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Few have ever made fast-bowling look such hard work as Gus Fraser - the
weary plod back to his mark with head-bowed: the forearm wiping the
sweat from his brow: the lumber to the wicket - his feet seemingly too
small to carry his 6ft 5in. frame. Paradoxically, few were as so keen to
bowl, bowl and bowl some more in England's cause. Unfortunately
selectors often took Fraser at appearance value rather than effort value
and he played in far fewer Tests than he could have. The selectors did
get it right at the start of his career, when he came into the side a
comparative unknown. Not many outside had even noticed that he had
replaced his seam bowling brother, Alistair, in the Middlesex side.
He
passed his first international test with flying colours by getting Steve
Waugh out for the first time in three Tests. He showed his stamina,
persistence and ability to hit the bat hard early on, taking 4-63 in 33
overs. Fraser was soon a major part of the England attack, taking 5-28
in the first Test in the West Indies in 1989-90, eight wickets in the
match against India at Lord's, and 5-124 at Old Trafford. He took 6-82
at Melbourne in Graham Gooch's Ashes tour, but began to experience the
hip problems that put him out of Test cricket until 1993. In the first
of a number of triumphal returns he bowled England to victory in the
last Test of the 1993 Ashes. Twice he took 8 wickets in an innings in
the West Indies, and 10 in the match against South Africa at Trent
Bridge in 1998. He played in only one World Cup, in 1999. (Bob Harragan)
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