Alexander Crawford was born 24 May 1891 in Coleshill, Warwickshire. His family moved to Nottinghamshire and he was educated at Nottingham Boys High School and Oundle School before studying law and setting up his own practice in Lincolnshire.
A right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler, he appeared in four matches for Notts 2nd XI in 1909 and 1910 before playing First-Class cricket at Warwickshire in 1911 where he made his debut against the Indian tourists. After seven matches for the county of his birth he moved to Notts and played eleven times in the 1912 season, including fixtures against the MCC, Australia and South Africa. His highest score for Notts was, in fact, the 51 he made against the Aussies at Trent Bridge, his only First-Class fifty; his best bowling of the 21 First-Class wickets he claimed, was 4-55 v Surrey.
Crawford also played rugby for Notts RFC, making 58 appearances and contributing 111 points - which in cricketing superstitions would be a challenging figure to finish on!
At the outbreak of war, he joined the 5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment but in early 1915 he was commissioned into the Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) before transferring to the 17th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment. He was promoted to the rank of Captain and sent to France in February 1916. Crawford had been in France for just over three months and was 24 years old when he was killed in action on 10 May. His Divisional Commander wrote to his parents that he ‘was if anything, too brave’; he is buried at St Vaast Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais.
November 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 309