Born on August 8, 1965, Angus Fraser was known for his controlled swing bowling and an ability to exploit the slightest variations in bounce on a surface. Cricket commentator Colin Bateman described him as a 'reliable, hardworking and intelligent bowler'.

Fraser enjoyed bowling on surfaces which offered him an inconsistent bounce and his record against West Indies in WI is proof of his skills. He had a rich tally of 54 wickets in 12 Tests with his best bowling effort of 8/53 coming there as well. Fraser made his Test debut against Australia in the 1989 Ashes series at Birmingham. It was an impressive debut with Fraser scalping 4 wickets in 33 economical overs. But he had to wait for the tour of West Indies for his first five wicket haul at Kingston, Jamaica.

Fraser's bowling was not of the threatening variety. He concentrated on a good line and length luring batsmen into a false sense of comfort. His 8-wicket haul against India on a placid Lord's track in 1990 bore testimony to this fact. Fraser's best moment was to come during England's tour to the Caribbean in 1998. He reaped a rich haul of 11/153 in the PoS Test, but despite his efforts West Indies ran away victors in the end. Fraser had one of his most successful trips grabbing 27 wickets in the 5-match Test series to top the averages for England. This was after Fraser was axed from the English squad following a dismal tour of South Africa in early 1996.

Fraser continued to plough away and grabbed three successive five wicket hauls against the touring South Africans in the same year. Infact 1998 was to prove to be his best year with 58 wickets from 14 Test matches at 22.87. Fraser ended his international Test career after the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. Fraser ended his career with 177 wickets from 46 Test matches.

Fraser had a stop-start ODI career playing only 46 ODIs over a period of 10 years. He did have some moments though. His career best figures of 4/22 were recorded against old nemesis Australia to lead England to a fine victory in a Benson & Hedges match in 1995.

Despite being a No. 10 batsman, Fraser has had some moments with the bat most notably surviving 31 balls along with Robert Croft to deny South Africa a win in the 3rd Test of the home series in 1998. England came back from 0-1 down after 3 Tests to record a fine 2-1 series victory.

Interesting fact: Fraser took 8/75 against West Indies at Barbados to consign the hosts to their first Test defeat at their fort named Bridgetown after a gap of 59 years.


By Pradeep Krishnamurthy