Frank Field (cricketer, born 1874)

Frank Field (also Frank Ernest Field or Ernest Frank Field; 23 September 1874, Weethley, Warwickshire, England – 25 August 1934, Droitwich, Worcestershire, England) was a Warwickshire fast bowler who is best remembered for sharing with Frank Foster the bowling honours in Warwickshire's flukish County Championship triumph in the abnormally dry summer of 1911 - the only time any county outside the "Big Six" (Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Middlesex, Kent and Surrey) won between 1890 and 1935.

However, aside from this triumph, Field had a long career before Foster even played for Warwickshire. Indeed, if Foster's career was tragic, Field's was in many ways more so, for a succession of serious accidents hampered him at exactly the time he would otherwise have become a top-class fast bowler and a candidate for representative honours.

Field first played for Warwickshire in 1897, but it was only the following year with a tireless 8 for 144 in an innings of 509 against Gloucestershire that he was seen as possibly a major acquisition for the county. Despite occasional setbacks, he advanced rapidly to be Warwickshire's leading bowler in the dry summer of 1899 with 73 wickets for 23 each - a remarkable performance on such true pitches as Edgbaston was then known for. His 12 for 194 against the powerful Surrey batting made many critics believe Field would become England's first-choice fast bowler within a few years. 1900 saw him take 100 wickets for the first time, and he maintained his form through 1901 despite an injury early in the season.

However, the sequence of tragedies that was to ruin Field's career began the following year when extremely wet weather and the slow-drying nature of the Edgbaston ground made Field worthless for most of the season. This was repeated the following year, but his value to the team on hard wickets was already unquestioned. However, the following three mainly fine summers - when his bowling would have been wanted regularly rather than occasionally - were almost entirely wiped out by a succession of injuries and strains. In 1906, indeed, he suffered a heel injury in the first match and did not play again.

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