David Fasken (cricketer)

Fasken was born into a military family at Batu Gajah in British Malaya in March 1932.[1] His family moved back to England in 1937, where he attended the Dragon School at Oxford, before attending Wellington College.[1] From Wellington he went up to Trinity College, Oxford, where he studied languages.[1] He had debuted for Oxfordshire in minor counties cricket in the 1950 Minor Counties Championship.[2] While studying at Oxford he made his debut in first-class cricket for Oxford University against Lancashire at Oxford in 1953.[3] He played first-class cricket for Oxford until 1955, making 27 appearances and gaining a blue.[3][1] Playing as a right-arm medium-fast bowler, he took 58 wickets for the university at an average of 35.94, with best figures of 5 for 108 against the touring Australians in 1953.[4][5] With the bat he scored 403 runs with a high score of 61.[6] In addition to playing first-class cricket for Oxford University, Fasken also played three matches apiece for the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1956–59, and for the Free Foresters from 1959–62. He also played at first-class level for D. R. Jardine's XI and L. C. Stevens' XI.[3] He played his final minor counties match for Oxfordshire in 1955.[2]

After graduating from Oxford, Fasken decided not to take up a career as a cricketer, stating that "the life" never appealed to him.[1] Instead he took up a career managing exhibition centres, including Earls Court and Olympia, both of which he was Vice-President until his retirement in 1993.[1] During his tenure he helped Olympia to become one of the world's leading exhibition venues. He was also a major factor in the development of Earls Court Two in the late 1980s.[1] When he was 69 he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which required several shunts to slow the progression of the condition.[1] He spent four months in hospital with a kidney infection shortly before his death. He returned home for a month, but died on 24 May 2006, following a fall down the stairs at his home.[1] He was survived by his wife Susan of 38 years and their two children Joanna and Hugh and three grand-children.[1]

• David Fasken at ESPNcricinfo