibly have foreseen.
Although born in Lancashire, Angus grew up near the Duck in the Pond, playing endless cricket with his younger brother Alastair. At first, it was Alastair who seemed destined for cricketing success, while Angus was a late developer. Then, at about 16, he shot up to around 6ft 6in and suddenly became a formidable fast bowler.
Gayton High School and, especially, Stanmore Cricket Club shaped both his cricket and character. A memorable five-wicket performance in the Mayor of Harrow’s Cup helped convince him he could perform under pressure. Middlesex coach Don Bennett noticed him and, aged 18, Angus entered professional cricket.
The rewards were initially modest: winter jobs included selling tiles at Makro and working with a concrete gang on a BBC building site. Within a few years, however, he was playing for England, eventually taking 177 Test wickets.
Asked what that Harrow lad bowling against a tree would think of the career that followed, Angus replied simply: “Lucky”. It neatly summed up an extraordinary career whose roots remained firmly in Harrow and Stanmore.
The next Pinner Local History Society Talk will be on Thursday 5th November at 8.00pm in the Pinner Village Hall. The talk is ‘Pinner Chalk Mines’ by Mark Bradley. Visitors are welcome, suggested donation £3.
