Eric Fisher (cricketer)
 Fisher during the 1950s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Frederick Eric Fisher | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 28 July 1924 Johnsonville, Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 19 June 1996 (aged 71) Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Left-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Only Test (cap 58) | 6 March 1953 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1951/52–1953/54 | Wellington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1954/55 | Central Districts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 1 April 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frederick Eric Fisher (28 July 1924 – 19 June 1996) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in one Test match in 1953. A left-arm medium-pace bowler and useful lower-order right-handed batsman, he played first-class cricket in New Zealand from 1951–52 to 1954–55.[1]
Cricket career
Fisher was born in the northern Wellington suburb of Johnsonville in 1924. He played for Wellington from 1951–52 to 1953–54, and Central Districts in 1954–55. In the four matches of the Plunket Shield in 1952–53 he made 138 runs at 27.60 and took 29 wickets at 10.20.[2] His best performances during the season were 4 for 26 and 7 for 48 against Auckland (as well as scoring 68 and 19 not out),[3] and 8 for 34 and 3 for 31 against Canterbury (match figures of 57.2–30–65–11).[4]
After his success in that season's Plunket Shield, Fisher was selected to open the bowling in the First Test against the visiting South Africans in March 1953, but he took only one wicket in an innings defeat and was never selected again.[5] According to Richard Boock in his biography of Bert Sutcliffe, Fisher was one of several players at the time who "paid the ultimate price for being overweight".[6] The Cricket Almanack of New Zealand selected him as its Bowler of the Year in its 1953 edition, declaring that he was "without doubt the pre-eminent bowler in New Zealand cricket during the 1952–53 season". The Almanack said he was unlucky during his Test match in that his captain asked him to bowl on or outside the off-stump, when he had achieved his success in the Plunket Shield with a leg-stump line and an attacking field of close catchers.[2]
Fisher left Wellington to take up a position as professional player-coach with the Napier Marist Club in October 1954.[7] He played in the Hawke Cup from 1955–56 to 1966–67, representing successively Hawke's Bay, Poverty Bay and Southern Hawke's Bay.[8] He also played for Rochdale in the Central Lancashire League.[9] He died at Palmerston North in Manawatu in 1996, aged 71.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Eric Fisher". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ^ a b "Our Bowler of the Year", The Cricket Almanack of New Zealand, Sporting Publications, Wellington, 1953, pp. 20–22.
- ^ "Wellington v Auckland 1952-53". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ^ "Wellington v Canterbury 1952-53". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ^ "New Zealand vs South Africa, 1st Test at Wellington, Mar 06 1953". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ^ Richard Boock, The Last Everyday Hero, Longacre, Auckland, 2010, p. 100.
- ^ "F. E. Fisher to Coach Napier Club". Press: 2. 16 October 1954.
- ^ "Hawke Cup Matches played by Eric Fisher". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ^ Wisden 1997, p. 1402.