Laurie Fishlock arrived at The Dell having been capped as an amateur at football and on the back of a successful summer’s cricket with Surrey.

Despite two good seasons at outside-left for the Saints – he missed only one game in 1935-36 – cricket came first and he missed the whole of the 1936-37 season because he was touring Australia with England. His career at Southampton was effectively over and, after a brief return to Fulham, one of his previous League clubs, he joined Gillingham, who were about to be ejected from the League. But cricket became ever more dominant. Despite disappointment in Australia, where he broke a bone in his hand, he continued to excel for Surrey and played in his fourth and final Test on England’s 1946-47 tour of Australia.

When he was acclaimed a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1947, the citation concluded – decades before athleticism in the field would be deemed essential – that “his experience and training as a footballer make him an ideal outfield.”  Having retired in 1952, he coached at all levels of cricket, including, for many years, St Dunstan’s College in Catford.