Crawley Aidan Image 1 Kent 1932

Description

Benenden, Kent born right-handed batsman Aidan Crawley was an amateur cricketer educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Oxford. He played cricket for Harrow scoring 87 in the 1926 Eton v Harrow match at Lord’s, an innings which Wisden described as “widely regarded as the best innings in the match for many year”, and he was described by H.S. Altham in the same publication as a “beautiful player”. After going up to Oxford he played for Oxford University’s cricket eleven, making his first class cricket debut playing for Oxford University against Harlequins in May 1927, making his County Championship debut for Kent against Worcestershire as an amateur later in the season. In 1928 he set a new record for runs scored in a season for Oxford University with 1,137 runs scored at an average of 54.14 with five hundreds, including 167 against Essex and 162 against Surrey. In 1929 Crawley scored 204 against Northamptonshire at Wellingborough with ten sixes and 22 fours. For The Gentlemen at Lord’s he hit Tich Freeman over the old free seats on to the Nursery End.

The bulk of Crawley’s first class cricket career was in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. He played 33 matches for Kent, mostly in 1931 and 1932. He made at least ten first class appearances in each year between 1927 and 1932 and played a total of 87 first class matches, the majority during this period. He played a total of 39 times for Oxford  as well as eight times for Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) as well as making a few appearances for other teams such as the Free Foresters. In all those matches he scored 5,061 runs at an average of 37.48 with 11 centuries and 24 half centuries. He also bowled occasional right-arm offbreaks, taking 15 wickets at 37.66 apiece with a best return of 2-40, and took 44 catches in first class play.

He played only six more first class matches after the end of the 1932 season, four of which took place after the Second World War whilst he was a sitting MP, with his last appearance for Kent coming in 1947. He also made four Minor Counties Championship appearances for Buckinghamshire in 1948 and was President of the M.C.C. in 1972-73 and the Chairman of the National Cricket Association for seven years, during which time he was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the National Village Cricket Championship.

Crawley had a varied career, playing first class cricket, serving in the armed forces, acting as a Member of Parliament for two political parties as a Labour MP from 1945 to 1951, and as a Conservative MP from 1962 to 1967, making documentary films and serving as the first Chairman of London Weekend Television from 1967 to 1973. He joined the Auxiliary Air Force in 1936, and was a trained fighter pilot at start of the Second World War. After serving on night patrols over the English Channel he was sent ostensibly as an assistant air attaché to Turkey in April 1940, cover for intelligence work in the Balkans in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, being smuggled out of Sofia when the Germans invaded the latter country in March 1941. Subsequently assigned to 73 Squadron in Egypt, he was shot down in July 1941 near besieged Tobruk and was taken prisoner of war. He remained in Germany, despite escape attempts, latterly at Stalag Luft III. He was also awarded the M.B.E..

Crawley was one of six members of his family to play first class cricket, and perhaps the most brilliant. His father Arthur Crawley played 3 first class matches for M.C.C. in the late 1890’s. His brother Cosmo Crawley played 6 matches for Oxford University, Hampshire and Middlesex in the 1920’s. Two cousins, Leonard (Cambridge University, Essex, Worcestershire 1922 to 1936) and Charles Crawley (Essex 1929), and his grandson Spencer Crawley (Oxford University 2008) also played at first class level.

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