Frank Shacklock

Francis Joseph Shacklock (22 September 1861 – 1 May 1937) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire in 1883 and between 1886 and 1893, for Derbyshire in 1884 and 1885, for MCC between 1889 and 1893, and for Otago in New Zealand from 1903 to 1905. Shacklock may have been the inspiration for the first name of Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes.

Frank Shacklock
Personal information
Full name
Francis Joseph Shacklock
Born(1861-09-22)22 September 1861
Crich, Derbyshire, England
Died1 May 1937(1937-05-01) (aged 75)
Christchurch, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1883Nottinghamshire
1884–1885Derbyshire
1886–1893Nottinghamshire
1903/04–1904/05Otago
FC debut13 September 1883 Nottinghamshire v MCC
Last FC3 March 1905 Otago v Australians
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 156
Runs scored 2,438
Batting average 11.89
100s/50s 0/2
Top score 71
Balls bowled 21,350
Wickets 497
Bowling average 19.03
5 wickets in innings 39
10 wickets in match 8
Best bowling 8/32
Catches/stumpings 92/–
Source: Cricinfo, 24 August 2010

Life and career

Shacklock was born at Crich, Derbyshire, and by 1881 was a professional cricketer living in Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.[1] He made his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire in September 1883 against MCC when he took a wicket in the first innings and four in the second innings but failed to score a run.

Shacklock joined Derbyshire in the 1884 season and played regularly. In the 1885 season against Yorkshire in August he took 8 for 45 in the first innings and 5 for 87 in the second innings.[2] He shared the top wicket tally for Derbyshire's season with William Cropper. Shacklock took 59 wickets for Derbyshire at an average of 16.74 and a best performance of 8 for 45.

In 1886 Shacklock rejoined Nottinghamshire and played 117 matches for them over the next eight years. For Nottinghamshire he took 360 wickets at an average of 18.74 and a best performance of 8 for 32 against the MCC in 1887.[3] After 1889, Shacklock also played for the MCC against the universities and for sides selected by Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper Mordecai Sherwin. In 1893, playing for Nottinghamshire against Somerset, he took four wickets in four deliveries in the second innings – all bowled – and, bowling throughout the innings, finished with 8 for 46.[4]

In 1903 Shacklock moved to New Zealand, where he coached in Dunedin[5] and played for Otago. He remained in New Zealand and moved to Christchurch, where he was the principal coach to the Canterbury Cricket Association in the early 1920s.[6] During the First World War he worked at the Trentham Military Camp near Wellington.[7] He died in Christchurch in 1937 after collapsing while travelling on a tram.[8]

The name of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous character, Sherlock Holmes, is said to have been inspired by the combination of Shacklock and Sherwin.[9] His fellow fast bowler at Derbyshire was William Mycroft, and the pair Shacklock and Mycroft were prominent in a match against MCC at Lord's in June 1885. Conan Doyle, who was an active MCC member, published his first Sherlock Holmes story two years later. Holmes' brother in the stories was named Mycroft.

References
  1. British Census 1881 RG11 3323/31 p55.
  2. "Derbyshire v Yorkshire 1885". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  3. "MCC v Nottinghamshire 1887". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  4. "Notts v Somersetshire", Cricket, 8 June 1893, p. 185.
  5. Otago Daily Times, 29 October 1903, p. 4.
  6. "To Improve Cricket". Evening Post. Vol. CV, no. 35. 10 February 1923. p. 15.
  7. "Obituary: Mr. F. J. Shacklock". Press: 12. 6 May 1937.
  8. "Collapse in Tram". Press: 10. 3 May 1937.
  9. Times Review of Lawrence Booth, Arm-Ball to Zooter – a Sideways look at the Language of Cricket, Penguin, 2006
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